Celebrities

2008-05-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

The press have been banging on again about someone's weight, will they ever stop? This time they are attacking Princess Beatrice for apparently being overweight. Well she doesn't look it to me.

Her mother, Fergie, has been fighting back at these claims, arguing that she is a healthy size 10, and is quite rightly questioning the Medias involvement in all of this, asking them to take more responsibility for their actions.

Beatrice herself is said to have commented 'will they be happy if I get anorexia because then they would write about that?' Exactly. When will the media stop? And when will it be ok to not look like skin and bones just to please them?

2008-05-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

Peaches Geldof has been strutting her stuff on the catwalk dressed in Agent Provocateur, looking, well, weird. Surely Agent Provocateur is meant to 'be sexy' not something that is worn by a bemused 19 year old who just looks like she is toddling along in fancy dress.
Fair enough, it was for charity but the drug-taking party girl seems far too young to be acting like this, having only just escaped Police charges over a drug scandal as well as being nicknamed Dyson the hoover for her alleged cocaine snorting. Just another celebrity kid that will no doubt end up in rehab.

2008-05-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

This week 16 year old Georgia May Jagger stepped in out a Herve Leger bandage dress whilst attending the SATC premier. She may be the latest Jagger kid to sign up to a modelling agency, but at 16 should she really be wearing this? The fashionable body conscious look is seen on many celebs including Victoria Beckham and Rhianna, but it is far too tight and revealing to be seen on the body of a sixteen year old. This is just another example of the over-sexualisation of teenagers; she has been in the spotlight most of her life and with the constriction of the fashion and music industry, no doubt has grown up beyond her years.

Everything about this girl screams grown-up, yet knowing she is a 16 year old it is worrying to think where her childhood has gone. At 16 she is obviously far too image conscious, and no doubt the modelling industry will only cause this to continue. In this case it is obvious that it is her environment and parental influences that have caused her to grow up so fast and it will be the media that pushes it forward to the masses.

2008-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

On the subject of Dove's campign, an most interesting study into the implications of these ideals and social pressures is the campaign and global survey funded by Dove, Beyond Stereotypes: Rebuilding the Foundations of Beauty Beliefs, 2005, following the success of their earlier campaign in 2004 The Real Truth about Beauty in which it was revealed that 54% of girls age 6-17 are aware of a need to be physically attractive. This leads me to ask are they not only aware of the need to be attractive or driven by this need? This may seem like an obvious revelation in our contemporary culture, but it leads me to ask if children as young as six years old are realising this need for attractiveness, where is their childhood going? Surely at this age, appearance should be the least of their worries.

The latest campaign in 2005, aims to make a ‘change in the ways in which girls and women talk about beauty and body image’. There was clear evidence that girl’s mothers and their views have a strong influence over the way girls see themselves which in turn leads to insecurities, and it was also documented that 76% of girls age 15-17 in Great Britain feel that it is harder to personally feel beautiful when confronted with today’s beauty ideals. This idea that family play an important role into teenage development is well documented, and it is evident that certain negative family views can be projected onto an individual, usually going through puberty, leading to higher insecurities and an overly self-conscious outlook. This is an interesting factor when you think about how this would contrast with the views young girls learn off their peers and the media.

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co.uk/

Dove Real Beauty

2008-04-15T05:18:00.001-07:00

Air Brushed Nation

2008-04-15T05:16:00.001-07:00

Thinking about airbrushed celebs, check out these videos....

Celebrity Culture

2008-04-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

In recent years the celebrity has become a dominant part of contemporary culture, and often seen as a construction of our cultural identity. The introduction of gossip magazines and tabloid newspapers such as Heat and the Sun are examples of texts which are based around celebrity culture and are seen to ‘dumb down’ this subject bring the image of the celebrity to our attention.

It is this fascination with celebrities and their lives which is intriguing, and in particular the fascination with the image of the celebrity which has been described as losing its grounding in substance or reality. The notion that female celebrities are the construction of the female ideal, which puts them in a place that we can only strive and dream to be in has been replaced by the idea that we CAN and SHOULD be like them and has been brought to our attention through the media.

The images of celebrities cannot be avoided in everyday life and this only brings these ideals closer to us, making the image of the celebrity seem achievable and realistic, when in actual fact these images are manipulated, airbrushed and have money thrown at them to create these illusions.

There are always exceptions to the rules, for instance in this case we can think about current celebrities such as Beth Ditto the lead singer of the Gossip, who can be seen as the forerunner for ‘larger ladies’, weighing 15 stone 14, in the music industry, even being placed at the top of the NME list for ‘The Coolest Person in Rock’. She has filled a gap in the market for a realistic view of our culture; walking around the streets it is clearly evident that we do not all conform to the idealised skinny image of the celebrity, however whether she has yet to alter adolescents perceptions of what they should be like and their perceptions of themselves remains to be seen.

2008-03-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, Victoria Beckham the new face of fashion? I'm yet to be convinced. Lets be honest, she has worn some dodgy things in teh past and the only time she seems to get it right is when she keeps it simple.

But would you trust her to design a collection alongside you? Rouland Mouret does.

And what about becoming the new face of your line if only you allow them to shove you in a carrier bag? Well, Marc Jacobs has.

I was willing to become convinced, she deserves a chance, but seriously, anyone who lets herself be covered in a dodgy fake tan whilst sporting some very interesting headwear, should they be trusted to dress us?

Well I will be waiting eagerly for the launch of the capulse LBD's, but until then I will keep on wondering 'whose idea was the fake fringe and the giant bag?'

2008-03-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Jordan has done it again; she has stripped down to her underwear, and all for the sake of publicity. Although this time you could say it is for a good(ish) cause, she has started a campaign along with Asda against size zeros.
Her new underwear range is aimed at all sizes, apparently you don't have to be a size zero to wear this........this all sounds great except for one thing. Jordan isn't exactly the best role model when it comes to being 'happy' with your body, is she? The woman who has now undergone four breast surgeries and is planning another one, along with having a nose job and her teeth done, as well as the obvious continuous dieting that would be required to maintain a body like that. She's hardly a natural beauty. So should we all take body confidence advice off Jordan? It seems unlikely. The major part of the campaign revolves around the 'real' girls of all sizes wearing the underwear alongside Jordan, but I still don't think I would be convinced. She seems to have gotten it right when it comes to getting publicity, but when it comes down to it, Asda underwear is still Asda underwear, not matter how much you try and big it up. So no, I will not be buying any!

Nancy Drew's Growing Up

2008-03-05T03:50:00.000-08:00

Its official, the danger of under-age dressing has finally been realised- this months Vogue features an article which asks if young celebs such as Emma Watson and Pixie Geldof are a case of 'too much too young'.

Teen stars have the opportunity to dress, and be seen as older than they are, wearing clothing which was designed for women, not girls. Is it the parents fault (cloning their children into mini versions of themselves) or their own fault? Teen stars have money and the freedom that 'normal' teens do not have and being in the limelight means that they will use this to become something that they are not.

One area this article does not cover is the impact of these young celebrities on ‘normal’ adolescents, Timothy seems to believe that the problem is only related to teen stars and does not touch everyday adolescents. In fact these stars can be seen to have huge impact on everyday teens if we consider the fact that celebrities are used to bring a sense of reality to the media, and a sense of ‘look what you can achieve, you can be just like us’- if you follow the rules of femininity.

Emma Watson is perhaps one of the worst teen celebs for this- but instead of going down the route of over-sexualisation she over-grannyfies herself. Not content with the idea making herself look in her twenties by showing a bit of flesh, she makes herself look like she is in her fifties by showing too little. In the image above there seems to be a fine line between looking like a child 'playing dress-up' and looking like your nan. It's true, money really can't buy you anything, and in this case it definitely can't buy you style.

Don't worry though, in the words of Vogue 'although Fendi totes slung over their wrists may be a little unsettling to some, at least they're roomy enough for a skipping rope and a Nancy Drew'.

The Designer Celeb

2008-01-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

This week we have seen the rise of the amazing laser-cut Giles Deacon dresses, which are inspired by Andreas Kocks- and of course they went straight from runway to celebrity. Celebs are no longer just famous for their ‘talents’- they are fashion icons, take Lily Allen who was one of the first to show off the dress, she’s moved up in the fashion world with the help of her a few hints from many well known designers and has removed all signs of her former self, the little gobby chav you would see hanging around the streets. Not only has she improved on her style she has also influenced the nobody with her fashion line for New Look, Lily Loves. The trend for celebs to sell their own style to us is popular, who hasn’t heard of Kate Moss designing for Topshop? So it is no wonder that teens are beginning to idolise celebrities and wanting to dress and look like them, this rise in celebrity culture is influenced by the media and by the commoditisation of the celebrity itself.
The notion that female celebrities are the construction of the female ideal, which puts them in a place that we can only strive and dream to be in has been replaced by the idea that we CAN and SHOULD be like them and has been brought to our attention through the media. The images of celebrities cannot be avoided in everyday life and this only brings these ideals closer to us, making the image of the celebrity seem achievable and realistic, when in actual fact these images are far from most people’s norm, but idea of selling designer and celebrity endorsed clothes on the high street makes it slightly more achievable. Whether this is a good or bad craze, I don’t know.

Picture scanned form Teen Vogue