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Arizona Daily Wildcat December 10, 1997
Fashion conscious: Bucking the trends for 1998
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With 1998 just around the corner, new things are coming out - new movies, new sitcoms and, as always, new magazine ads. American retailers probably make a good part of their money on women who purchase fashion magazines and then go out to purchase the ridiculous products displayed in them. So, of course, advertisers need eye-catching ads that will convince the people who read them that they, too, need to look stupid.
When we laugh at the fashions our parents took pride in 30 years ago, they tell us that the next generation will be laughing at ours in a few years, but heck, why wait? When I saw the fashions for 1997, I thought America and most of the European community was stuck in some sort of scary, time-warping black hole. Then, I took a look at Allure's December issue to see some ads for the upcoming year.
Let's start off with the basic magazine ad - skin care. There's a new product out that is actually referred to as a "face-lift in a bottle," and guess what it does? It's supposed to make your face look younger, as usual. The model in the ad is exhibiting a new trend in makeup - shiny eye shadow that makes her look like she has been crying for hours and forgot to wipe off the salt residue from her dehydrated tears. Is the product she's advertising that bad?
Then there are the other ads - for makeup - which come in conjunction with the skin care ads. The two go hand in hand: one messes up the skin, the other cleans it. Well, a hopefully temporary fad predicted for 1998 is glittery eyes. Everything is glittery: eyeliner, eye shadow, even mascara. It's like the fashion community has been researching other uses for pixie dust and just came out with a burst of ideas. Unfortunately, they all make people look like something from "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." At least it matches the new makeup on runway models.
Of course, Allure also includes a spread consisting of two pages of those models, a total of four enlargements of what seem to be "women." These models could be graced with four words that give justice to their appearances: raggedy, plastic, dead and stoned. These are definitely the looks to go for in 1998. Right. It's surprising that the designers bother to spend the money on makeup artists for these multimillionaire models; why bother if the "look" can be achieved by sleeping on your face?
Sarcasm aside, it's no surprise that the fashion community continues to try to shock the public with radioactive colors and psychotic prints, whether it be in the material or on the skin. No matter how ridiculous it looks, it sells the magazines. Let's just hope people aren't lining up for the products.
