HSG
14th January 2010, 15:26
<br>As everyone is aware, today is the day that <i>V Magazine</i>'s "Size Issue" hits the stands. For those of you who don't particularly care to wander from bookseller to bookseller looking for the print edition, the entire magazine is online for the ridiculously low price of $2.00.
Yes, they are practically giving it away--which isn't really that extraordinary, since magazines make the larger part of their profits from advertising, not issue sales.
At any rate, purchasing the issue is well worth the meagre $2.00 outlay, if only to commend <i>V</I> for publishing the magnificent "Curves Ahead" editorial--of which Candice's image is the acknowledged masterpiece. What a thrill it is to see this image in print.<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v03.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>- <a href="http://www.vmagazine.com/page.php?pn=SIZE%20ISSUE%20PROMO" target="_blank">Click here to purchase "Size Issue" online</a>
As far as a review goes, the magazine needs little comment from us. Most of the editorials have already appeared online, attracting endless discussion, much of it not particularly enlightened. For our part, we simply acknowledge <i>V</i> for what it is--a <i>modern</i> fashion magazine with <i>modern</i> tastes and, overall, a <i>modern</i> aesthetic. *Sigh.* It is tailor-made for those who appreciate that aesthetic.
But nothing changes the fact that right there, in the middle of the issue, in the "pole position" as the very first editorial, is the acclaimed "Curves Ahead" layout. By now, everyone realizes that this is the editorial that <i>matters,</I> the one in which <i>V</I> indisputably <i>got it right.</I> No freakish makeup, no vulgar themes, just timeless beauty in casual contemporary clothing, with the models' soft curves liberally on display.
When other magazine turn to this issue for guidance on how to do their own plus-size editorials, one hopes that it will be Solve Sundsbo's images from "Curves Ahead" that they reference.
Having said that, several other items in the issue merit praise, and help mollify the reader as he skips over pages upon pages of grotesque modern fashions and countless advertisements featuring anorexic models.
For one thing, the "Size Issue" has <i>no diet ads.</I> None. <i>Glamour</I> cannot make such a boast. Between this fact, and the indisputable beauty of "Curves Ahead," there is simply no competition as to which magazine is the more size-positive. This issue of <i>V</I> leaves every <i>Glamour</I> of the past half-year, along with each of <i>Vogue</i>'s "Shape Issues," completely in the dust.
Mind you, one could argue that every <i>V</I> ad with a straight-size model is a de facto diet ad. But there is no getting around that problem. Even <i>Mode</I> featured perfume and shampoo ads with underweight girls. The important thing is that this issue contains no explicit exhortations for body diminishment. Kudos for that.
Better still, <i>V</I> features positives in place of negatives. Have a look at these lovely two pages from the issue:<p><center><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v04.jpg"></center><p>Let's ignore the fact that this is footwear, and regard these pages as <i>V</i>'s commendable attempt to link fashion with decadent indulgence. Could there be a more positive, more daring, more exciting notion? <i>V</I> is completely changing the fashion paradigm. Instead of revisiting well-plowed themes linking fashion with narcotics, debauchery, and starvation, <i>V</I> is boldly associating fashion with appetite, with a distinctly and traditionally feminine surrender to sweet cravings.
There could be no better theme to introduce in the "size issue." Indeed, one hopes that more than a few readers view these images with pleasure, then see the pictures in the "Curves Ahead" story and realize that indulging freely in such desserts will help them acquire the luscious womanly figures exhibited by the editorial's gorgeous models.
But the issue's merits don't end there. Louis XIV may be a controversial king, admired for his absolutism yet despised for burning every German castle along the Rhine, but the issue has a piece about his own decadent love of food that, one hopes, will similarly whet the appetites of the issue's female readers.
The magazine also contains a tastefully erotic excerpt called "Noctural Love Feast" from an early 20th-century cookbook--another fine pro-indulgence element for the "Size Issue."
Furthermore, one of the fashion articles examines the career of Mark Fast, who famously sent several slightly curvy models down the catwalk for London Fashion Week in form-fitting knits. Bravo to the <i>V</I> team for giving the fullest of the models who appeared in that show--the only one even close to looking plus-size--the largest illustration in the article.<p><center>* * *</center><p>All in all, the weaknesses of the "Size Issue" are no more than what one might have expected, including its relentlessly modern aesthetic and its extensive use of minus-size models. But the issue has many strengths that we did not anticipate. For avoiding any diet-starvation and exercise-torture ads, for including unexpectedly daring pro-indulgence articles, and especially for publishing a brilliant layout that gives the high-fashion seal of approval to the depiction of visibly plump curves on models, <i>V</i> deserves considerable praise.
Here we offer one more of the "Curves Ahead" images that have been seen worldwide--a double featuring the issue's two most attractive models, Candice Huffine and Tara Lynn:<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v02a.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>Note the lovely curve along Candice's back, and see how the Baroque painter Cesar van Everdingen depicted the same characteristic in his <i>Vertumnus and Pomona</i> of 1640, below. By adopting the size-celebratory aesthetic of pre-modern Western art, the photographer introduced an element of timeless beauty that is in no way undermined by the contemporary denim attire. Let us hope that other magazines will follow suit.<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/pinacotheca/everdingen06.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/pinacotheca/everdingen/everdingen06b.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>- <a href="http://www.vmagazine.com/page.php?pn=SIZE%20ISSUE%20PROMO" target="_blank">Click here to purchase "Size Issue" online</a>
Yes, they are practically giving it away--which isn't really that extraordinary, since magazines make the larger part of their profits from advertising, not issue sales.
At any rate, purchasing the issue is well worth the meagre $2.00 outlay, if only to commend <i>V</I> for publishing the magnificent "Curves Ahead" editorial--of which Candice's image is the acknowledged masterpiece. What a thrill it is to see this image in print.<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v03.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>- <a href="http://www.vmagazine.com/page.php?pn=SIZE%20ISSUE%20PROMO" target="_blank">Click here to purchase "Size Issue" online</a>
As far as a review goes, the magazine needs little comment from us. Most of the editorials have already appeared online, attracting endless discussion, much of it not particularly enlightened. For our part, we simply acknowledge <i>V</i> for what it is--a <i>modern</i> fashion magazine with <i>modern</i> tastes and, overall, a <i>modern</i> aesthetic. *Sigh.* It is tailor-made for those who appreciate that aesthetic.
But nothing changes the fact that right there, in the middle of the issue, in the "pole position" as the very first editorial, is the acclaimed "Curves Ahead" layout. By now, everyone realizes that this is the editorial that <i>matters,</I> the one in which <i>V</I> indisputably <i>got it right.</I> No freakish makeup, no vulgar themes, just timeless beauty in casual contemporary clothing, with the models' soft curves liberally on display.
When other magazine turn to this issue for guidance on how to do their own plus-size editorials, one hopes that it will be Solve Sundsbo's images from "Curves Ahead" that they reference.
Having said that, several other items in the issue merit praise, and help mollify the reader as he skips over pages upon pages of grotesque modern fashions and countless advertisements featuring anorexic models.
For one thing, the "Size Issue" has <i>no diet ads.</I> None. <i>Glamour</I> cannot make such a boast. Between this fact, and the indisputable beauty of "Curves Ahead," there is simply no competition as to which magazine is the more size-positive. This issue of <i>V</I> leaves every <i>Glamour</I> of the past half-year, along with each of <i>Vogue</i>'s "Shape Issues," completely in the dust.
Mind you, one could argue that every <i>V</I> ad with a straight-size model is a de facto diet ad. But there is no getting around that problem. Even <i>Mode</I> featured perfume and shampoo ads with underweight girls. The important thing is that this issue contains no explicit exhortations for body diminishment. Kudos for that.
Better still, <i>V</I> features positives in place of negatives. Have a look at these lovely two pages from the issue:<p><center><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v04.jpg"></center><p>Let's ignore the fact that this is footwear, and regard these pages as <i>V</i>'s commendable attempt to link fashion with decadent indulgence. Could there be a more positive, more daring, more exciting notion? <i>V</I> is completely changing the fashion paradigm. Instead of revisiting well-plowed themes linking fashion with narcotics, debauchery, and starvation, <i>V</I> is boldly associating fashion with appetite, with a distinctly and traditionally feminine surrender to sweet cravings.
There could be no better theme to introduce in the "size issue." Indeed, one hopes that more than a few readers view these images with pleasure, then see the pictures in the "Curves Ahead" story and realize that indulging freely in such desserts will help them acquire the luscious womanly figures exhibited by the editorial's gorgeous models.
But the issue's merits don't end there. Louis XIV may be a controversial king, admired for his absolutism yet despised for burning every German castle along the Rhine, but the issue has a piece about his own decadent love of food that, one hopes, will similarly whet the appetites of the issue's female readers.
The magazine also contains a tastefully erotic excerpt called "Noctural Love Feast" from an early 20th-century cookbook--another fine pro-indulgence element for the "Size Issue."
Furthermore, one of the fashion articles examines the career of Mark Fast, who famously sent several slightly curvy models down the catwalk for London Fashion Week in form-fitting knits. Bravo to the <i>V</I> team for giving the fullest of the models who appeared in that show--the only one even close to looking plus-size--the largest illustration in the article.<p><center>* * *</center><p>All in all, the weaknesses of the "Size Issue" are no more than what one might have expected, including its relentlessly modern aesthetic and its extensive use of minus-size models. But the issue has many strengths that we did not anticipate. For avoiding any diet-starvation and exercise-torture ads, for including unexpectedly daring pro-indulgence articles, and especially for publishing a brilliant layout that gives the high-fashion seal of approval to the depiction of visibly plump curves on models, <i>V</i> deserves considerable praise.
Here we offer one more of the "Curves Ahead" images that have been seen worldwide--a double featuring the issue's two most attractive models, Candice Huffine and Tara Lynn:<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/candice/v02a.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>Note the lovely curve along Candice's back, and see how the Baroque painter Cesar van Everdingen depicted the same characteristic in his <i>Vertumnus and Pomona</i> of 1640, below. By adopting the size-celebratory aesthetic of pre-modern Western art, the photographer introduced an element of timeless beauty that is in no way undermined by the contemporary denim attire. Let us hope that other magazines will follow suit.<p><center><a href="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/pinacotheca/everdingen06.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.judgmentofparis.com/pinacotheca/everdingen/everdingen06b.jpg" border="0" alt="Click to enlarge"></a></center><p>- <a href="http://www.vmagazine.com/page.php?pn=SIZE%20ISSUE%20PROMO" target="_blank">Click here to purchase "Size Issue" online</a>