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Eduardo-Draft
Eduardo-Draft
A, B, C, D
EXTENDED ESSAY
Research question: How and to what effect on the reader did Vogue Magazine integrate design
and language in their Gisele Bündchen covers to reinforce the beauty standards from 1999 to
2001?
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 3
IMPACT OF ELEMENTS OF DESIGN AND LANGUAGE, AND CULTURAL CONTEXT....5
IMPACT OF FONTS AND CULTURAL CONTEXT..............................................................6
IMPACT OF LANGUAGE DEVICES AND CULTURAL CONTEXT.................................. 8
IMPACT OF IMAGES AND CULTURAL CONTEXT......................................................... 12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
WORKS CITED............................................................................................................................ 18
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INTRODUCTION
From the ballrooms that inspired Madonna to write ‘Vogue’ to the movie ‘The Devil
Wears Prada’, it is undeniable that Vogue Magazine is a reference in fashion for the modern days
(Criale-Unzueta). To build this status of a reputable fashion magazine, Vogue portrays in its
covers celebrities loved by the public, especially up to 2002, when runway models were slowly
substituted by actors and other famous personalities (Borrelli-Persson). One of the biggest
models of the beginning of the 21st century, the Brazilian übermodel Gisele Bündchen, debuted
on the runways in 1998, in an Alexander McQueen show (Hirwani). The very next year, she was
declared by Vogue Magazine the “Model of the Year” and the symbol of sexy curves with the
issue “the return of the sexy model”, which is considered the ending of Heroin Chic - a tendency
in a fashion that overvalued the skinniness - followed by the models throughout the 1990s (de
Klerk).
From the time of her debut up to 2001, Gisele Bündchen was on the cover of 16 issues of
Vogue America and British Vogue. Vogue largely used Bündchen to reinforce the beauty
standards at the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s, turning into an interesting case
study in fashion and marketing, which brings up the necessity of studying How and to what
effect on the reader did Vogue Magazine integrate design and language in their Gisele Bündchen
covers to reinforce the beauty standards from 1999 to 2001. The study of the impact of Vogue
through Gisele Bündchen covers can help to understand the construction of beauty standards at
the beginning of the 21st century, as well as understand why movements such as Body Positivity
and the movements raising awareness about Eating Disorders are so strong nowadays since
Bündchen covers, although marking the ending of an era of overvaluation of bony skinniness,
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still can be seen as a tool for the glorification of another type of skinniness, more focused in
being sexy.
From the 16 issues that Bündchen starred in, 10 covers (five from each edition) were
selected to show how and to what effect these two editions of the same magazine used design
and language to reinforce the beauty standards of that period. The methodology used is the
comparison of verbal and non-verbal elements used in both editions, along with cultural context,
in order to analyze the impact on the reader that the construction of these elements has. The
secondary sources are a mix of online sources from reliable magazines and online newspapers,
which will be used to provide a better understanding of the cultural context, and academic
dissertations and language books, which will be used to understand the impact of language and
design on the reader. It is expected to show that both editions of Vogue used Bündchen as a sexy
model, as a beauty standard to be achieved, and although both magazines use the same elements,
both of them portray Bündchen in two different ways. More than a commercial magazine, Vogue
plays a lot with its positioning in marketing as the reference for fashion, and in this way, it is
expected to see Vogue using different devices to reinforce this positioning, while reinforcing the
beauty standards of the beginning of the 21st century. Furthermore, British Vogue - a magazine
focused in young, middle class women solely interested in fashion - and Vogue America - a
magazine under the direction of Anna Wintour, and focused in modern, powerful, and elegant
women - are set in the two most influential realms of fashion in the Western World, thus, it is
expected that both editions will reflect the cultural context of those places by reinforcing the
beauty standards as a way to promote, to an extent, a hegemony of taste (Allen et al.; Gray;
Jones).
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More than selling issues, Vogue uses its brand positioning to reinforce its place in the market as a
reference of fashion - and in the case of Bündchen’s issues, it is also used to reinforce the beauty
standards of the beginning of the 21st century, stating that beauty also means being thin. For such
purposes, Vogue uses elements of language, such as metaphors, call-to-action phrases, and
imagery, as well as elements of design, such as hierarchy in fonts, italics, and colors, to
anchorage the copy of the covers with the images, which portrays Bündchen as a beauty
standard.
Fig. 1 - Gisele Bündchen on covers for Vogue America (1-5) and British Vogue (6-10) from 1999
to 2001
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Vogue Magazine uses italics and different sizes in fonts in certain parts of the copy to establish
Especially used by Vogue America - for example, on covers 1 and 4, italics are used to bring
informality to the issue, giving the reader a sense of movement and highlighting phrases that
attract the attention of the reader. For instance, on cover 1, the word “sexy” is emphasized by
mixing italics and regular letters. The fact that Vogue chose to emphasize the word “sexy” is
linked with the fact that Bündchen at that time was seen as the representation of a sexy symbol,
going in the countercurrent of the ‘heroin chic’ brought up by supermodels during the 1990s
(Dabner 88; Rossi; Hirwani). This same link between italics and the image is represented on
cover 4, where the copy ‘SURVIVOR, TEMPTATION ISLAND’ is used to show reality shows
released that year that are focused on surviving skills and wildlife. The copy used links with the
fact that Bündchen, which is presented using a tight top and making a sexy position in a way to
be distinct for the public, is in a place that seems to be more natural and wild, making the public
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link these two elements together and perceive Bündchen as a representation of the wild sexy,
which is connected with the fact that Bündchen at the time was considered a beauty standard
(“Survivor”; “Temptation Island (TV Series 2001–2003) - Plot - IMDb”). In this sense, the use of
italics associated with the use of images in both covers suggests that Bündchen was a model to
be followed by women, with a body that should be an aim for all women if they wanted to be as
On the other hand, British Vogue does not use italics to build a font hierarchy and create links
between copy and image but uses different sizes and colors of font to do so. On covers 6 and 10,
for example, they use different font sizes to create hierarchy, dynamism, and unity, and give the
important words - in this case, the primary cover line - more stress (Dabner 48). On cover 6, the
primary cover line which states the title of the main article - “Sleek, chic & sexy” is presented in
a bigger font size than the other cover lines, such as “international collection issues”, which is
part of the same phrase. This break of a line into different parts, using different sizes with a
heading brings dynamism to the cover, and when associated with adjectives such as sleek, chic,
and sexy, it appeals to qualities that are attractive to the beauty standards of the Western World
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(Dabner 48). These adjectives are linked with the fact that Bündchen is presented in a sexy pose
with tight clothes that emphasize her breasts, which causes a sense of attraction towards the
figure of Bündchen, portraying her as a representation of these adjectives and suggesting that
these qualities are what makes a woman attractive. This break of a line into different parts is also
observed on cover 10, where the primary cover line also states the title of the main article. In this
case, “Look Out” is presented in a bigger font size than “it is a brave, wild, sexy season”, which
is the continuation of the phrase. The fact that “Look Out” is presented in bigger fonts is justified
for its role as a call to action phrase, which appeals to the reader's sense of urgency of being
inside the tendencies, while the adjectives“brave”, “wild”, and “sexy” do not need such
emphasis, as they’re linked with Bündchen, which presents a sexy and confident pose, in a tight
corset that emphasizes her skinniness. The use of such adjectives creates a feeling of comparison
towards Bündchen, who is portrayed as “sexy”, “brave”, and “wild” on this magazine cover, and
the fact that Bündchen is presented in such sexy poses suggests that she has the right body type
to be brave, wild, and sexy, also suggesting that any type of body that is not as the body that
Bündchen has should be condemned and does not have the right to feel as confident as Bündchen
shows to be.
Vogue uses rhetorical devices such as metaphors and imagery, as well as call-to-action phrases to
portray the different ways in which Bündchen, and consequently Vogue itself, is a reference to
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More used in Vogue America, rhetorical devices are used to create a connection between the
copy and the image, establishing a concept of what is sexy and how to be sexy. For example, on
cover 2, released in December 1999, the main cover lines state “Dancing into the Millennium:
Sexy Sparkling Party Clothes”, which brings imagery to illustrate to the reader how the new
millennium will be good. This imagery is built through two main factors: the metaphor present
on “dancing into the millennium”, which brings a sense of a smooth transition to the new
millennium, at the same time that it references the new year’s parties, and it is also built through
the alliteration present on “sexy sparkling party clothes”, which refers to fashion, but also to the
image of Bündchen, who is using such pieces of clothes on the middle of the cover. In this way,
the magazine cover integrates alliteration and metaphor to create visual imagery, which makes
the reader desire the “sexy sparkling party clothes” that would make them make this smooth
transition to the new millennium (Kadam, Kothawale 17-18). This link between the cover line
and the image is reinforced by the main article, which states “The Winners”, which makes the
reader link the fact that Bündchen is using such clothes with the fact that she is a winner and, as
stated in another cover line, the “Model of the Year”. Therefore, the amalgamation of different
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cover lines, associated with the image establishes Bündchen as a winner because of her clothes
and her body, suggesting to the reader that this status of a winner can just be achieved if they
have a skinny body and expensive clothes as Bündchen does, which reinforce a sense of
comparison and establishes beauty standards not only related to body type, but also to fashion.
Such devices are also used on cover 3, where one of the cover lines states “Blame it on Rio:
Bikinis and Brazilian Beauties”. In such a copy, it is possible to observe the use of alliteration in
the repetition of the consonantal sound “b”, which brings an idea of unity and fluidity to the
cover, as well as creates a tropical mood that is reinforced by the beach setting and clothing
present in the cover. This cover line also makes the reader create links between the copy and
other references, such as the movie “Blame It on Rio”, which is a movie with lots of sexy
references related to the girls from Rio de Janeiro, which is also embedded in the fact that Rio de
Janeiro is seen and represented as a tropical city where women are highly sexualized and have
nice bodies (Kelly 7). When linked with the image, the alliteration and the reference to the movie
“Blame it on Rio” make the reader think about Bündchen as a representation of these “Brazilian
Beauties”, creating a sense of limitation, since Bündchen’s body is an unattainable body for the
majority of the people, which underpins Vogue’s role to reinforce the beauty standards of the
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Such rhetorical devices are not observed in British Vogue, where instead of using conventional
rhetorical devices, the magazine brings up different types of call-to-action phrases to strengthen
its positioning and corrupt the idea that fashion is for everyone. For example, on cover 7, one of
the cover lines enunciates “how to make fashion work for you”, which brings a direct call to
action suggesting that everyone has something that is fashionable for them, inviting different
folks to see the magazine, but also suggesting that this fashionable factor is conditioned with the
acquirement of expensive clothes and a certain type of body, as shown by Bündchen, who has
her slim abdomen shown and is using a Versace skirt with a jeans crop top. By associating the
cover line that states “Elite Chic” with the image of Bündchen using Versace in a powerful pose
that emphasizes her skinniness, British Vogue induces the reader to understand Bündchen as a
fashion icon, a beauty standard to be followed, which is also reinforced by the cover line that
announces “the guide to ultimate pampering”, which leads the reader to think that Vogue is the
only guide to know how to be as powerful as Bündchen, especially emphasized by the use of the
adjective “ultimate”. Ergo, British Vogue associates the call to action in “How to Make Fashion
Work for You” with other attractive cover lines such as “Elite Chic” and “The Guide to Ultimate
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Pampering”, as well as Bündchen portrayed in a powerful, sexy position, not just to reinforce the
beauty standards, but also to strengthen the positioning of Vogue as a reference for sexy, fashion,
and elegant women. Call-to-action phrases are used on cover 9 more implicitly, where one of the
cover lines announces“Go Figure: the waist returns”. While using an idiomatic expression, in
this case, “Go Figure”, British Vogue at the same time expresses the perplexity of the waist
returning and invites the reader to understand how it happened by stating that this is the new
fashion tendency. The use of an idiomatic expression as a call to action makes the reading more
fluid, but also more colloquial, which matches the target audience perceived by British Vogue.
Associated with the cover line “All Change: the new rules of sophistication”, which brings a
sense of suspense and ephemerality since the fashion trends are changing, and with the image of
Bündchen showing her skinny waist, British Vogue contradicts Vogue America that two years
before, in 1999, had released the cover “the return of the sexy model”, which portrayed
Bündchen as the sexy symbol for her curvaceous body. In this sense, British Vogue evokes a
change in fashion to make the reader think that they are out of the tendencies, suggesting that
even Bündchen, who was portrayed as curvaceous before, has now followed the tendency of
skinny bodies, validating Bündchen’s and Vogue’s role as the guides of fashion.
Different from other elements of language and design, images are a special feature because they
represent the fusion of both areas. In this sense, Vogue uses design techniques such as the rule of
thirds, and non-verbal language, such as poses and setting, to emphasize the figure of Gisele
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In Vogue America, it is possible to see how they portray Bündchen as a soft sexy symbol, but
also as a demurred person with a strong sense of self. For example, on cover 1 it is possible to
see that even though one of the cover lines claims Bündchen is the “sexy model”, she is with
demurred clothing, which does not show her skin extravagantly. This causes the reader to
understand that it is not needed to show their body to be sexy, causing a feeling of comfort from
the magazine towards the reader and reinforcing Vogue’s positioning as a reference for any
woman who wants to be sexy, as Bündchen is not showing her skin extravagantly, but she is still
using a tube top. Also on cover 1, it is possible to see through the setting she is placed in, which
looks like a farm, a bucolic place, that they try to portray her as having an innocent aura, which
brings again this sense of comfortableness towards the reader, but also makes reference to the
fact that Bündchen popularized a type of catwalk called “horse walk”, a movement in which a
model lifts her knees and kick her feet to step forward (O’Connell). This is confirmed through
the color choice that the author made, using bucolic, buoyant colors in a way to create harmony
within the magazine cover, but also to make the reader feel more comfortable with Bündchen
being portrayed as the beauty standard since she is not portrayed as someone futile, but instead,
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she is portrayed as someone desirable, since the cover brings a contrast between the calmness of
the bucolic place, clothing, and colors chosen; and the fact that Bündchen is portrayed as the
“sexy model”. The same pattern is also observed on cover 5, where Bündchen is promoting a
campaign of fundraising for the Twin Towers fund, a month after the terrorist attack of 9/11
2001. Although Bündchen is not portrayed as a sexy symbol on this magazine cover, it is
possible to see her relevance to fashion and how she is someone important in fashion in this issue
since she is fundraising money for the Twin Towers Fund representing the Council of Fashion
Designers of America, which leads her to be a beauty reference for those who want to be similar
to her (Calaway). Aligned with her simple clothing and her campaign, other cover lines also
reveal why she is portrayed in such a way, as said in one of the cover lines “Fashion’s New
Romance, New Simplicity”, which justifies the fact that she is using such a simple t-shirt with
jeans. This causes the reader to empathize with the cause and perceive Bündchen as someone
whom they should refer to in terms of how to be more simple in such hard times, which indicates
her role as a reference in fashion and beauty. The fact that she is holding a juvenile dog also
contributes to creating the reader’s empathy towards the cause, once it is a cute animal that
creates empathy by itself, as well as transmits this message of a “man’s best friend”, which
suggests the hard times that they were facing at that time and portrays Bünchen as an innocent
girl who is trying to help in such an important cause. The setting she is in, a beach, also brings
the same feeling of a bucolic place such as the magazine cover represented on cover 1, which
brings this sense of comfort to the reader and consolidates Bündhcen image as a reference and
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On the other hand, British Vogue actively portrays Bündchen as a sexy symbol in a way to
sexualize Bündchen, portraying her in an objectified, almost vulgar position. For example, on
cover 8, it is possible to observe that Bündchen is portrayed as an object that Robbie Williams
possesses, being nothing more than an item, a thin sexy body that he has on his property, which
is possible to observe through the position of his hands behind her and also on her abdomen. This
causes the reader a sense of admiration towards Bündchen since at that time Robbie Williams
had just released the album “Sing When You're Winning”, which was a hit in the United
Kingdom, making him an object of desire for many women, who are the target audience for
British Vogue (Tortorici). By presenting the cover lines that state “The New Sexy Chic” and “Eat
Fat, Get Thin”, British Vogue associates the fact that Bündchen is thin with the fact that she is
sexy, which suggests to the reader that Bündchen follows the ultimate guide for day spas stated
in another cover line, solidifying Vogue’s role as the arbiter of discernment in matters of beauty
standards. The same sexualization applies to cover 9, where the thinness of Bündchen is
emphasized through her pose, which draws the reader’s attention to her accentuated collarbones
and slim waist. This causes the reader to associate her skinniness with “sophistication”, as stated
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in one of the cover lines, reinforcing skinniness as an essential feature for those who fit the
beauty standards. There is also a contrast between her bold makeup and the white bra that she is
using since the makeup makes her look powerful, sexy, and fierce, while the color of the bra
breaks the sexualization to bring an aura of innocence and demureness. This contrast leads the
reader to think that it is possible to have a balance between being sexy and sophisticated and
being demure since Bündchen is portrayed as the personification of sexy and sophistication, and,
to some extent, she is being demure. Apart from that, it is also possible to observe that both of
the images portrayed in the British Vogue covers are taken inside studios, which brings a sense
of superficiality and unattainability, that distances the reader from the unattainable perfect body,
at the same time that makes them nurture the unrealistic idea of having what would be a
desirable body.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, it is possible to observe within the analysis that both editions of Vogue
explore the image of Gisele Bündchen as a beauty standard through the use of language and
design. Vogue British uses the image of Bündchen in a sexualized way, along with call-to-action
phrases that invite the reader to buy the magazine, while Vogue America portrays Bündchen in a
softer way, conveying a sexy chic impression of her to the reader. Both magazines use the same
elements in two different ways in order to have different impacts on the reader: while Vogue
America uses italics, British Vogue uses colors and sizes; while Vogue America uses rhetorical
devices, British Vogue uses call-to-action; and while Vogue America uses demurred clothing and
setting, British Vogue uses studios and revealing pieces, which suggests that British Vogue tries
to appeal more to the sexy symbol than Vogue America does. Therefore, it is possible to observe
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that British Vogue, rather than Vogue America, more effectively integrates language and design
to reinforce the beauty standards from 1999 to 2001 through Bündchen’s covers, since British
Vogue sexualizes Bündchen more than Vogue America, and in this sense, British Vogue seems to
be more attractive to the audience, since it promotes the idea that if the reader is not sexy, they
can not be as beautiful as Bündchen. However, it is important to note that although both editions
have different impacts on the reader, Vogue America and British Vogue have the same aim of
promoting a beauty standard, selling Vogue and Bündchen as references for fashion, and
solidifying the hegemony of taste by suggesting that having a body type similar to Bündchen or
Nowadays, in a world of social media and globalization in which movements such as Body
Positivity and movements against Body Shaming are each time more popular, the beauty
standards perpetuated by Vogue Magazine at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the
21st century are not so popular among young people anymore, although Bündchen is still
relevant and keeps being portrayed as a beauty standard to be followed. However, with the
presence of people such as the singer Lizzo, who promotes body positivity and empowerment to
overweight people, on the cover of Vogue America and British Vogue, it is possible to see that
the idea of beauty standard is changing, even though Vogue keeps being a reference for what is
the ideal body and what is fashion. A person like Lizzo on the cover of the biggest fashion
magazine in the world indicates that the beauty standard proposed by Vogue at the beginning of
this century is not the same beauty standard that we have today. This reveals that such as in all
sectors of society, fashion and marketing adapt themselves to fit into the mindset of a certain
time period, and the current time period does not accept the glorification of skininess anymore.
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Gray, Kevin. “The Summer of Her Discontent - Nymag.” New York Magazine, 20 Sept. 1999,
Hirwani, Peony. “Gisele Bündchen opens up about ‘traumatising’ 1998 Alexander McQueen
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www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/fashion-an-elle-of-a-decade-1575491.ht
Kadam, M G., and Kothawale, Savita Ramchandra. IMAGERY IN THE SEVENTY POEMS
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