tearsheets – Harper’s Bazaar February 2000
This is the third and final post in a series of tearsheets taken from a few old Harper’s Bazaars I found. See October 1994 and May 1997 too – what inspired me to turn these discarded magazines into posts was how dramatic and telling the changes of fashion are in retrospect.
This is February 2000. Editor-in-Chief: Katharine Betts. On the cover: Gwyneth Paltrow in Marc Jacobs.
A new font for the cover hints at vast transformations within. Kate Betts took over the EIC position after the death of Elizabeth Tilberis. Besides stylistic changes, the times have changed too – its fascinating to see certain harbingers of the decade to come (including a Lifetime documentary about Betts – “Putting Baby to Bed: Life as a Mom, Wife, Editor-in-Chief”).
Don’t let the happily unfocused, “fresh faced all-American” cover fool you – fashion’s focus at the turn of the decade is on capital-L Luxury at any cost – booming business without regard for the environment, taste, or even the law. Example – the shatoosh shawl, made from the fur of endangered Tibetan antelope. Right-click the article for big.
The previous article provides the most balanced fashion analysis of the whole magazine. The rest of the magazine – besides some articles celebrating women at work – is a gushing fangirl to sheer ostentatiousness. Literally.
I scanned this Chloe ad because I love a model with a beautiful smile – and I want to believe that there is a sense of humour behind so much senselessness.
But the editorials make me doubt that there is a tongue in that hollow cheek. The above photo is from “Logo Motion” – a series of photos that might as well be advertisements they are so full of logos and reflections of logos in shiny vehicles.
Below, in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, a big haired wife of money (and obviously NOT a working woman) shops, golfs, and lounges around doing nothing much at all in matchy-matchy loungewear with her big-haired friends.
Where is all the money coming from? The INTERNET! Besides excited articles about fancy phones (address book capacities of up to 150 entries!) and profiles of dot.com entrepreneurs on shopping sprees, there are big ads for websites heralding the anti-social age to come.
Bluefly.com is one of the few internet advertisers that are still familiar, and the illustrated advertisement caught my eye. A bored looking hostess at a boring party shops – the only little detail which tells us its 10 years ago is a cigarette in a bored guest’s hand.
The last page is a proto-outfit post. For some reason the hasty modification of logo t-shirts seems to be the obsession du jour – seems very Nylon, not very Bazaar. Right-click for big.
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This is hilarious…You know that Chloe ad? The jewels and smiley model? When I saw it, my first thought was “wow that’s beautiful” and then I read your “sense of humour behind so much senselessness” and I burst out laughing. I love it, though I don’t think it is meant to be worn by someone naked underneath…but then again, in my cultures womens boobs are not a shameful thing to show and it may be more accepted on a bra-less, top-less model there than in other cultures. Of course I may have missed your point with that comment and you may have been referring to something totally different… ;)
AJ – sheer was just meant to be a pun (I can never keep myself from punning) – but the senselessness I refer to is the over-indulgent, richy-rich style of the ads and photo-spreads. The logos, blingy jewels and endangered animal fabrics seem so over-the-top that I’d like to believe the creative choices are a joke… because if they are being serious it is just kind of sickening to me. But I take it from your winky face that you get that.
She’s got a gorgeous body and a gorgeous smile, that one.
ahhh…I thought you were referring to that actual item…meaning a dress that has no fabric and is showing the body must be a joke. *blush*
It was tongue-in-cheek. Logomania was a huge commercial trend that’s still flopping around like a half-dead fish. We were simultaneously amazed and repulsed by fashion, yet eager to embrace a modern version of what fashion was about to become in the era of the Internet. Money was smeared all over the pages of all the magazines, not just Bazaar. Things would have changed with Betts still at the helm. She was one smart cookie, and she wasn’t interested in maintaining the status quo. The funny thing is that I’m her biggest fan and I’m the first person to go out of my way to tell rich people when they’re being vulgar.
And I still think that’s the prettiest photo of Gwyneth Paltrow I’ve ever seen.
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