For this summer's exhibition theme I couldn't decide between a Mediterranean vibe or bathing beauties. There were lots of other ancient Greece/Italian-inspired ads and items, but sometimes I could only find the ad and not the corresponding object or vice versa, which was driving me crazy. Not to mention the fact that I would have felt pressured to write something on the use of ancient Mediterranean beauty ideals in both vintage and contemporary makeup, and I simply didn't have time. What it boils down to is that I didn't have enough items from either theme to fill up 16 shelves worth, so I ended up doing both. It's kind of an odd combo but in the end it was too difficult to do just one. Plus I threw in a couple of items that didn't really have anything to do with either theme. But overall, I still think the exhibition screams summer and I hope you do too. :)
Oh, and the husband had the brilliant idea of posting the jpegs of the labels, so while I still printed out and mounted the labels on the shelves, they're in electronic form here as they're much easier to read than my usual crappy, blurry photos of them.
Enjoy!
(click to enlarge)
Top row, left to right.
This ad was so bizarre/funny I had to buy it. The "Italian Touch" campaign must have been quite large, since I found the ad in 3 different languages and also this bust used to promote the collection in store. (It's so expensive but I may cave and buy it soon – it's very unique and I don't have any store props in the Museum's collection.)
You might remember I fell in love with this Leaning Tower of Pisa lipstick holder when I spotted it in Lips of Luxury. One came up on ebay so I pounced.
Dolce & Gabbana Sicilian Bronzer:
Charlotte Tilbury/Norman Parkinson collection:
I am so grateful to Collecting Vintage Compacts for his very thorough posts on the Pompeian company (here and here).
Here is the ad text. Incidentally, "Madame Jeanette", a "specialiste en beauté", was a completely fictional character dreamed up by the company. (For you Simpsons fans, I guess it was a Tipsy McStagger sort of situation.)
I don't even know where to start with the racism here. Despite the inclusion of a "dark" tinted face powder, there's zero mention of dark skin tones themselves…plus there's also the use of "oriental" as a shade name. Yikes. As always though, I think it's important to include these types of ads to demonstrate how unacceptable this would be today.
Second row, left to right.
This was another long-time wishlist item of mine that I was finally able to acquire. I explored vintage lipstick holders back in 2013 and knew I positively had to have a mermaid lipstick holder of my own. This one is from a company other than those I had seen before, but it's authentic.
I was going to put some fun-colored blue and green lipsticks in there but ultimately decided I didn't want to obscure the little gal!
NARS summer 2016:
Anthropologie The Artist's Studio featuring Lou Taylor:
Third row, left to right.
Paul & Joe summer 2016 face powder:
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Quench Lip Rescues:
Guerlain Terra Ora bronzer:
Too Faced Bathing Beauty palette and Chantecaille dolphin palette:
Bottom row, left to right.
NARS Adult Swim promo (summer 2014) and Special Edition O blush…I could have sworn I tore out the Adult Swim ad from a magazine because I remember how much I liked the image, but went through my clippings and realized I hadn't. Oops.
Dolce & Gabbana Collector's Edition powders:
Try as I might, I was unable to find a Woodbury ad that featured this particular box. All of the ones I could find depicted a slightly different version of the box (the goddess figure is shown perched on a shell surrounded by flowers). There are also other ads that have the same goddess as the powder I have, but she appears on a round box that's actually a set containing powder, blush and lipstick.
Any favorite pieces from this year's summer exhibition?