Glamour girl

Glamour used to mean "a magic spell".

That was a century ago. Today glamour is that elusive essence shared by famous people and beautiful objects. Cary Grant. Marlene Dietrich. Arches with stained glass windows. Apple electronics with not a cord in sight. Sleek powerful motor cars. Flights to exotic destinations.

Wearing a pair of sunglasses, which is, of itself glamorous, Virginia Postrel, explores what contributes to this elusive quality.



Glamour is about transcending the everyday, to live in a different world, a little distant. That's why the subject is looking elsewhere in glamorous photographs and paintings. A bit above and beyond the ordinary. But not too far above, so we can still identify with the subject.

Glamour can be the myth that grows up around the founding of an empire in a garage, like Hewlett Packard. Or the stunning beauty and expanse of outer space. The sleek, sweeping lines of a locomotive or airplane. Retouched. Stylized. Sometimes in false colors. As in fabulous books. Or architectural photography. Or stark landscapes.

It's falsification for a purpose. To illuminate. Glorify. Idealize. Dramatize. To create an illusion. Perhaps a little dangerous, because the magic spell is not in your interest. Or Sprezzatura, the art that conceals art.

So here is a workshop to explore the world of glamour:

1. What for you are the qualities of glamour? e.g. perfect beyond belief.
2. If "glamour" is about transcending "the everyday", to live in a different world, to be mysterious, a smidgin beyond the ordinary, in an idealised perfect place, explain how each one of these is glamorous. Nicole Kidman. Cary Grant. Tiffanys. 5th Avenue. Aspen. Airline pilot. Couturier.
3. Describe a holiday destinaton that is glamorous.
4. What lifestyles/work are glamorous, extraordinary, exotic and perfect and why?
5. Choose a product that could benefit from some glamor. What can you do to make it more ideal, extraordinary or mysterious with sleeker lines and a perfect skin.
6. One of the original meanings of glamour was "a magic spell". If you could cast a spell over your life so it was more glamorous, what would you be/do?
7. Recall and describe a landscape or cityscape that felt glamorous when you were there.