Since it became clear that female images on advertising posters increase sales, advertising has become a real art that keeps up with the times. Let’s try to track, using the example of trade posters, how trends in fashion and society have changed.
Modern girl
At the end of the XNUMXth century, women become more socially active. Product manufacturers understand that their target audience is not only men, but also their wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters. The goal is to make the women on the posters like themselves and at the same time attract the attention of men, making the advertised product more desirable.
Fashion comes to Europe for light, airy dresses, flying fabrics and draperies, both on the costumes themselves and on hats. The women on the posters are beautiful, attention-grabbing, directly or indirectly saying: “Enjoy with me” or “Try and you will be just as beautiful.”
Already at the beginning of the century, women lead an active social life on a par with men. In an advertisement for the brand Cinzano, a fashionably dressed girl sits in a cafe and drinks her favorite drink. Cinzano has been working with modernist artists since the XNUMXth century and has since actively supported new trends in art and public life. In advertising for the world’s first portable Kodak cameras, it is the girls who are fond of photography.
Even in the manner of moving and dressing, it is clear that times are changing, women are becoming more liberated: corsets are finally out of fashion, looser dresses no longer hinder movements. For the first time, women try on men’s jackets and embody the Art Nouveau or belle epoque styles. Feathers, fans, accessories, as well as new messy hairstyles and open female sexuality for the first time.
The sophisticated and controversial Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson, for whom the scandalous King Edward VIII abdicated, becomes a style icon. She surprises society with bold fashion experiments, which they try to imitate.
The whole world admires liberated and even outrageous women – actresses and dancers, for the performances of which the whole high society gathers. Among the most memorable names is the defiantly luxurious mulatto Josephine Baker, known as the muse of the architect Le Corbusier, and also, according to gossip, the mistress of Georges Simenon and even Ernest Hemingway. Or the outrageous queen Mary Jane “Mae” West, who wrote plays and herself played the main and always scandalous roles in them on Broadway.
Кинодива
The 1930s, which are still considered to be the standard of glamour, turn Hollywood into a real dream factory. The advent of cinema makes a woman even more open and desirable. The first film stars appear on the screens, on which thousands of ordinary women want to be like. This cannot but be reflected in the advertising industry.
Judith Barrett, Loretta Young, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman – they become the standards of beauty. They attract the attention of men, women look up to them. Well-known brands are not far behind. It’s not yet time to involve actors and actresses in promoting products, but companies are doing everything possible to ensure that their advertising reflects the spirit of the time, and their models look like movie screen goddesses as much as possible.
Brands want to surprise and captivate potential consumers, which means that posters should not be just drawings – they should become art, classics for all time. That is why Cinzano continues to collaborate with the leading artists of the time, who managed to create advertising posters, whose exhibitions we still attend today.
Casual fashion is more practical, with dresses and suits in subdued, more conventional colors. Fashion seems to be becoming more mature, feminine. A fruitful period is coming in the design of women’s clothing, a new cut is being born, ideas and concepts of its creation are multiplying. Evening and weekend dresses let the imagination run wild: open shoulders, low backs, long flowing shiny fabrics.
fashionable housewife
Talking about women in advertising, it is impossible not to mention the infamous American advertising that flooded the market in the post-war 50s. Chauvinistic and sexist statements on colored posters equated women with kitchen furniture, pointed them to their “true” place on the floor next to their shoes, and also suggested that the whole world belonged to men. The United States was flooded with such advertising, and women just had to put up with it. However, among all the major brands that still exist, there is not a single one who has allowed himself offensive remarks about women.
In the advertising of major brands, the woman is again at the height of fashion. A thin waist, slender open legs, lush breasts, sloping shoulders and a straight back – this is what a woman of this time should be like. Sexy beauties such as Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe become the dream of men and the standard for all women in the world. Lots of fabric, bright colors, eye-catching details. Plaid shirts and a mandatory accessory in the form of a string of pearls are in fashion. It is said that representatives of high society could change clothes up to seven times a day, while each time changing makeup and hair to match the corresponding clothes.
Muse
At the end of the 60s, a new era comes, and not only in fashion, music and worldview. There is an increase in the production of industrial goods, more and more companies are willing to pay money for good, high-quality advertising. And the era of supermodels is coming, which appear on every cover of a fashion magazine, and are also actively filmed in advertising. These are Twiggy, Gia Karanji, Iman and several dozen more iconic names.
Now advertising is not only a poster and a drawing, it is the art of photography. Fashion photographers and artists choose models as muses, and from everywhere beautiful, perfect images look at ordinary women. The era of weight loss is coming. Now a straight back or a lush chest is no longer so important, now you need to lose weight to complete exhaustion in order to be like Twiggy or Edie Sedgwick – Andy Warhol’s muse.
Women in advertising are now active and full of energy, because that’s what time makes them. Languid glances and sighs are a thing of the past – a woman looks at others from an advertising poster boldly and with a challenge.
The largest cosmetic brands break into the market, which to this day dictate the fashion season after season, how to paint eyes, lips, hair.
Supermodel
The 90s can be safely called the era of supermodels. If even 10 years ago there were only a few dozen of them, then in the 90s there were already thousands of them. Every little girl dreams of modeling by looking at ads featuring Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista or Naomi Campbell. They replace even well-known actresses, become the most sought after in advertising and at the same time – millionaires.
“I won’t get out of bed for less than 10 thousand dollars,” says Linda Evangelista, who participates in all fashion shows, starred in the videos of the most popular musicians and chooses the lucky ones from the couturiers lined up for her. Models are everywhere: not only on the catwalks in haute couture outfits, but also on every poster. Using the supermodel as their advertising face, brands are attracting more and more consumers, increasing the popularity of their image, especially among the younger generation.
girl next door
Advertising is everywhere: on television, radio, posters, on the Internet – it seems that even refrigerators and coffee makers will soon be equipped with advertising function. No brand can enter the market without investing in advertising. A whole industry has formed, in which billions of dollars are spinning around the world.
A key position is still occupied by a woman. Famous actresses are actively joining beautiful models – now they are becoming the muses of designers and photographers. Today, every fashion house announces one of the Hollywood beauties as its face.
In the era of millennials, retro is coming into fashion, and every woman can choose the time that she likes best, suits her appearance and character. No party is complete without themes: The Great Gatsby, Silent Movie, The Age of Rock and Roll. Most of all, girls are inspired by historical characters, films, music and painting. This cannot but be reflected in retro advertising, because art, femininity, beauty and grace are eternal.
Women themselves have changed and continue to change. The era when everyone wanted to look like a picture from a fashion magazine has passed, the girls are tired of constant imitation and striving for an unattainable ideal. Now the value of individuality: no matter how you look, how old you are and what type of figure you have. The desire of any woman is to learn to accept herself and love the way nature has made her. Finally, all the trends have gone, advertising is now created for women, and clearly separating the scope and lifestyle of consumers. Today, for every woman, no matter what she does or is interested in, there is her own advertisement. Without it, the product will not be recognizable, it will not be bought. Therefore, women of different ages and nationalities look at us from advertising posters and persuade us from television screens. Now there is definitely no one standard, everyone will find what she likes best.