Backinblack
4th November 2004, 04:44
Discuss the latest issue of Actualizée here.
First up is an article that describes everything you'd want to know about Alizée's style.
http://img121.exs.cx/img121/5731/actu8p6b.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p6b.jpg)http://img121.exs.cx/img121/5097/actu8p7.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p7.jpg) http://img121.exs.cx/img121/2886/actu8p8.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p8.jpg)http://img121.exs.cx/img121/3264/actu8p9.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p9.jpg)
(not the best scans, taking into account my parents' poor quality scanner and the fact that my copy of the issue was bent a little at the bottom)
The Alizée touch (pp. 6-9)
Other than the live release (much anticipated), the major event of 2004 in the little world of Alizée fans is her radical change in appearance. Some people like it, others accepted it with time, still others will never get used to it. The opportunity for us to look back on the Alizée style...
Some of Alizée's outfits have caused a lot of ink to flow and have been the subject of debates. What is certain is that the singer has never stopped evolving since "Moi... Lolita". For each song, an outfit and a role. "I throw myself all the way into my character," she says. Alizée onstage or on TV thus has nothing to do with Alizée in real life. She played the lolitas, but would this be her everyday style? She is provocative, she assumes it, claims it, but says she's also reserved and modest...Who, then, is Alizée? Her outfits, her hairstyles, her style, can they teach us something?
Her outfits: Quality, charm, and provocation
Alizée is really lucky. First to work with Mylène Farmer, who, besides being an author, also knows how to be a stylist. She drew the little sailor suit outfit for the cover of "Mes courants électriques...", as well as the giant shoe. She advises our charming Corsican on the choices of the stage outfits.
Alizée has also had the chance to have inspired big fashion designers. We remember her dress (short, obviously) for "Gourmandises" with the Miam belt. It was designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (see Actualizée #7). He also conceived the fork and knife necklace put up for bids by Alizée on a France 3 TV show, "Au nom des autres," dedicated to the Bernadette Chirac association for the elderly (this was in September 2003, at the end of the big summer heat wave). The necklace, initially destined for TV appearances for promotion of the same single "Gourmandises" at the end of 2001, was in the end never used by the young woman--it was judged to be too dangerous!
Our beautiful lady has also had Courrège's honors (see Actualizée #6) which designed her stage outfits--horrible, original, or amusing, according to the taste. She still kept her long boots and short dresses. We see however a little yellow, very pretty, vinyl ensemble for an anthological "J.B.G."--ah, the little choreography with the sticks of dynamite! The style of the ensemble recalls a little the style of the 60s and 70s: short dresses, synthetic materials and retro shapes. Alizée therefore made an effort in quality for her public, her promotion. As in the theater, each new song is a new role to play for our singer with a new costume to put on.
What many remember, however, from Alizée's outfits isn't the signature of the big fashion designers, but rather their provocative, sensual side. Skin-tight, ultra-short dresses, stunning short pants outfit, little fish on the bum,... Associated with the lyrics that have double meanings, with the suggestive themes, and with the sometimes suggestive choreography (no one has forgotten the musical bridge during "J'ai pas vingt ans!"), these outfits make Alizée a little sensual bombshell regularly ranked among the hits of the sexiest women.
And yet Alizée appears quite sensible compared to other stars like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. She is suggestive, of course, but never vulgar. And she claims it readily. It's easy to recognize that in her music videos, everything is quite suggestive, in the direction (example with "Gourmandises", the lunch on the grass, the little checkered dress, the fruit,...). We notice here the contrast between the TV promo outfit for "J'en ai marre!" (the skin-tight sailor suit outfit with the cleverly placed goldfish) and the outfit for the music video (red sportswear, skin-tight of course, but more sensible).
In the street, Alizée doesn't wear silver boots or short pink dresses. "In real life, I'm often in pants, in gym clothes, I don't wear skirts," she declares, at the risk of disappointing certain people. It's true that the contrast is striking between "official" photos and the photos taken in the street, where she's wearing baggy, low-hung pants and tennis shoes... That is essentially Alizée: the contrast, the paradox. It's reassuring to state that she knows know to make the difference between her role as a singer and her personal life. She isn't consumed by her image. As for the contrast, we also see the difference between the provocative outfit for "J'ai pas vingt ans!" and that of "A contre courant", a few months later, where she appeared quite sensibly in her little plaid dress with straps, over fancy pants, which however offered no choreography. Alizée charms us, shocks us, surprises us...always.
Other than her outfits, there are also Alizée's hairstyles which are interesting. Our lolita likes changing her head!
Hairstyles of variable geometry
If you look at all the CD covers (albums and singles), you see that Alizée has a new hairstyle for practically every new song. That gives her at least eight different hairstyles. For "Moi... Lolita", her hair was styled back. We then found her with colored hair (brown or light brown highlights) and a short squared cut on the cover of the album "Gourmandises". She was brown with a short layered cut for the single of the same name eight months later, a boyish haircut.
For the second album, her hair grew out. There she was with a part down the middle. A hairstyle that brings to mind Amélie Poulain; reinforced on the concert tour poster, with the little charming smile. The hairstyle evolved, with medium-length hair, more layered and without a part for the concert tour.
We finish (?) with a hairstyle "à la mode" for 2004 with long fringes down the back and layered strands on the sides. A cut that bears a resemblance to Jérémy Chatelain's or Laura's (from "la Nouvelle star" on M6) according to some. Like usual, with Alizée, this isn't in everyone's taste...
And the make-up?
To complete this description of Alizée's style, we need to say a few words about her make-up. For her stage shows or other performances, Alizée puts herself in the good care of a makeup artist--note also that on a few rare occasions, it was Christophe Danchaud, makeup artist whose regular customers include Mylène Farmer. On the concert tour, it was Bilitis Poirier who took care of the singer's makeup and hairstyle. Everything is therefore very professional. We see again the care for the quality and the elegance of Alizée for her public appearances. Altogether, our little singer has always had quite simple makeup. Neither overdone, nor vulgar, but rather restrained. The lipstick varies from red to pink; in harmony with the color of the dress (pink) for "J'ai pas vingt ans!", for example; very chic, isn't it? Alizée generally uses a gloss which enhances the volume of her lips. Always seductive! Her eyes are always highlighted in black, without any more effect. In short, a classic makeup without any extravagance.
For her new public look, during her appearances in the first part of 2004, Alizée's makeup evolved a little. Duller skin tones and very pale lipstick. This style made her look a little older. She looks less like a young girl and more like a young woman in style...The new Alizée has arrived.
Jewelry and accessories
In general, Alizée wears little jewelry. Like her makeup, the style is once again quite moderate. We often see her with ear piercings, one in the lobe and two others in the auricle; one with a diamond-like gem and the other in the shape of a silver heart. Alizée doesn't seem to wear earrings bigger than that. She wears necklaces more often, but not always during her public appearances. Most of the time, the jewelry has a history and are true good-luck charms. She has a chain and a pendant given to her by her dance teacher in Ajaccio. She always carries with her a little hand-shaped coral given to her by her grandmother during her baptism. She also has a necklace in the shape of a silver military plaque that her cousin had made for her in New York. She also wears little cotton string bracelets quite often; she had one on during her concerts. Discreet and less valuable, no doubt they have a sentimental or symbolic value. Alizée doesn't wear rings, at least not during her performances onstage and rarely wears bracelets other than those described above.
We know very little about the accessories that Alizée might have in her purse. It isn't all that important either. We know however that she seems addicted to cell phones, like any girl of her generation. She has had several of them (at least two) but we don't have the numbers, sorry... In the end, and more seriously, is she really different from other girls her age?
In conclusion, obviously, Alizée likes clothes and fashion. She knows how to play with it and surprise us. From the 60s style to the neo-80s punkette, from the little girl in pyjamas to the provocative sex bomb, her clothes in the spotlight are in her image: in constant evolution. But this need to change her look, is it branded with a certain sense of the spectacle (surprise, always surprise) or does it sometimes translate a lack of confidence from someone who is still looking to find herself? Alizée is only twenty, she has all the time in the world to evolve. When the lolita becomes a woman...
First up is an article that describes everything you'd want to know about Alizée's style.
http://img121.exs.cx/img121/5731/actu8p6b.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p6b.jpg)http://img121.exs.cx/img121/5097/actu8p7.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p7.jpg) http://img121.exs.cx/img121/2886/actu8p8.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p8.jpg)http://img121.exs.cx/img121/3264/actu8p9.th.jpg (http://img121.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img121&image=actu8p9.jpg)
(not the best scans, taking into account my parents' poor quality scanner and the fact that my copy of the issue was bent a little at the bottom)
The Alizée touch (pp. 6-9)
Other than the live release (much anticipated), the major event of 2004 in the little world of Alizée fans is her radical change in appearance. Some people like it, others accepted it with time, still others will never get used to it. The opportunity for us to look back on the Alizée style...
Some of Alizée's outfits have caused a lot of ink to flow and have been the subject of debates. What is certain is that the singer has never stopped evolving since "Moi... Lolita". For each song, an outfit and a role. "I throw myself all the way into my character," she says. Alizée onstage or on TV thus has nothing to do with Alizée in real life. She played the lolitas, but would this be her everyday style? She is provocative, she assumes it, claims it, but says she's also reserved and modest...Who, then, is Alizée? Her outfits, her hairstyles, her style, can they teach us something?
Her outfits: Quality, charm, and provocation
Alizée is really lucky. First to work with Mylène Farmer, who, besides being an author, also knows how to be a stylist. She drew the little sailor suit outfit for the cover of "Mes courants électriques...", as well as the giant shoe. She advises our charming Corsican on the choices of the stage outfits.
Alizée has also had the chance to have inspired big fashion designers. We remember her dress (short, obviously) for "Gourmandises" with the Miam belt. It was designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (see Actualizée #7). He also conceived the fork and knife necklace put up for bids by Alizée on a France 3 TV show, "Au nom des autres," dedicated to the Bernadette Chirac association for the elderly (this was in September 2003, at the end of the big summer heat wave). The necklace, initially destined for TV appearances for promotion of the same single "Gourmandises" at the end of 2001, was in the end never used by the young woman--it was judged to be too dangerous!
Our beautiful lady has also had Courrège's honors (see Actualizée #6) which designed her stage outfits--horrible, original, or amusing, according to the taste. She still kept her long boots and short dresses. We see however a little yellow, very pretty, vinyl ensemble for an anthological "J.B.G."--ah, the little choreography with the sticks of dynamite! The style of the ensemble recalls a little the style of the 60s and 70s: short dresses, synthetic materials and retro shapes. Alizée therefore made an effort in quality for her public, her promotion. As in the theater, each new song is a new role to play for our singer with a new costume to put on.
What many remember, however, from Alizée's outfits isn't the signature of the big fashion designers, but rather their provocative, sensual side. Skin-tight, ultra-short dresses, stunning short pants outfit, little fish on the bum,... Associated with the lyrics that have double meanings, with the suggestive themes, and with the sometimes suggestive choreography (no one has forgotten the musical bridge during "J'ai pas vingt ans!"), these outfits make Alizée a little sensual bombshell regularly ranked among the hits of the sexiest women.
And yet Alizée appears quite sensible compared to other stars like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. She is suggestive, of course, but never vulgar. And she claims it readily. It's easy to recognize that in her music videos, everything is quite suggestive, in the direction (example with "Gourmandises", the lunch on the grass, the little checkered dress, the fruit,...). We notice here the contrast between the TV promo outfit for "J'en ai marre!" (the skin-tight sailor suit outfit with the cleverly placed goldfish) and the outfit for the music video (red sportswear, skin-tight of course, but more sensible).
In the street, Alizée doesn't wear silver boots or short pink dresses. "In real life, I'm often in pants, in gym clothes, I don't wear skirts," she declares, at the risk of disappointing certain people. It's true that the contrast is striking between "official" photos and the photos taken in the street, where she's wearing baggy, low-hung pants and tennis shoes... That is essentially Alizée: the contrast, the paradox. It's reassuring to state that she knows know to make the difference between her role as a singer and her personal life. She isn't consumed by her image. As for the contrast, we also see the difference between the provocative outfit for "J'ai pas vingt ans!" and that of "A contre courant", a few months later, where she appeared quite sensibly in her little plaid dress with straps, over fancy pants, which however offered no choreography. Alizée charms us, shocks us, surprises us...always.
Other than her outfits, there are also Alizée's hairstyles which are interesting. Our lolita likes changing her head!
Hairstyles of variable geometry
If you look at all the CD covers (albums and singles), you see that Alizée has a new hairstyle for practically every new song. That gives her at least eight different hairstyles. For "Moi... Lolita", her hair was styled back. We then found her with colored hair (brown or light brown highlights) and a short squared cut on the cover of the album "Gourmandises". She was brown with a short layered cut for the single of the same name eight months later, a boyish haircut.
For the second album, her hair grew out. There she was with a part down the middle. A hairstyle that brings to mind Amélie Poulain; reinforced on the concert tour poster, with the little charming smile. The hairstyle evolved, with medium-length hair, more layered and without a part for the concert tour.
We finish (?) with a hairstyle "à la mode" for 2004 with long fringes down the back and layered strands on the sides. A cut that bears a resemblance to Jérémy Chatelain's or Laura's (from "la Nouvelle star" on M6) according to some. Like usual, with Alizée, this isn't in everyone's taste...
And the make-up?
To complete this description of Alizée's style, we need to say a few words about her make-up. For her stage shows or other performances, Alizée puts herself in the good care of a makeup artist--note also that on a few rare occasions, it was Christophe Danchaud, makeup artist whose regular customers include Mylène Farmer. On the concert tour, it was Bilitis Poirier who took care of the singer's makeup and hairstyle. Everything is therefore very professional. We see again the care for the quality and the elegance of Alizée for her public appearances. Altogether, our little singer has always had quite simple makeup. Neither overdone, nor vulgar, but rather restrained. The lipstick varies from red to pink; in harmony with the color of the dress (pink) for "J'ai pas vingt ans!", for example; very chic, isn't it? Alizée generally uses a gloss which enhances the volume of her lips. Always seductive! Her eyes are always highlighted in black, without any more effect. In short, a classic makeup without any extravagance.
For her new public look, during her appearances in the first part of 2004, Alizée's makeup evolved a little. Duller skin tones and very pale lipstick. This style made her look a little older. She looks less like a young girl and more like a young woman in style...The new Alizée has arrived.
Jewelry and accessories
In general, Alizée wears little jewelry. Like her makeup, the style is once again quite moderate. We often see her with ear piercings, one in the lobe and two others in the auricle; one with a diamond-like gem and the other in the shape of a silver heart. Alizée doesn't seem to wear earrings bigger than that. She wears necklaces more often, but not always during her public appearances. Most of the time, the jewelry has a history and are true good-luck charms. She has a chain and a pendant given to her by her dance teacher in Ajaccio. She always carries with her a little hand-shaped coral given to her by her grandmother during her baptism. She also has a necklace in the shape of a silver military plaque that her cousin had made for her in New York. She also wears little cotton string bracelets quite often; she had one on during her concerts. Discreet and less valuable, no doubt they have a sentimental or symbolic value. Alizée doesn't wear rings, at least not during her performances onstage and rarely wears bracelets other than those described above.
We know very little about the accessories that Alizée might have in her purse. It isn't all that important either. We know however that she seems addicted to cell phones, like any girl of her generation. She has had several of them (at least two) but we don't have the numbers, sorry... In the end, and more seriously, is she really different from other girls her age?
In conclusion, obviously, Alizée likes clothes and fashion. She knows how to play with it and surprise us. From the 60s style to the neo-80s punkette, from the little girl in pyjamas to the provocative sex bomb, her clothes in the spotlight are in her image: in constant evolution. But this need to change her look, is it branded with a certain sense of the spectacle (surprise, always surprise) or does it sometimes translate a lack of confidence from someone who is still looking to find herself? Alizée is only twenty, she has all the time in the world to evolve. When the lolita becomes a woman...