Learning Portfolio Post #2

This is a 2-page spread from Glamour magazine, September 2015 issue. This advertisement is for Prada Eyewear. There are two models, both that have a collared shirt on with a sweater over it. The model on the left has very short hair, flat chested, wearing a yellow and pink sweater with a blue silk collared shirt. The model on the right has her hair up with a jeweled broche, wearing a turquoise collar and shades of blue sweater. Both models do not have much make up on and are not wearing jewelry. This advertisement is very interesting when looking at it through gender – It subverts traditional gender norms by the way the models are styled through color, clothing style, and hair. It is not clear if the model on the left is a woman or man, because the short haircut and flat chest are two details that have a tendency to be seen as masculine, it does not scream femininity,  like most feminine advertisements do. The pink in the sweater on the left is usually seen as feminine but the blue collar is seen as a masculine color traditionally (since the 1930s). Kaiser discusses in great detail in Fashion and Cultural Studies about differentiating gender in fashion through features of dress; “Hegemonic masculine discourse of differentiating gender and distancing from fashion and femininity was neither a sudden nor a decisive renunciation… Instead, it was a protracted process of emphasizing what were to become known as “manly (heavier, darker, wool rather than silk) materials, cuts of clothing (gradually less shapely or form fitting and yet still streamlined), and subtlety in detailing (stitching, ect)” (Kaiser 2012, 126). Both models have very masculine collars on, like the ones that are traditionally recognizable for being on dress shirts for men, but they are made with silk, which Kaiser states as being a more feminine material, and the sweaters they are wearing are heavier, thick and wool-like, which is seen as more masculine as well. The clothing is not very tight and covers up the models, having a very high neckline, which is also something that is more masculine, since feminine advertisements usually show tight form fitting clothes and/or lots of skin. Also, both glasses have a feminine feel to them because of the larger, unique shape, which is usually a more feminine style, and the blush color, which is more common for female glasses.