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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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.
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penny said | 30 April, 2009
yes, but all of the women mentioned still have body types conventional to models.