The beauty of imperfection
It’s embarrassing to admit, but Barbie’s recent anniversary got us thinking. Are we the only ones having trouble telling young starlets apart? You know the look: teeth get whiter, hair gets blonder, and dress sizes get smaller. Luckily, a backlash against this so called ‘perfectionism’ has been building, and we like it. Over the last few years, fashion houses have been turning to unconventional beauties like Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chloë Sevigny and Vanessa Paradis to inject quirky nonchalance into their brand. And finally we’re seeing a trend emerge with an edgy new wave of models, actors and socialites who are embracing gapped teeth, scars, prominent bone structure, freckles and birthmarks. So if you haven’t already realised your flaws are features, it’s about time you started working them to your advantage.
Tagged: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chloë Sevigny, Vanessa Paradis
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Also by LAURA MCWHINNIE
Girls Against Gold at Sydney’s Blank Space Gallery
With the price of gold hitting an all time high, it was only a matter of time before designers took a hard look at what this metal represents. But just because gold has never been more unattainable, doesn’t mean our jewellery box has to suffer. That’s where Sydney design group Ten More Girls come in. Standing true to this philosophy, their latest exhibition Girls Against Gold kicks off this Saturday at the Blank Space Gallery in Sydney’s Surry Hills. They believe that preciousness lies not in the materials used, but in the piece’s emotional value. Crafting silver, brass, wood and bone, they’ll have you lusting after a whole new array of materials. Read more
Life is made up of a series of moments. Some of them you’ll blink and miss, but others can shake up your entire world and leave you questioning just about every baggage purchase you’ve ever made. Think we’re being dramatic? Take a look at ex-Mimco designer Rachelle Dendle’s label, After the Apple, because her first collection titled FINS is going to stop you in your tracks. Made up of twelve basic bag shapes that will be adapted to a new theme every season, each bag fits a particular person’s need. This season’s dozen takes inspiration from under the sea, giving us injections of tropical colour and flashes of marine form. So which bag will you be fishing for? Read more
Tom Binns’ Neon Chandelier earrings
The fashion pack may have renamed the common ‘fluro’ to an edgy ‘neon’ this season, but that doesn’t mean we’re about to step out in the head-to-toe highlighter hues we’re seeing on the catwalk. Out in the real world it’s all about subtlety, and what better way to make a statement than with a pair of iridescent chandelier earrings by Irish designer Tom Binns. Inspired by the early twentieth century Dada movement, Binns takes crystal embellishment to a whole new level with neon pear-shapes and studded fringing. These babies are just what your wardrobe neutrals need. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (5)
Laura said | 3 May, 2009
I was about to say, you got me there. But I just read that Lily Allen has been chosen as the new face of Chanel. While she is not overweight in the slightest, she certainly doesn’t have the body type of a conventional model. But you are right, usually they inject the quirk through facial features and try to stick with subjects with the model body.
anna said | 7 May, 2009
why was the above model chosen to represent this article? The only break through here by what is written seam to be that she is not blond, I think she fits ever other model stero type and as far as I am concerned blond is the least offensive of the barbie aspect of beauty.
Kylie said | 7 May, 2009
I agree with Anna. How exactly does that sexualised, languidly available to the viewer pose and rake thin model differ to what is descirbed in the article other than hair colour? Seriously, guys.
Laura said | 8 May, 2009
The woman in the shot, is Charlotte Gainsbourg. She is not a model – she is a very talented French actress and singer. While she does have a model like figure, she is certainly not your traditional beauty. New York writer and film critic Erich Kuersten described her as, “the supreme goddess of the ugly-sexy”. She has a prominent nose and chin, and a long face – but she is beautiful. She is beautiful because she is unique – she has her own look and that’s what my article is about.
Hollywood has a lot to answer for – it’s an industry that is creating clones. Girls who have nothing wrong with them are getting nose jobs, fake teeth, spray tans, botox, bigger lips, implants – the list goes on and on. This is resulting in everyone chasing the same look and taking away the parts of them that were unique.
You can’t honestly say that Gainsbourg besides not having blond hair is a stereotypical looking barbie type model that I just described. If your issue is that she doesn’t look out of place in this Balenciaga advertisement – it’s because more and more we’re seeing models that don’t fit the norm. Think back to the 90s with the Elle’s, Claudia’s and the Cindy’s. Could you imagine someone like Lily Cole hitting the big time in that era?! We are moving away from this, heck, we’ve already moved away from this.
Phew – that was a very long comment, but I am happy to continue discussing this.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Anyone who has ever been a fan of those old school cut and paste zines, band fliers, and the like, will really dig the work of Brooklyn illustrator, Ted McGrath, who creates the most fabulously rough and raw, spontaneous collages and ink drawings. Be sure to keep an eye out for the latest edition of American Illustration as McGrath has had the honour of creating this year’s cover. Read more
Situated on the corner of Fifth Avenue and St Marks Place, in Brooklyn’s Park Slope, Total Wine Bar serves wine, beer and some small eats (their Mac n’ Cheese is seriously the best that I’ve eaten). Read more
LA-based designer label Grey Ant has been under my radar for quite some time now, but the Spring 08 collection is what really made me a ‘Grey Ant junkie’. Read more
San Fransisco-based artist Alexis MacKenzie must be patient. She has to be in order to create beautiful collages from the vintage books that she collects. There’s an amazing amount of detail in each piece. Elements are painstakingly transplanted from book to paper with scissors and glue. No Photoshop cut n’ pastes here.
This beautiful black and white art periodical Color Ink Book has been designed so that you can add splashes of color to any of the pages that catch your eye. This second issue features the work of more twenty five international artists, including Andy Smith, Formfieber, Marco Rached, Nathan Spoor, and Trystan Bates.
Films involving characters faced with an impossible choice never make easy viewing, an example being the Nick Cave Australian gem, The Proposition. A nightclub manager, played with understated power by Joaquin Phoenix, is the victim here, and you actually feel truly uncomfortable as his predicament unfolds. Set in the 1980s, We Own The Night shows a real nostalgia for that period — particularly in the costumes. Read more
A broken snare drum rolling gently over a scratchy acoustic guitar; a deep lyrical catharsis smothering a melody which is predictable but endearing. Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers is a magical song; all wrapped up in three and half minutes of lustful introspection.
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WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
Yum, yum, cupcakes are fun. These creations are so clever, so arty, so damn bizarre that it would almost be a shame to eat them. Almost! Read more
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Featuring a design by New York Times Op-Ed artist Igor Kopelnitsky these 5×7 cards have been crafted from Crane’s Lettra Letterpress re-purposed textured cotton paper made from fibres from the fashion industry. The set includes 8 blank cards with envelopes. Read more
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penny said | 30 April, 2009
yes, but all of the women mentioned still have body types conventional to models.