I chose this fashion advertisement by Stuart Weitzman because I believe it relates to the traditional sense of nudity and beauty seen in paintings such as The Grande Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. This advertisement includes sexualization and glorification of the female nude and abuses others sense of self by creating false desires regarding body image even though it is an advertisement for shoes. Shoes that may give you this body if you were to wear them perhaps. What I like about shoes is that they tend to fit most body sizes because feet generally measure to the standard size options. However, this advertisement makes the viewer subconsciously think they could attain a body like Gigi Hadid by owning the shoes. The advertisement goes agains the notion that everyone can wear a shoe. The add is using Gigi and her gender to force a false sense of worth revolving around the prized shoe, or is it the prized body they are advertising?
The photograph of model Gigi Hadid portrays a simplistic look that is tasteful in black and white. I think if the photo were reverted to color it would create an entirely different feel. Gigi’s gender and naked body is being exploited in order to sell shoes. In the book, Fashion and Cultural Studies, by Susan B. Kaiser, she mentions “by the end of the 15th century, some European artisans bequeathed fancy or ornate clothing in their wills.” I find this quote to be oddly relevant to the image above because, in fact, the model is wearing nothing and don’t people in our twisted society tend to value each other by how much we have? The idea of clothing has changed dramatically since the 15th century. It has become fast and about trends, no longer about the worth of the cloth or the clothing, it is about having the best item the soonest. I believe this relates to gender because women are targeted by the media these days and are consistently being hammered with images of what fashion believes to be the social norm.
