Pushing the Envelope….

Dolce& Gabbana is known for their over-the top ad campaigns that can really push the boundary of sex into soft-core porn with models in very little clothing and suggestive sexual positions. However, being an ad in magazines, it is less likely to be seen by the mass including young children and teens compared to national television. I was watching MTV during their commercial break as a Dolce & Gababana watch-accessory commercial came on. Many of you may have seen it and some may not. In case you haven’t, it is basicaly two young adults making out and later joined by another person. The three are making out while their clothes quickly come off. And by the end the maid catches them and a hand showing wearing the line’s watch is shown shutting her up.

Funny how the commercial is selling watches, but you only see the watch in the last 5 seconds of the commercial while the main story line was three people ‘having some fun.’ Their objective is obviously to sell their product, but it seems as if they are just selling sex. Watching the first minutes of it, it felt like it was the beginning of a porno instead of a fashion commercial. They definitely pushed the boundaries espcially for and ad that was going to be on national television. I suggest they keep the sexy ones in the magazines and lighten up on the commercials, but being that sex sells, there will definitely be more of those commercials.

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

[pic courtesy of theybf.com]

The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show premiered on Tuesday night and as usual it was a show with beautiful women in lingerie walking down the runway for those who attended to enjoy up front and everyone else who has a television in their homes to sit a little closer to the screen. It was on CBS at 10pm which is the perfect time for men of all ages to most of them from relaxing after work and dinner and drooling over these gorgeous models as their wives look on and the kids are in bed. And for us women, it was for entertainment and the obvious—to envy every single model and telling ourselves to head straight to the gym tomorrow.

Watching the show reminded me of the discussion we had about women and body issue in class. These women have unbelieveable bodies that us women wish to have, but at the same time, they are not stick thin models walking down the runway compared to the high end fashion industry. Although these Victoria’s Secret models are some of the top grossing models, I compare them to the models that we see walking down famous designer’s show and I realized, they would probably be considered ‘too big’ or ‘fat’ to even land a gig in a designer’s show. This comes to show that in this industry, there is no real definition of perfection because these Victoria’s Secret model may be one of the most beautiful people you see yet are not ‘accepted’ in the same world that is so weight obssesed. Teenage girls who are heavily influenced by what they see on TV and in the magazines have even a harder time trying to find their own identity and yet try to fit in when they see this kind of contradictory within this one industry……………………………when will this end?!

Wives Work….Stay At Home Husbands…

[pic courtesy of media.nowpublic.net]

All through semester in class we’ve discussed and read articles about women and how far we’ve come since the days where we weren’t even allowed to vote and our ‘destiny’ was to find a husband, have kids, stay home, and take care of all of them. Even when there were articles of women who were presidents and CEO of huge companies, there was discrimination involved. We’ve seen movies like “Women of the Year” where it shows a women cannot juggle a successful career and work her way around the kitchen at home. Well things have changed since then and it seems as if the roles have reversed and its the wives who are the bread winners and the husbands who are now ‘house-husbands.’ Even though this is some what empowering knowing that women can be on top, it is acceptable in some men’s mind? Men have their egos to protect and like the power that comes along with making the money and taking care of his family.

I read an article on Marie Claire’s site and according to www.marieclaire.com men even boast “How great would it be not to work?” But how long can they just stay home and take care of the kids while his wife is at work? I’ve seen shows like Fox Reality’s “House-husbands of Hollwood” and think….why is it such a big deal? Since men and women have the same equal rights it would be the same exact thing when it comes to a women working and providing and her husband being a stay at home dad. It comes to show that even though we are equal, when it comes to anything remotely related to money and power involving women we cannot mention her latter the alpha male, but in this case….the beta male.

Jimmy Choo….Recession Proof

[pic courtesy of obsessedwithshoes.com]

I was quite surprised when there was actually a fashion related article in our SMC Corsair Newspaper this week. It was about fame shoe designer Jimmy Choo’s line launch for H&M. The retail prices for his shoes range on average about $800-$1500 and with this recession, I doubt any of us-non-rich-non-famous women can afford that kind of price. Although Jimmy Choo joined the trend of  designers launching an ‘affordable’ line for the ‘normal’ class women, I wonder if it is just a paycheck to get their name stamped on shoes or if its just cheap material hiding behind an expensive brand name where you can get them for about 20 bucks at Payless?

According to the Corsair, women waited in line at the H&M store at the Beverly Center at 3am while the the store opened at 10am. Most of the guys probably would say it is nuts waiting in the cold for some pair of shoes [But I see some of them doing just the same for some rare Nikes]but, if you think about it, this does help boost the economy a bit. These women are spending close to 1000 dollars which probably will send them back a month on their rent to fulfill their shoes fetish. This also brings up the issue that although we are in a recession and most of us doesn’t have the money to spend it on ‘conspicuous’ material things like this, WE STILL DO! Women hear the name Jimmy Choo and automatically think: EXPENSIVE with bragging rights since its a staple brand in the celebrity world and Carrie Bradshaw’s obsession with them. If the same type and design of a Jimmy Choo shoe landed in a Payless store, would women wait in line at 3am to purchase it? Probably not. So basically when you are buying a pair of Jimmy Choos, you are buying the BRAND, not the shoes.

Women in Reality

Ever since Survivor debuted, the ‘reality’ show craze spreaded throughout all networks. I must admit, reality shows are a guilty pleasure of mine especially when you are home on a Sunday afternoon with absolutely nothing to do. There are some shows like Project Runway or Top Chef that actually have positive aspects to them, but it seems like  the other kind of  shows like ‘The Real Housewives’ series and bachelorish shows like “Flavor of Love” overshadow the rest. It seems as if America is more in tuned with women showing off their extravagant lifestyles and living off their husbands’ or sugar daddy’s money and with women throwing themselves on a fifty something year old man who wears a huge clock as an accesory. After what we have discussed in class about issues of discrimination of women in the work field and what their real role in life was to be, I’ve realized why these ‘reality’ shows degrade women and give those who are already sexist a more reason to look down upon on us females.

I was flipping through the channels and came up VH1′s “For the Love of Ray-J.” A group of women who compete for the affection of singer Ray-J. These girls some around my age wearing skimpy clothes trying to impress this man. The show portrays these women as gold-diggers who are willing to do anything for his attention. I mean there are beautiful girls who seem intelligent, but obviously want some kind of exposure since they had to go on TV to find ‘true’ love. They compete in some ridiculous challenges to win a date with this guy, but the ones that win seem to be the ones with the least amount of clothes on. And hes loving every minute of it. These aren’t the kind of women you’d really bring home to meet your family. Does competing for the attention of this one man mean you have to lose your self-respect? It’s just so sad to see these girls throw themselves at someone who just looks at them as pieces of meat. Ladies! Get it together! Please!

After all that women has gone through in our history it seems as if we’re back to square one. Yes it is for entertainment purposes, but degrading women by just portraying them as merely ‘sex symbols’ is wrong. Nevertheless, these are the kind of shows that get the highest ratings. It sends a message to audiences especially the teenage girls that this is the kind of ‘women’ you’re supposed to be like for a man to love you. After watching the show, it was just really sad to think about these things, yet I was intrigued at the same time. I wanted to watch what would happen next and what other things these women would do to get his attention. Will this kind of entertainment ever die?

Rihanna Finally Speaks

Its been all over the news, media, and celebrity gossip blogs with the announcement that Rihanna will be on ABC’s 20/20 with Diane Sawyer to finally speak her side of what happened that night she was assaulted by Chris Brown. And now ABC is already showing a snippet of the interview where Rihanna opens up about why she finally decided to tell her story after so long. I watched the snippet and am actually really looking forward to see the interview tomorrow night because by what I saw she did really seem very hurt, but very honest when she was telling her side.

With Rihanna breaking her silence, I’m sure people really want to hear her side of the story and possibly the EXACT details of what happened that night because when Chris Brown appeared on Larry King he just had ‘beat around the bush’ type of answers and not necessarily answering what happened that night directly. Hopefully all this publicity about her interview will live up to its hype and she can actually close that chapter of her life and move on.

While it is a great look for Rihanna who is a celebrity to speak out about domestic violence to encourage young girls who are going through the same thing to get out, in the back of my mind I wonder if her decision to come out now is all part of her PR team to shed more publicity on her since her new album is coming out very soon. Maybe it is an attempt for the public to feel even more sorry for her and increase her album sales? Chris Brown will also be interviewed by MTV to ‘defend’ himself….again. His album is also coming out next month. Coincidence? Publicty Stunt? I say all of the above….

 

 

 

 

 

[pic courtesy of ABC]

Here We Go Again…

 

[pic courtesy of stylist.com]

A couple weeks back I posted a blog about model Lara Stone in an editorial in French Vogue that caused some controversy because of her face paint that many thought depicted an African-American woman (in which Laura Stone is caucasion). Well this issue creeps up once again as the contestants on America’s Next Top Model were painted to look ‘Bi-racial’ in their photoshoots. According to stylist.com Tyra Banks (creator and judge on the show) wanted them to resemble “Native-American, East-Indian” or “Botswanan-Polynesian.”
Once again, I am not neither surprised or offended because coming from a ‘fashion/editorial’ point of view Tyra wanted her models to shine through a photo whether they are covered behind ‘special-effects’ make-up. A model in her famous words must be “versatile” to pull off any look that a photographer or editor of a magazine chooses. But the bottom line is both of these incidents involves the issue of race and how it is portrayed so of course there will be some controversy and people who have an opinion about it.

And speaking of the show, the main issue for me is everytime that I watch ‘Top Model’ and a girl is chosen as the finale winner and crowned “America’s Next Top Model,” does she really become “America’s Next Top Model???” I mean this is Tyra’s 15th season?! So many cycles that I have lost count! But out of all the winners, I honestly have not seen any of them become as big as models like Chanel Iman or Jourdan Dunn. I have seen some walk in shows at LA Fashion Week, but they have not actually become ‘top models’ or even has the potential or buzz to become one. And most of them we haven’t even heard since their season run. The winners receive a contract with a well known agency, a spread in a magazine, and a contract with Covergirl, but honestly, after featured in that front page, do you ever see that model again on the front page or even land a campaign in the prestigious Vogue? Nope! And as for the Covergirl commercial, I have never seen em’ with one of the winner. Tyra Banks obviously has credibility, but does her show really help aspiring models or are they better off getting discovered on their own?

For the Love of Money

So if you were home earlier this Friday night….you saw the Denver squash the Lakers in a 119-105 defeat. Not to mention a scuffle between Lamar Odom and Chris Anderson. But all I could think of is maybe Odom is distracted and frustrated because of that ridiculous pre-nup with him and his new wife reality star/publicity hungry Khloe Kardashian. Maybe? Probably!

About a month after the two were confirmed as a couple, Khloe Kardashian announces that she is engaged and will be the future Mrs. Lamar Odom. Shocking? Nope! With that family, nothing is actually. And what about Odom? Their actual wedding was even  paid for by E! News to tape it so obviously this is a huge sign that calls out “Publicity Stunt!” But for Odom…why now? I think its because he just won an NBA championship and maybe decided he needed more publicity. And with his $33 million contract with the Lakers, Khloe definitely won something too!

Rumors has been flying around about their actual pre-nup and my friend had mentioned that the pre-nup consisted of a lifetime supply of courtside tickets to the Lakers game….even when they may possible and probably will split up! WOW….talk about a great catch eh? Yeah maybe this whole wedding thing could be because they really are in love or it could be a publicity stunt, but Khloe sure knew what she was getting into. Now she just seems like a money and fame hungry person. Has she even met his two kids? Do they even know their dad is married?

This just reminds people of how ridiculous and FAKE the land of Hollywood can truely be. Does love even exist in that world? Or does money and being in the limelight comes before all of that? Whatever the case is Lamar, we hope you are getting talked about because of your outstanding skills on the court and not the courtroom when you and Khloe get a divorce and she milks you for the rest of your money.

Underneath It All….

 

pic courtesy of theybf.com

Last week I talked a little bit about the lack of diversity in the modeling world which included a feature of nineteen year old supermodel Jourdan Dunn who was the first black model to walk down Prada’s runway. Well this time around, a lot of people are throwing a little hissy fit at French Vogue’s latest for using a caucasian model to portray a black woman. Lara stone is featured in the editorials, but not necesarrily looking like her-self obviously. Her natural skin color is nowhere to be found. You can still see her distinct features such as her long limbs and high cheek bones, but I”m pretty sure no one was checking for that because of the simple fact that people are in an uproar and questioning why they didn’t just use a black model to be featured.

In my opinion, the fashion world is all about going over the top especially with such a prominent magazine such as Vogue, whom is referred to as ‘the bible of fashion’ is just doing what they do best……going out of the box and showing to people what ‘high-fashion’ is all about. Obviously they knew that people would see these editorials and hope that people understand their fashion view so it would kind of be a slap in the face if they truly wanted a black model, but instead painted a caucasion one to make her look like one. Hello! This is Vogue people, they can get any model they want- black, white, or any other ethnicity. You are considered an IT factor if you land a campaign with Vogue, which means the spotlight is on you for other magazines and major designers to pick you up.

The obvious question with readers is”Well why didn’t they just use a black model?!” But like I said, I don’t think Vogue was doing it because they simply don’t want to hire black models, they are one of the top fashion magazines in the world so they have to step out of the ordinary to make their editorials as high fashion and edgy as possible. It is just an expression of art people!

Baby on the Runway

As I was reading across some of the gossip blogs they had features of supermodels in the making Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn gracing the cover of Teen Vogue’s latest issue. Both models are only nineteen years old and are rapidly becoming a house hold name in the fashion industry booking shows for the top designers such as Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel), John Galliano (Christian Dior), Marc Jacobs, and Diane von Furstenberg. They are also both featured in prominent  fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vogue Italia, and NY Post’s Page Six Magazine. Not to mention Chanel Iman was a fellow classmate of mine at Fairfax High School.

Jourdan is also the first black model to walk on Prada’s runway last year which encourages the industry to have more diversity on their runways. However, several months ago it was reported that she was pregnant. And it turned out to be true! She recently walked on designer Jean-Paul Gaultier showing off her baby bump. According to www.theybf.com she is due in December with her first child. As I looked at the comments made about her baby bump debut it was mostly positive of how ‘fierce’ she still looked with one. But it kind of bugged me because……….well…….SHE IS STILL A TEENAGER!

I’m pretty sure these girls are big role models to aspiring young teens who hope to be in their shoes one day, but isn’t this sort of promoting teen pregnancy? Having a nineteen year old ‘supermodel’ who happens to be pregnant and still booking a show for a high end designer is a little odd for me. Young adults are so influenced by what they see in the magazines, tvs and other media they might think that I having a baby at a young age isn’t so bad if Jourdan Dunn can do it and still be a model. Not to mention teen pregnancies is still an issue in our society today. The fashion industry is a very high paced society where a model can be replaced by a newer and hipper fresh faced when she reaches about 26 years old (you are considered old by this point). But we still see Dunn working catwalk which makes me question if  this world not only promote stick thin body image, but teen pregnancy as well?