Posted by Bel. The time is 8.34am here in Wellington NZ.

I do love having the latest fashion news sent directly to my inbox. I don't love when it is filled with body dismorphia, cliched clothing and tacky writing.

The immediate clanger here is the obvious "enhancement" that has gone on with the image of the model on the bottom right.
 
Perhaps it is some snazzy move that I missed the week I skipped America's Next Top Model, but as far as I am aware, Tyra has not yet let us all in on a pose that instantaneously whittles your waist down to the width of your head. Practically miraculous, especially when you have two other photos of normal-sized waist to compare it to!
 
Overall, it was just plain disappointing to get a whole e-newsletter devoted to touting the joys of NAUTICAL. Nautical, you guys! Did you hear? It's in! It's in this summer! And do you remember last summer? Um, yeah - just like then! What's that? The summer before... uhhh... maybe?
 
Pardon? Ever since Jean-Paul Gaultier's debut collection in 1976? Or maybe since Gabrielle Chanel busted out a top she borrowed from the sailors of Brittany back in the 30s? Hmmm... interesting points. Fashion is know for being cyclic, but really, trying to act as if as there is a trend popping up when we've had nothing but blue and white stripes flung at us for season after season seems to be taking it a little far!
 
And it must be said, I love me a good pun [see: above]. This is a trait passed down from my mother, who is also a Scrabble champion and cryptic crossword queen. But "I heart bouys" is weak on so many levels. For one, it just draws my attention again to the fact that they are trying to act as if this whole nautical baloney is new and fun and exciting. 
 
It also taps into a pet peeve of the way mainstream fashion retail stores, which used to cater for women in their 20s with a professional focus, are aiming more and more towards the teenage market.

 

"I heart bouys" is the kind of lame-arse thing you might see mass-produced in Supre, a shop where the sizing alone lets you know that their target audience is people who have not yet developed mature hips and breasts. It's not a good fit with the usual 'wear it from work to the club' stuff that comes out of Portmans, and goodness me, not much upsets me more in the world than inconsistent branding!*

*Things that upset me more in the world than inconsistent branding:

• That funding for evening classes has been cut and Education Minister Anne Tolley has suggested as the option for refugees to New Zealand who were using this as their way to become proficient in English, that they will now be allowed to apply for student loans.
• That the food from Satay Kingdom in Left Bank is cheaper than the food from the Thai place on Cuba, but their portions are smaller and I always feel too stuffed after a Satay Kingdom laksa.
• Murray McCully. I really hate that guy so bad.
• Finally deciding to use a voucher and finding out that it has expired. Gahh!

Posted by Bel. The time is 9.30am here in Wellington, NZ.

What does this Nike ad actually say about the way modern sportspeople have to sell off their bodies, just to get ahead in the game?

Posted by Bel. The time is 12:01pm here in Wellington, NZ.

I know that Lou is the tennis fan, and that due to my lack of a television, there's a high chance everyone else has already seen this - but I'm posting it anyway. I love it.

Advertising for "women's sanitary products" tends to be rather coy, particularly in the American market from what I've read. Great to see this champion doing such an edgy and funny piece - I hope she got a lifetime supply as part of her endorsement! Jezebel has an article about the ad, questioning why aren't more famous faces used to sell such an essential product.

Along the same lines, copyranter praises a French print ad (Tampax again!) which actually emphasises the no-leakage benefits of a tampon (for when you're swimming with sharks, in particular), rather the demurely using blue liquid and euphemisms.

Posted by Bel. The time is 11:12pm here in Wellington, NZ.

The adage 'Don't always believe what you read in the papers' is becoming more true, and more adaptable, as time goes on and media develops.

The article "Sorting inbox fact from fiction" has a great slideshow with it, where the captions reveal which pictures are genuine and which are internet hoaxes, forwarded by overexcited office workers on boring Friday afternoons. A couple of the photos declared to be 'false' are works by artists (such as Li Wei's gravity-defying self portraits and Ron Mueck's hyperreal disproportionate sculptures).

In the art world, we can appreciate the craft that goes into creating something that deceives the eye. But what about when this done solely from a commercial perspective?

Check out this interview with someone you never would have heard of. But chances are you have seen his work somewhere. In last year's March issue of Vogue, Pascal Dangin tweaked 144 images: 107 ads (Estée Lauder, Gucci, Dior, etc.), 36 fashion pictures, and the cover, featuring Drew Barrymore. Because, you know, she needs work.

Dangin is the man who turned Annie Leibovitz's series of portraits of "The Sopranos" cast into this tableaux:

You mean they didn't all get up at dawn for a moody photoshoot on the Jersey Shore, schlumping around in the mud? Dang indeed.

This video from the NY Times "Sex, Lies and Photoshop" suggests that magazines credit the retouchers, as well as photographers, in order to draw attention to the extent of manipulation of images.

Speaking with those in the industry, it shows how four different images were used to create a composite for an advertisment photo. The photoshopper himself muses on the impact this might have on a model's self esteem - let alone the rest of us, in a world where we are bombarded by these falsely constructed images of perfection.

Jezebel's Photoshop of Horrors has done a wonderful job of drawing attention to the butchering of the human form which takes place, generally in print advertising. It is usually up to alternative media to be the watchdogs, as everyone else is dependent on the revenue brought in by these warped images. If you want a quick scroll through of just what other bullshit is attempted to be passed off as acceptable for general consumption, pay a visit to the blog Photoshop Disaster for some LOLs/heartache.

[Click on the image for large version and play spot the difference! 3 different eye colours! Nose shapes! Chins! She's an Oscar-winning Mr Potato Head!]

As rampant and blatant use of retouching becomes so commonplace (whether it be a fantastical glossy fashion mag, or a supposedly reputable news source), the impetus falls upon the reader. It is up to us to treat these images as fiction and not as representations of real life or of achieveable ideals. And to question if a cat could if really get to that size.

Posted by Bel. The time is 6:15pm here in Wellington, NZ.

It's well known now that Hollywood actors will shoot commercials screened only overseas for, well, a bit of pocket money? Extra cash for that second yacht?

Or in Brad Pitt's case, most likely numerous multi-seater prams and self-defense anti-paparazzi classes for his clan. Here he stars in a Japanese ad, directed by Spike Jonze - apparently for cellphones.

Click here for a few behind-the-scenes shots.

Posted by Bel. The time is 9:51am here in Wellington, NZ.

I usually immediately delete all the forwards my dad sends through, because the only thing worse than a forward, is a forward one of your parents thinks is funny.

But who of us has not been dicked around by Telecom over the years, or recently infuriated by their incredibly stupid 'teaser campaign'? It stars that stumpy guy off Top Gear who is best known for his near death experiences on supposedly high tech equipment - quite fitting really. Cue parody:

Posted by Bel. The time is 3:31pm here in Wellington, NZ.

120 billboards have been reclaimed in New York City, after Jordan Seiler of the Public Ad Campaign website discovered that the company hiring them out for corporate and multinational advertising did not have them registered for permits with the NYC Department of Buildings.

Over the weekend, a team of volunteers reappropriated them for artworks in an act of art-activism that is becoming ever more popular as the Current Economic Climate (C) TM registered trademark causes people to think a little more carefully about where they spend their money on and what they are being told to spend their money on.

Click on any of the images to see them larger.

I sourced the photos from here and here, where you can read more on the project.