One size fits all with ‘Black Dress’

For many women, their wardrobe is not complete without the little black dress. Its versatility allows it to be worn anywhere from a business meeting to a cocktail party. It is elegant in its simplicity.
This same little black dress carries connotations as well. Fashion designer Coco Chanel, who, along with Audrey Hepburn made the look famous in the 1920s, promoted the idea of fabulous and luxurious beauty. To her, fashion was everything, and status depended on how flawless your look was.
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman,” Chanel said.
This idea of beauty may work for the rich and famous, but for GCSU art students Jess Fouts and Katie Nuckolls, beauty is not found in what a woman wears, but in her personality.
Fouts and Nuckolls recently created a photography project called “Little Black Dress.” The project featured six GCSU female students of different sizes, all wearing the same size 5/6 formal black dress.
Obviously, a size 5/6 dress does not fit every woman’s shape, and the LBD models were no different. For most, the dress refused to zip fully. For others, the style was all wrong. Fouts said most of the models were initially intimidated at the thought of walking in public wearing a half-zipped formal gown.
“Most of the models were of different backgrounds and ethnicities,” Fouts said. “They’re not the ideal beauty for America, but they are still so beautiful.”
Fouts said their intention was to get away from how the media portrays models.
“Our purpose was to display that these girls are beautiful even though they’re not a size 6 or in a magazine,” Nuckolls said. “It was to bring out the beauty in everyone.”
They did not instruct the models on what to do or how to pose, but risking their chagrin, told them simply to act natural.
“We didn’t want the cookie-cutter models found in magazines and awards,” Nuckolls said. “We had them be themselves.”
Elisa Iannilli said she felt awkward at first and did not know how to react to the camera in a dress she was uncomfortable in. Even though she fit into it, she didn’t think the dress flattered her figure. To make matters worse, her face broke out the day of the photo shoot.
“I definitely don’t consider myself a model,” Iannilli said. “I’m short and pear-shaped, and that’s not what you see on TV.”
In spite of the odds weighing against her, Iannilli was a vision of confidence in the photos. Her mom said she didn’t even recognize her.
“Beauty comes in all different sizes,” Iannilli said. “I was just one of the women it represents. We can all look amazing.”
The beauty of the LBD project is that it captures the essence of the models, including their flaws.
“The more I work with women, no matter how perfect you think they are, they have flaws,” Iannilli said. This project shows their flaws, but it shows the beauty in them.”
The original purpose of the article was to draw attention to the dress and the environment in which the models posed. The setting was behind downtown buildings, which to the average observer, is somewhat lacking in appearance. But to these two photographers, the location was perfect.
Fouts said she and Nuckolls were astounded to see the sudden burst of confidence from each model once they arrived at the set.
“When we got there, they came alive,” Fouts said.
“We thought they would run away, but they started posing.”
The ill-fitting dress, the awkwardness and the ugly setting suddenly didn’t matter anymore.
The Little Black Dress photos are displayed at Blackbird Coffee. Barista Chris Avery said customers walk around and view the photos while waiting on their coffee. They are curious about them and ask him what the idea is behind them.
Avery said the point of the project is to show personal beauty. Every model has a close-up photo of just their face, and Avery thinks this represents their inner beauty.
“Every one of those models are beautiful ladies,” Avery said. “Beauty is not on that black dress, but on that person.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 2 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry