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The Counterfeit Body: Fashion Photography and the Deceptions of Femininity, Sexuality, Authenticity and Self in the 1950s, 60s and 70s The Teacher and the Student: Innocence, Exploration, and Redefinition in the 1950s World of Fashion Tina Butler, mongabay.com May 9, 2005 While Avedon certainly was not villianized to the degree of his colleagues working later in the industry in the 60s and 70s, if the Avery character is indeed based on him, he comes across as not entirely innocuous in his motives and behavior towards his models. From his first interaction with Jo, who will become his model, in the bookstore, to their second meeting in the magazine's darkroom, Avery clearly asserts who is the dominant figure in their relationship; the power dynamic is shifted heavily in his favor. Avery treats Jo like a child, yet at the same time, with a good deal of perverse irony, makes no secret of his attraction to and affection for her. He begins to seduce from the outset. The photographer is equally unprofessional with Marion (Dovima), his regular stock model, although in a completely different manner, insulting her lack of intelligence and one-dimensionality and making dismissive and sexist comments. The film not only presents issues of style concerning photography and models, but also the most basic style itself, the clothes. While Funny Face is often regarded as a showcase for Givenchy couture and as adding to Hepburn's iconic status in culture, it is not the gown she wears "at the film's conclusion that will inspire future fashion. She is remembered for the black turtleneck and capri pants that she wears to frolic as yet unreformed in the cafes of Paris" (Radner 130). Avery assumes the role of the star-maker in the film, recreating and introducing the mousy bookstore clerk as the new face of Quality. Her association with the fashion photographs, in a sense, makes' her. As art often imitates life, or perhaps in this case, life imitates art, Hepburn's real moment as a fashion icon arrives after this film's release. The plot of Funny Face runs as a kind of gross condensing of history in presenting the late 50s shift in fashion photography aesthetics. The film begins with a rabidly enthusiastic and brash magazine editor, Maggie Prescott, (based on Diana Vreeland) of Quality (assuming the role of Vogue here), the premier women's fashion magazine, in a state of panic and frustration. She expresses her dissatisfaction with the stasis of the magazine's presentation of fashions and models. Prescott is desirous of something new and innovative for the modern woman.' She decides that the magazine needs to introduce a new type of woman by finding her, shooting her and putting her on the cover. Enlisting the help of Avery and her regular crew, they invade a neglected Greenwich Village bookstore to do a real' photo shoot with harebrained model Marion. "They have little success making Marion look intelligent, even when surrounded by books. But Dick finds possibilities in using the young, frumpy and studious-minded bookstore clerk Jo Stockton as the model, as she projects character—a new virtue for a model" (Schwartz www.us.imdb.com/Reviews/322/3225). Jo's initial resistance to fashion, modeling and the whole enterprise is persistently weakened, mostly by Avery's increasingly unsubtle influence. During their first encounter, as the crew from Quality invades the bookstore, Jo expresses the shop owner's attitude about the industry they represent and espouses some Frankfurt School-like rhetoric. "He doesn't approve of fashion magazines. It's chi-chi and an unrealistic approach to self-impressions and economics." As for herself, she attempts to avoid being included in the frame with, "It would be hypocrisy for me to lend myself to this sort of idealism!" Ironically and pointedly, Jo speaks not her own mind, but the mind and opinions of her boss. The audience never really gets her attitude about her involvement with what she has now unexpectedly become a part of. After the shoot has finished, Avery remains to help Jo clean up the enormous mess produced by the fashion intrusion, she admonishes him and the industry further. "A man of your ability wasting his talent photographing silly dresses on silly women " She cannot believe his commitment to such a frivolous enterprise. Additionally, she complains of the nature of his industry, writing off the model's appearance as "mostly synthetic beauty." Indeed, as the turn of events in the film illustrates, the transitional years of the 1950's signaled a marked change in aesthetics in terms of modeling framing and presentation. Funny Face makes several comments on and references to the industry as well as visualizing several changes that occurred within it during this period. One such reference is the transition from pure and controlled studio shoots to on location and street shooting, the latter developed by William Klein. In these latter situations, the elements of each fashion photograph become significantly more dynamic because the new environments necessitate and make available so many opportunities for spontaneity and chance. Also, bringing the models to specific sites instead of the often lacking and unintentionally hilarious attempts to produce studio substitutes creates a higher sense of realism. Avery complains of the limiting nature of the studio in his first shoot with Marion. He is the one who proposes going to an actual bookstore to finish the shoot. At first his colleagues look at him blankly, but soon enough, they are marching out the door. This instant in the film memorializes the birth of the practice of on-site shooting, being as revolutionary a moment in fashion and fashion photography, as it was for Hollywood films shooting on location. While changes in both industries were significantly motivated by advances in technology, fashion photography's transition was largely influenced by a shift in sensibility, not just simply more sophisticated lenses, flashes, film stock or other equipment. Even today, the film still retains some of its cultural relevance with numerous references to and within contemporary cultural products. The character of Jo Stockton and Audrey Hepburn the person, have become almost interchangeable at some level. This hybrid' persona was most recently featured in an advertisement for Givenchy's L'Interdit perfume. The ad consists of Hepburn (or Stockton?) in her free-spirited yet elegant Paris-cavorting garb. [Fig. 7] The copy line reads "Celebrating 50 years of style. Created for Audrey Hepburn. Once forbidden. Now reborn." Funny Face's poster girl has also made appearances in the form of references in recent films, including Robert Altman's 1995 feature, Ready to Wear. "I feel as though I'm about to break into the "Bonjour Paris" number from Funny Face," one character in the film remarks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
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