19th June 2010 / 6 Comments
Woman's Realm /
31st March 1967
I’m…not sure where to start with this one. Me and my boyfriend found ourselves writhing around in our seats with discomfort whilst reading the ad, and certainly the language alone is enough to put it in first place in the ‘Adverts Totally Made of Wrong’ category on Gypsy Creams. Actually, I may provide that as a category when the site’s given an overhaul later in the year.
But the language isn’t the only problem (although the ‘Berlei Teenform Littlest Darling’ is enough to distract you from anything else). This ad totally blows out of the water the oft-written about idea that the ‘Tweenage’ market is something new, with the odd name ‘beTweenager’, and the suspicious assertions that teenage girls need Berlei’s special bras. And that’s not all! Berlei have a whole range of girdles to ‘help’ your daughter’s posture. Oddly enough, in a world where girdles are no longer in fashion, we haven’t got young women bent double in the street, possibly because your posture is largely a matter for your core muscle groups, rather than a nylon strait-jacket.
As for the dire warnings that a teenager should NEVER wear an adult bra: well, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence to support this. I do remember reading a recommendation in a teenage magazine that girls shouldn’t wear an underwired bra until their breasts are fully grown, but I started wearing underwires from 14ish, and mine don’t seem to be an abnormal shape. In fact, the wide variance in size and shape of breasts suggests that there isn’t really that well defined a ‘norm’ to deviate from anyway, and there certainly doesn’t seem to be any evidence that there’s any connection between bras and breast cancer either.
So Berlei seem to have cooked up some copy here that The Daily Mail would be proud of: full of unsubstantiated assertions, scaremongering and of, frankly, a rather worrying tone. I must apologise for any nausea that results from reading this advert.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, beauty, Berlei, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, fashion, motherhood, teenagers
3rd June 2010 / 5 Comments
Woman's Realm /
18th March 1967
And there was me thinking that Vaseline had only started making other products recently! I rather like this ad, as it’s not often women in Sixties ads are displayed in positions of power: even if she IS sewing up his trousers. I suspect there was an alternative shot of her winking to camera…
Tags: beauty, household, social history, Vaseline
18th May 2010 / 1 Comment
Woman's Realm /
11th March 1967
Ooh, what’s that ringing in my ears? Ah, of course. It’s my bullshit-o-meter going off. Also, I swear that woman’s got a different expression on her face than the one we see in the mirror…
Tags: beauty, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, retail
15th May 2010 / 1 Comment
Woman's Realm /
11th March 1967
Chances are that if you’re around my age, this ad will bring back memories of similar ‘cut out and dress’ games in, say, Bunty. Do little girls do this any more, or are they too busy putting their Lelli Kelly slap on?
Tags: beauty, fashion, kids, retail
1st May 2010 / 2 Comments
Woman's Realm /
11th March 1967
Crikey. Girdles have never looked so exciting. Of course, they model them on a woman who clearly doesn’t need them, because, as I’ve said before, the fat has to go *somewhere*. Let’s hope any woman wearing this had a loose top.
Tags: beauty, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, retail, social history
25th April 2010 / 3 Comments
Woman and Home /
1st January 1962
Obviously, it was the South Africa ad which caught my eye here, but I thought you’d all enjoy the full page of adverts. I love the evocative nature of the Templeton’s and Flexcello ads, documenting a world long gone, and I found the Venner Autopoint ad interesting, as there’s been many attempts over the years to devise timers for electric devices, none of which have caught on.
Tags: beauty, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, fashion, household, social history
24th March 2010 / No Comments Yet
Woman's Own /
14th July 1967
“…but she was so catty about my mousey hair, I could have sloshed her.” Why didn’t you, love? Snotty-looking cow.
Tags: beauty, blatant sexism, retail
14th March 2010 / No Comments Yet
Woman's Own /
14th July 1967
No, no, NO. It’s “not ‘alf”, you blithering idiots. I bet Fluff would have pissed himself laughing if he’d ever clapped eyes on this ad…
Tags: beauty, fashion, retail
12th March 2010 / 1 Comment
Woman's Own /
14th July 1967
Whilst we’re on the subject of being skinny, this comes from a longer interview with Twiggy’s mum, which is alarmingly unguarded by modern standards. I can’t imagine a publicist nowadays allowing a model’s mother to talk about her daughter’s financial affairs, or so much about her personal life! I thought this page was particularly striking, and handy for anyone wanting a bit of make-up inspiration.
Tags: beauty, fashion, motherhood, social history
5th March 2010 / 2 Comments
Woman's Own /
14th July 1967
I’m not used to make-up ads looking this interesting. Most companies nowadays just go for dead-eyed celebs looking into the camera, but I rather like this model!
Tags: beauty, fashion, retail, Rimmel