While the introductory text is lost on me (nonexistant is my Japanese), thus leaving me with no official insight, I can’t help but wonder if this shoot owes a minor debt to The Artist. It’s obvious 1970s glam styling twists aside, it sets out to convey a particular mood (melancholy) and does so not just with moody lighting or pensive facial expressions but with theatrical poses and equally theatrical makeup. Natasha Poly’s eyebrows have been blanked out, eyeshadow giving cavernous depth to eyesocks that, as a result, make you feel like what you’re viewing is in fact a 1920s pantomime.
And with 1920s fashion being one of the decades to be experiencing a revival, it makes sense. What we end up with in Vogue Japan, as photographed by Daniele + Iango, is something akin to the ’20s as viewed through the eyes of the ’70s. And that’s a styling mix that, as George Cortina’s styling shows, works quite naturally together.
For more inspiration on melding two eras, as well as one particularly striking androgynous look, click on the gallery above to view the full shoot from Vogue Japan, May 2012, starring Natasha Poly.
