Those words open an American Apparel add with a picture of an attractive, young lady in (you guessed it) a black dress, posed with her right arm dangling down to her parted thighs, and her shadowed left hand partially sticking out from behind her matching hair (styled in what is almost a flopper's short page-boy). Her breasts are mashed to her body behind a sheer lining (also black), allowing her to have a medium neckline and a low cut front at the same time. Her expression is inscrutable, and not far from blank.
What's interesting in this add is the very small text beneath the gigantic declaration, "Little Black Dress":
"Meet Lea.
"She's a French tomboy and actress hailing from a family full of boys. She's a French tomboy, tennis player and actress from a family of all boys."
If it had stopped there, or continued on in that pattern, I would have been impressed. She's a French tomboy, short order cook, tennis player, and actress from a family with many boys. She's a French tomboy, go-cart driver, short order cook, tennis player, and actress from a family brimming with boys. She's a French tomboy, middling poet... Think of the possibilities. Alas, it ends thus:
"Lea lives and models in Los Angeles, but will be enrolling in college this coming fall in one of our favorite places, Montreal. She is wearing the Cotton Spandex Sleeveless Gloria-V Dress." And follows with a list of retail locations.
It was but a step from genius.
What's interesting in this add is the very small text beneath the gigantic declaration, "Little Black Dress":
"Meet Lea.
"She's a French tomboy and actress hailing from a family full of boys. She's a French tomboy, tennis player and actress from a family of all boys."
If it had stopped there, or continued on in that pattern, I would have been impressed. She's a French tomboy, short order cook, tennis player, and actress from a family with many boys. She's a French tomboy, go-cart driver, short order cook, tennis player, and actress from a family brimming with boys. She's a French tomboy, middling poet... Think of the possibilities. Alas, it ends thus:
"Lea lives and models in Los Angeles, but will be enrolling in college this coming fall in one of our favorite places, Montreal. She is wearing the Cotton Spandex Sleeveless Gloria-V Dress." And follows with a list of retail locations.
It was but a step from genius.
You mean a flapper?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything that silly in a clothing magazine...
usually when I look through the clothing magazines in our house (Land's End and such) I like to count how many times they do the pose where the guy has one hand in his front pocket
I did mean to write 'flapper', yes. I'm not sure what a 'flopper' would be, exactly, but I don't suppose its hair would be neat.
ReplyDeleteThese American Apparel ads run on the back of a free weekly newspaper in Seattle. Their photos wouldn't look too far out of place in a style magazine, but aren't exactly what you'd expect in a standard clothing catalogue. All their ads are written about some model, which is different from what I've seen elsewhere. This one was, of course, particularly ridiculous.