Glamour (presentation)

History

"Glamour" originally referred to a magic spell, an illusion said to be cast by witches. In the late 19th century terminology, a non-magical item used to help create a more attractive appearance gradually became known as 'a glamour'.

Late in the 19th century, the common meaning shifted to being applied to ordinary objects and jewellery without connotations of supernatural, merely upon the effect that it has on appearance. This is a sense used in this article and to some extent is the way that it was used by the early Hollywood system.

In modern usage glamour is often confused with style or female beauty; but they may be considered to be distinct, although glamour may give the appearance of beauty or present as a personal style.

Design

Many forms of architecture employ glamorous motifs to enhance the appearance of what may be otherwise mundane buildings. The Art Deco style is generally considered to be a glamorous one.

Cinema

The "Golden Age" of the glamour in Hollywood was the 1930s and 1940s, following the Great Depression and its aftermath.

Hollywood studios presented their female stars in designer gowns and exquisite jewelry, both on screen and in carefully orchestrated occasions for publicity. Joan Crawford is quoted to have said, "I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford, the movie star."

Photography was shot in rooms that had been specially painted to flatter the skin tone of the actors and actresses, and attention was paid to hair and clothes. Notably this was successfully done with:

• Grace Kelly
• Marilyn Monroe
• Doris Day

Photography

Glamour photography is the photographing of a fashion model with the emphasis on the model and the model's sexuality and allure; with any clothing, fashion, products or environment contained in the image being of minor consideration. Photographers use a combination of cosmetics, lighting and airbrushing techniques to produce the most physically appealing image of the mode possible. For example in the April 1933 edition of Vanity Fair, George Hoyningen-Huene presented seven images of the same model, in several different manners under the title of "The Man Behind the Camera". Through the use of chiaroscuro lighting and props Hoyningen-Huene successfully created a collection of juxtaposing images that both accentuate and minimise the beauty and glamour of the model.

References

• Photographe de portrait glamour en Bretagne

References

1. (13 November 2018). "50 Of The Most Glamorous Old Hollywood Actresses".
2. "TED conference Virginia Postrel".
3. (2004-10-10). "The Gilded Age". The New York Times.
4. Fulford, Robert. (13 September 2003). "Art Deco's glamour: Art Deco borrowed from the style of machines. The Deco artists loved surfaces that glittered, surfaces of glass, silver, steel, lacquer, then chromium and Bakelite". robertfulford.com.
5. "Zapata, Janet. "The democratization of glamour", ''Antiques''".
6. [http://lazarosarmiento.blogspot.mx/2012/01/dolores-del-rio.html]''Buena suerte viviendo:Dolores del Río''
7. [http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/hollywood-glamour "Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]
8. "Khvan, Olga. "MFA Shows Off Allure, Manipulation of 'Hollywood Glamour'", ''Boston Magazine'', September 9, 2014".
9. Keating, Patrick. (2017). "Artifice and Atmosphere: The Visual Culture of Hollywood Glamour Photography, 1930–1935". Film History.