Barbara Brickner in Italy

Posted by HSG on April 23, 2005 at 20:19:20:

In Reply to: Plus-size in Italy. posted by Chiara on April 22, 2005 at 17:41:08:

Like all Italians, Chiara may be feeling a little bit "cheated" at the moment. Not only did the recent papal conclave fail to install an Italian cardinal as Catholic pontiff (for the second time in a row), but, after having Barbara Brickner practically all to themselves for several years, the Italians now have to share their adopted national icon with their German kin. However, Italians need not despair. The Spring/Summer 2005 issue of Elena Miro's eponymous custom magazine features a gorgeous eight-page editorial layout with Mrs. Brickner, showing the model in particularly fine form. We have already seen a small preview of the layout's title page on this forum. Perhaps no model will ever be able to duplicate Barbara's sunny smile--an expression of joy so heartfelt that it can restore one's faith in life. (You may click on the images to view them at a larger size.) This layout is particularly interesting in that it is a truly narrative editorial. The images are accompanied by a series of captions resembling journal entries, which ostensibly express the model's own feelings as she walks the city streets and reacts to the sights around her. This narrative component is something that we have not seen in plus-size editorials for a long time--since the early issues of Mode, in fact, which often featured editorials with highly entertaining narrative "plots." Some of the pages superimpose the text onto the images, rather like captions, and other pages graphically separate the narrative from the photographs: The loveliest image in the issue is definitely the following one. This gorgeous sleeveless shot exhibits a touch of Barbara's glorious figure, and the sunlight bathes her in a radiant aura, as if it too were in love with her Classical beauty. (Yes, the layout was actually shot in Florida.) All in all, this issue of Elena Miro magazine is rather a good one. In addition to the mesmerizing Barbara Brickner layout, it features a host of interesting articles, including "Round Like the World" (another nod to Mode), which enthuses about the time-honoured male appreciation of the voluptuous female figure. But the most interesting article in the magazine is one bearing the splendid title, "Femininity Waiting to be Rediscovered." This is a celebration of the kind of ornate, elegant compact boxes that women once used as cosmetics cases, and which were often so beautifully designed, that they qualified as works of art in their own right--and it is also a call for their return. This article ties in perfectly with our recent discussion about re-creating an "environment of beauty" of the sort that distinguished Western society in past centuries. Elena Miro has kindly published editions of this magazine in many languages, so non-Italophones need not feel left out. Viva Italia! Elena Miro