Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Fashion Photography: Guide for the Inept

Observe the fashion of photography...

EXAMPLE #1: THE BAD GIRL


EXAMPLE #2: A BLONDE IN A BIKINI


EXAMPLE #3: THE BROODING MISFIT


EXAMPLE #4: THE PLAIN JANE


EXAMPLE #5: THE ARTSY TYPE


Now you may be getting the point... photographers and models are chosen to convey specific stereotypical looks for different fashion products. The goal in the end product (advertising) is to get the viewer to identify with the woman in the photo and want to be more like that...

And then run out and buy jeans, jewelry or whatever they happen to be selling.

Often they will throw in a semi-shaved ruggedly good looking male model in a clear effort to say... "Buy this and you will get a handsome man!"

And it works very easily because people are basically stupid and fall for it even when they know they're being pitched advertising.

Prostitution in the Fashion Industry

FASHION / SEX - Say what???

If you didn't notice or know that there was rampant prostitution (and drugs) in the fashion industry you would have to be sticking your head in the sand.

Its there.

People don't really talk about it that much.

You certainly won't see it mentioned in glossy fashion magazines wherein advertisers don't want to upset the feminists by talking about the rampant problems within the fashion industry (sweatshops, child slavery, anorexia, bulimia, overemphasis on beauty, toxic chemicals in makeup, etc).

But WE are not a glossy fashion magazine. We can talk about stuff they won't talk about.

Regardless of what you've seen in films like Pretty Woman, being used for sex is not a love story. Its a heartbreaking, nerve wracking and depressing experience often coupled with drug addiction and an abusive relationship with one's pimp.

A more realistic film to watch would be the French film "Baise Moi"... except cut out the part where the two women go on a killing rampage.

In the fashion industry its different. The women are looking for easy money by being a fashion model and often fall into the partying and drugs crowd and due to their addiction need to find extra ways to make money.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Enter the prostitution rings, like the French prostitution ring which was recently busted and caught Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the process.

It is really only a hop and a step from the catwalk to the escort industry and the sex workers industry. In France and other countries where prostitution is legal its really not that surprising.

Take Germany for example. The industry has become so rampant they have glossy websites like Escort Berlin which let men choose which woman they want to have sex with.

What you may notice about sites like Escort Service Berlin is that the women are mostly imported from other countries... this is because Berlin is one of the top destinations in the world for sex tourism and they have so many men looking to pay for sex that they can't keep up with the demand so they're bringing in foreign labour.

Male tourists and businessmen looking for a good time... not exactly what you think of when you think of German tourist brochures, is it?

I can just imagine the brochures...

Traveling to Berlin / Sightseeing in Berlin? Why not hire Berlin's most luxurious escort agency, the premier in adult entertainment in Germany. Luxury companionship is only a credit card away and unlike other countries, legal and generally accepted by the German public.

Sorry if I am getting off topic with the whole travel / tourism topic, but sex tourism is a big thing in the prostitution industry. Adult oriented travel destinations is big business whether you are visiting Southern Germany, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo or Beijing...

You will note that such places are both epicentres for fashion and sex workers. I guess we can't really be that surprised.

In an industry where fashion models frequently snort cocaine and shoot heroin I guess we can't be too surprised by anything in the modeling industry.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Design Your Own Clothing & Fashion Sketches



Design Your Own Clothing & Fashion Sketches

Design Your Own Clothing & Fashion Sketcheswww.DigitalFashionPro.com - video showing Digital Fashion Pro in action. Order it today at DigitalFashionPro.com. Start designing your own clothing!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Who is Patrizia?

FASHION - I just really like the smart way they did this advertising campaign... keeps the focus on the clothes, not the model's face.







Pretty Nail Fashion: My Dream

Pretty Nail Fashion: My Dream
Pretty Nail Fashion: My Dream

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

James Laver's Law of Fashion

FASHION - James Laver was a museum curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from the 1930s through the 1950s. Laver was also a fashion theorist and historian and having no other claim to fame he conceived of Laver’s Law — an attempt to make sense of the "fashion trend life cycle".

Here is James Laver's Law of Fashion:

Indecent 10 years before its time
Shameless 5 years before its time
Outré (Daring) 1 year before its time
Smart Current Fashion
Dowdy 1 year after its time
Hideous 10 years after its time
Ridiculous 20 years after its time
Amusing 30 years after its time
Quaint 50 years after its time
Charming 70 years after its time
Romantic 100 years after its time
Beautiful 150 years after its time

What is interesting is that James Laver's Law of Fashion's has become the standard by which clothes buyers now operate. ie. Stanley Marcus, the former president of Neiman Marcus, recounts in his rather boring memoir titled "Minding the Store" how Laver’s Law was used by Neiman Marcus clothes buyers in the late 1960’s.

At the time there was a heated debate on whether the trend for the next year would still be the mini skirt (which was the current fashion) or the longer midi skirt. Marcus recalls asking Laver point blank if the mini skirt was dead. Laver told him that the mini skirt had at least another 2 years to go... whereas other experts were saying the time for the midi skirt would be soon.

His forecast was right, the midi was a complete flop, many women continued to wear the miniskirt, and those who couldn’t or wouldn’t make up their minds went into the pants suit. Pants were bound to come, but the skirt-length controversy made pants acceptable at an accelerated rate.

The real and sheer brilliance of James Laver's Law of Fashion's timeline is that it can be applied to nearly all creative mediums — not just fashion but also art, design, architecture and even music. So called Smart or Current Fashion, doesn’t have a particular time frame attached to it. Something can be smart for 1 year or a even few years. It might not even be a trend, but a wave lasting generations, such as when bikinis were first introduced and became popular.


Now think back to some of the trendy things of the past and you’ll see how it applies: Brightly colored iMacs, Victorian wallpaper, Disco, Preppy clothes, stainless steel art deco appliances...

Hitting that sweet spot around Daring and Smart is what fashion designers are trying to design... because obviously they want to make a product that everyone will want to buy and it can be mass produced. Go shopping and look at all the stuff that in a few years will start to look bad.

In 10 years it will look horrible.

And then eventually your kids will raid your closet or attic and it will be hip again.

Fashion Masks

FASHION - Because pretty dresses and masquerade masks will ALWAYS be chic and kewl.





Raven leather mask

FASHION - Found this one on Etsy.

Its a raven mask cut out of black leather... but I ask you, couldn't it be made out of this something other than leather? Faux leather at least. Cloth?

The designer cuts it out of 5-6 oz tanned leather, then hand shapes it while wet to fit a face. Once dry she paints it black and seals it with an acrylic finish.

Because of all the cut outs it weighs just 1½ ounces, which means it will be comfortable to wear for extended periods. Comes with an adjustable double strand of elastic.

But come on, use something other than leather. And its so easy to make anyone could make it. Even my idiotic ex could do it.

Is Semen Fashion???

FASHION - Whoa, talk about a fashion statement.

According to the jewelry designer's website this Necklace "Is an Accurate Representation of Semen"... meaning male ejaculate...

Wow.

And they're $600 USD each. Handmade by designer Leah Piepgras. Wow, some people will just walk all over all the strives made by feminists just to make a quick buck off the kind of women who would actually buy such things. (Jewelry for skanks.)


Eyeliner Art

ART HISTORY - Isn't photography awesome??? Here is some kewl art made using nothing more than makeup and a digital camera and lighting.

Eyeliner art rocks!








Milan Fashion Week Spring 2012

FASHION - Huzzah, the Milan Fashion Week for Spring 2012... set to music!

Disturbingly Thin

Wow.

Fashion models are just getting thinner and thinner. What is next, surgically altering their bodies to make themselves even thinner?

Fashion Sketches

Fashion Sketches
Fashion Sketches

Monday, February 6, 2012

Wedding Dress Style Sketches

Wedding Dress Style Sketches
Wedding Dress Style Sketches

Suspenders for Men and Women!

FASHION - On Saturday night I went out to a pub and I saw two separate guys wearing suspenders.

Since then I've been noticing it more. I saw suspenders yesterday and today at the bank I saw a woman wearing suspenders.

What the heck? I want suspenders too now!

They certainly provide a nice alternative when you can't decide on a belt to wear.

What struck me is how classy and sophisticated they looked. And honest and hardworking at the same time. Its a nice look, a bit retro, but very kewl.

Its official. Suspenders are back in fashion!