Saturday, July 21, 2012

girls and boys

Some years ago I attended the pre-formal (or 'prom' to you yanks) drinks of my friend's little sister. It was pretty standard fare - teenagers sipped from glasses filled with about one tablespoon of champagne while their parents looked on, and there were plenty of those wildly awkward group photographs in which tuxedoed boys stand behind their partners in a huge semi-circle, everyone smiling goofily. 


The whole thing took place about four years after I had attended my own formal, and I remember feeling faintly annoyed at how much kinder the prevailing fashions were to these girls - none of them were wearing full length skirts and there were no corsets of the kind that always look absurd on 16 year old girls. A youthful silhouette was driving fashion, with Empire waist lines and baby doll (but not Mod) dresses decidedly 'in'.  I remember recognising the influence of Nina Ricci's Spring 2006 collection in many of the girls' pretty outfits.

ANYWAY. I don't know why but I was discussing this event with a girlfriend recently and we suddenly recalled one particular girl in attendance who baffled expectations by bringing two male partners. I remember finding this exceptionally amusing at the time, particularly because there was no explanation given. They weren't even a particularly vivacious threesome - the enduring picture I have in my head is of the girl in question seated beneath a tree while her two betuxed escorts stood nearby, none of them speaking. 

Another girlfriend who was listening to the story suggested it sounded like something out of a fashion shoot. She's quite right. There are plenty of fashion campaigns in which a woman is accompanied by two men. I can't explain why but it somehow makes for a sexy dynamic.

See further discussion of this image re Cowardly Lion here

 Versace Spring 2011 campaign


This may be wishful thinking but don't the women seem strong/ more powerful than the men? Possibly something to do with the fact that the modelling industry is almost entirely a woman's game and so the men are necessarily anonymous?

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