Kylie's lingerie ad voted the best!

 

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue's ad for Agent Provocateur lingerie has been voted the best commercial of all time.

 
Thesun.co.uk reports that in the ad, Kylie is seen writhing on a mechanized rodeo bull in her sexy underwear. This ad is called Proof and it was controversial when it first came out in 2001.
The poll, which was launched by cinema advertising sales house Digital Cinema Media, gave voters a choice of 10 ads chosen by experts. Kylie’s ad beat off competition from the likes of the Guinness Surfer advertisement, Diet Coke's Break and Carling Black Label's Dambusters to win the title.

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Are we over-glamorizing the bikini?

                 ‘Bikini is fashionable art’

Monica Turcich,
Fashion Specialist, Christie's, London

The evolution of the bikini has been interesting. Now, the bikini is almost a prized piece of art. There’s great fascination around its history, invention and evolution. The bikini was invented to create a fashion sensation. Wow, it’s always got a great reaction! That said, there is a practical aspect in that, it’s much simpler to get in and out of a two-piece than a regular swim costume. Historically, during war time, rationing textile made it more efficient to wear a bikini. It was a dramatic change and made the bikini socially acceptable. That’s what led to the glamorization of two-piece swim costumes. It should be considered that the one-piece costume caused a very similar reaction in the 1910-1930 period, as women were seen for the first time with bare legs, active and outdoors. Glamour women in a bikini had arrived and were making a sensation. When stars like Brigitte Bardot and Ursula Andress began wearing the bikini, the star factor attached itself to their clothing. To feel as glamorous as a movie star, it made perfect sense to copy what they wore.

There is evidence of bikini-shaped garments from antiquity -- Greek images on urns and Roman mosaics depict women athletes wearing what is essentially the modern bikini. The bandeau top is functional and acts as a brassiere for athletes -- ancient and modern. The best-known version of the story is that engineer Louis Reard and fashion designer Jacques Heim invented the ‘Bikini’ in 1946 in Paris -- and named it for the atomic bombs being tested in the Bikini Atoll of the Pacific in July of that year. Apparently,  they thought it would cause a similar explosive reaction. Heim & Reard’s ‘Bikini’ was actually quite daring, with a high cut string bottom, although the version that eventually became popular. Gradually, as it became acceptable in Western society to bare the midriff, bikinis have become smaller, and sometimes leave out the top altogether--see Rudi Gernreich’s edgy (and not very popular!) ‘Monokini’. Different styles are acceptable in different places -- a beach in Brazil is different to one in North America.

Fashion wise, the two-piece or bikini just follows the development of the 20th century. First it became acceptable for women to bathe in the sea, and woolen swimming dresses emerged; as women began to assert themselves as athletic and advances were made in fabric technology,synthetic one-piece costumes developed. The next logical step was the simpler two-piece. It’s popularity has in- creased in proportion to the popularity of sunbathing, swimming, beach holidays, and other aspects of modern life. Hence, bikini wars started. To a point, where the bikini became an obsession!

 

              ‘ Men think bikini is the most sensual garment'

Suneet Varma,
Fashion Designer

The bikini is nothing but a three piece triangle. It’s like the bermuda triangle, where men just lose themselves. It drives men crazy. The bikini makes men forget any other attachment they have. Essentially, the bikini was adapted from the lingerie. It’s almost like an undergarment which can be worn outside.
The evolution of the bikini triggered the inside-outside revolution. Gautlier revolutionized the bikini and corset by making his models wear them on clothes. In fact, La Perla’s colorful bikini tops are worn only under transparent shirts, to show-off. The fashion interpretation of the bikini has been over-glamorized. Now, I see women on Miami beaches wearing bikini briefs with sexy halter tops. I agree, bikini’s the most seductive piece of clothing ever invented.
It has an emotional, physical and metaphysical dimension to it. It can be sensual, sporty, seductive all at the same time. When it’s sporty, bikini’s construction is not so exhibitionist! Most men I know, find it the most exciting piece of garment. Iconic images of a bikini always arouse great curiosity. Men and bikinis have a unique, interesting relationship -- it’s pure erotica. That’s why bikini has been over-glamorized because it’s the briefest garment in the world. The bikini has changed the shape and style of fashion. There’s nothing sexier than the itsy-bitsy, teenier weenie bikini!

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First bikini, then bindi

In the Hindi film industry, asset gains mean something else. Aspiring actresses without the advantages of pedigree know the benefits of

half-naked aerobics. "Actresses showing skin are like neon signs that you can't ignore," says producer Sunil Doshi. It is a short cut to fame.

So, a Nisha Kothari readily squeezed herself into a pushup contraption that was two sizes too small to enhance her bust in Killer. Mallika Sherawat romped around in a bikini in Bachke Rehna Re Baba .

Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Antara Mali and Neha Dhupia also displayed their ample female form in the first couple of movies.

Oddly though, as soon as these actresses establish themselves in front-benchers' minds as benevolent providers, they start shopping for clothes. Or bring their mother on the sets to intimidate filmmakers.

They want nothing to do with their naked past. Priyanka Chopra reportedly told designer Rocky S to cover her reasonably for Krrish, which is said to have alarmed its director Raakesh Roshan, who signed the former Miss World only because of her sensuous image.

But he might have forgotten that Priyanka Chopra was already two years into movies by then, and who now sagely wants us to believe, "There's more to me than my body." She apparently walked out of Anees Bazmee's Benaam because she was given a sparse wardrobe.

In a world that is already cruel to men, Mallika Sherawat too has decided to cover up. Even Neha Dhupia who once said, "Sex and Shah Rukh Khan are the only things that sell," is looking for a new sound byte to offer.

She is doing the lead in art filmmaker Rajat Kapoor's Mithiya , where she'll have to concentrate on acting alone. On actresses' psyche, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt observes the problem is that once these they attain a modicum of success, they feel "that the sexual route is an albatross they have to free themselves off.

Their desire to find acceptance by the high priests of society, who feel what titillates is not art, makes them disown the very road they first tread on." They then venture into art cinema and scramble for Rituparno Ghosh's address. "They feel this is what will buy them respectability."

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