On-going Essay!

I have chosen to compare three different advertisements that span ten decades of fragrance advertising and representation women: La Bohême Vivaudou (print 1920s), No 5 Chanel (print 1960s) and Addict Dior (moving picture 2012).

The first aspect that caught my attention as well as stood out about these three perfume advert was how sophisticated, elegant and glamorous women were in the 1920s and 60s. Contrasting with today’s advertisement in 2012, women aspired to be more openly alluring as well as recognizable and palpable with how noticeable their actions are. Instead, in 2012 women are more relaxed and dress less formal regularly.

La Boheme – Vivaudou (print, 1920s)

Vivaudou’s La Bohême depicts a very desirable, glamorous and attractive woman wearing an evening gown that reveals her long slender white legs and bare arms. Significantly, the advertisement’s framework is theatrical and dramatic, as the fragrance name references a famous opera by Puccini; this reinforces the dramatic representation of the woman who is illustrated as preparing to set out for a night of fantasy at the Paris Opera. Finally, she is clearly prosperous and sophisticated, from a high social class, as she is evidently dressed for an elegant night on the town. The text describes the fragrance supports this, with terms like ‘exclusive’ and the target audience described as ‘discerning’.

The woman’s dress is elegant and formal: she is the embodiment of period female chic: her long royal blue low cut ‘slit’ dress with peacock feathered print, intense short red hair flicked at sides, turban-style jewelled hat, and pale complexion with slightly rouged cheeks and intense red defined lips. Overall, these lavish codes reinforce her theatrical and melodramatic style.

Higher class early twentieth-century women wore vibrant red lipstick which contrasted with their pale skin, enhancing their outfit; these features confidently made ladies of the decade stand out from other females, making them seem more glamorous, stylish and mature. Vivid red lipstick was used to emphasize the ‘Cupid’s bow’ of the upper lip and to exaggerate the lower lip as well. This famously created the ‘Rosebud Pout’.

Fashion of the ‘The Roaring 20s’ clearly demarcated itself as the fashion of the modern era. It was an age that developed a sudden increase of affluence; the Harlem Renaissance and with the help of the Suffragettes in the late 19^th Century, came the chance for women to vote.  Until 1925 the waistline of dresses was very low, there after the waistline was nearer to the natural hip.  Trends such as bobbed hair, lengthy gem bracelets, floor length ‘slit’ dresses, cloche hats and knee length dresses became positively synonymous with 1920s style and fashion.

The woman is represented as extremely striking, prominent and slightly rebellious as her right leg and bare foot is on show. She is also pouting as she sprays perfume onto her neck; this gives her an aloof, seductive expression as she is not looking directly towards the camera. Elegance and luxury are the trademark of her style.

The name La Bohême is a French meaning referring to an opera. If you are considered bohemian, you are living an extravagant life with no boundaries that exceeds the expectations of other people’s desires

This representation is very different from my other two choices: here, we have an upper-class woman who is depicted independent, showy and self-absorbed in her revealing ‘slit’ dress, her head tilted upwards spraying her neck with perfume, whereas in my second advertisement we have a woman depicted as part of a couple, loving and self-assured, with her head tilted up as she gazes confidently into her man’s eyes. This gives us the impression that she is serene and secure because she already has her man.

The Vivaudou  woman is independent and assertive without the need for a man, self-governing and free-willed. The three bottles located at the bottom right hand-side of the page are yellow opaque glass with yellowy-gold decoration, classic art-deco design. The woman’s clothing is sophisticated, unlike the representation in Daphne Groeneveld’s Dior Addict (2012) of a young woman as young, flirty and fun, as she skips around St Tropez looking like a young version of the iconic French animal rights activists and actress, Brigitte Bardot. One thing has not changed over in 90 years: women are still alluring objects of objects of desire.    

No 5 – Chanel ( print, 1950s)

No 5 – Chanel depicts a desirable self-confident woman who gazes into the man’s eyes lovingly and he returns her glance adoringly. Her eye contact is extremely striking as evidence of her self-assurance. Her power is clear from her eyesight, posture and glamour.

For Coco Chanel, the founder of the fashion house, women’s emancipation in the 1950s influenced their fashion style: After the rationing of the war years women were now empowered by the increased choice and range of textiles. ‘A girl should be two things; classy and fabulous. Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening’ – Coco Chanel.  

The 1950s was a period of high affluence when the economy boomed and travel became affordable. These fortified worldwide influences on fashion; Hawaiian textiles were a popular choice to wear in the summer. Chanel’s advertisement appears to be an advertisement based on classic love and archetypal characters. For example a heroine and hero are depicted in this advertisement.

Fashion in the 1950s was structured around conformity, style, consumerism and comfort. A woman’s focus was in the home – maintaining the house, rearing children and supporting her husband. Females wore practical clothing for household chores but attractive housedresses were suitable for quick errands such as dropping the children off at school or going shopping. Women wore full skirts, slender pencil skirts and to emphasis their figure and narrowness of the waist. A popular and essential item of clothing for social events was a Cocktail dress; women were also expected to wear a hat and gloves outside of the house. By the late 50s, outrageous backcombed bouffants, beehives, and French pleats led the way for the intricate coiled hairstyles of the 1960s.

Addict – Dior (moving picture 2012)

The television advertisement of Dior’s perfume Addict released in 2012, represents the life of a young, playful woman looking for fun in the sunny French coastal village of St Tropez. Unlike my previous two adverts, the Brigitte Bardot look-a-like is represented as a frivolous, out-going, humorous woman.   The fashion house, Dior, advertises its perfume as luxurious, stylish and perfect for modern, fashionable females. The perfume is portrayed as an ‘addiction’ hence its name as well as being a scent that attracts men throughout the 30 second clip. The fun sounding music is I Love You, Ono by Stereo Total. This music captures the iconic, cheekiness and outgoing personality the young girl is portraying.

At the beginning of the advertisement the young, blonde woman is dancing on a sunny, white sanded beach. She is wearing a black, retro bikini with a large, white hat on her head. The colour  black connotes independence and strength. It appears that this scene is filmed early in the morning as the beach is empty with only the blonde girls pink wooden framed gazebo in view. There is also a cheetah printed screen which she pops out of occasionally holding a selection of different items such as an assortment of medium sized hats in various colours as well as holding the advertisements perfume bottle. It appears that she is trying on many items behind the screen. She then puts her finger up to her mouth and gestures ‘sush’ acting as if she doesn’t want anyone to know what she is doing. This shows me that she is flirty, cheeky and has a fun-loving personality.

There is a series of rapid straight cuts; it creates a feeling a pace throughout the advert. The young girl then makes her way into a small village on the French Riviera. She is wearing black skinny jeans and a black simple t-shirt accessorized with black pumps and a black clutch bag. This outfit contrasts with her long, straight fair hair. I know that it is a village because of the cobbled streets, the sand stone houses that are built close together and small classic restaurants that she passes. The sassy blonde is flicking her hair and twirling around as well as giving the occasional wink to a male pass-by. She is acting as if the pavement is her run way for attracting the male gaze. The girl gradually begins to attract the eye of many males throughout the village, some of whom are sitting on benches, walking past her, drawing a picture while leaning against a wall and peeping behind a wall. She is placed in front of the camera to attract a male audience. Dior wants you to believe that if you wear this perfume you will become and smell attractive, appear eye-catching and have a sense of allure about you. Following this scene, the girl then enters a small bar with only men to be seen. She is now wearing a red leather pleated high waisted skirt with a black t-shirt. She cheekily flicks her skirt up to show her black shorts underneath and gives a provocative wink to the camera while adjusting her now tousled hair. The girl then moves to the middle of the bar to dance with two men. All of the men who spotted her in the street have now followed her into the bar. They are look at her in awe as she is dancing. As the girl is very active from looking at her physique, the two men who she was dancing her lifts her onto a cocktail table where a two other men are sitting. She then strokes her legs revealing her pale slender thighs as she caresses her long blonde hair. This is a fetish shot; it is placed there for sexualizing. This shot is highly charged and invested with meaning.

The young girl bites seductively her lip in the second to last shot. This is then followed by a shot of her peeping out the cheetah printed screen wearing a pair of Dior sunglasses which moves down the bridge of her nose to wink at the camera as well as holding the advertisements perfume.  The final words appear on the screen ‘Dior Addict – be iconic’ with a voice over of ‘Dior Addict – The Iconic Fragrance’ in a tactful, mysterious voice. Comparing to my two previous advertisements, this advert is inter-textual.