A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magazine. The term first appeared in English about 1899. A less-commonly used term for the other gender is cover boy.
Some magazines for women feature an unknown model that represents the style of the magazine, such as Seventeen. A parallel to this trend is reflected in men's magazines like Men's Fitness or Sports Illustrated.
An intermediate category is the use of a model or supermodel who is recognizable due to exposure in magazines or advertising, a strategy often adopted by ELLE magazine.
In most cases, the objective is to maximize sales and differentiation, while also expressing the brand values of the title.
Editorial approaches and the market-place
Editorial decisions concerning the positioning of the magazine in the market-place are a key influence on the portrayal of women on the cover.
In the 20th century, numerous women's magazines would feature royalty or aristocracy on their covers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Diana, Princess of Wales would be a popular cover choice—but usually for weeklies, usually shot by paparazzi, so strictly these were not "cover girl" images. However, there were exceptions where authorized portraits of royalty, such as Diana, Princess Beatrice of York and Elizabeth II, were taken for Vogue, Tatler and Harper's Bazaar. Despite public complaints about exploitation in the 1990s, publishers have not shied away from using royalty when possible.
Supermodel Gisele Bündchen has frequently been featured on fashion magazine covers.
New men's style magazines founded in the 1980s, like Arena and Gentlemen's Quarterly rarely featured women on the cover, and where they did they were intended not to be sexually provocative, deliberately distancing the magazine from ‘top shelf’ soft core pornographic magazines. Notably Esquire’s first edition featured a photograph of Brigitte Bardot that was over thirty years old. However, this trend changed during the 1990s, initially with Loaded in the UK, followed by FHM. GQ’s UK edition was eventually forced to follow suit.
Later Peter Howarth, UK editor of Esquire famously removed semi-naked women from the covers in a move to once again differentiate the magazine from the competition. The result was a drop in sales but an increase in advertising revenue, as the magazine was able to attract advertisers for more high-end products than before.
The rise of celebrity culture in the late 1980s and early 1990s has seen to the appearance of more actresses on magazine covers, especially among fashion magazines. This may be due to a convergence in the mass media between traditional models and actresses: models gained a greater profile in the 1980s, largely through the "supermodels", and became celebrities in their own right. Actresses, meanwhile, saw appearances in fashion magazines as beneficial to their careers and overall profiles. In addition, numerous models made the move into acting. Finally, there is the issue of sales: a recognizable face will, theoretically, shift more magazines.
The choice of model depends in some part on one's potential recognition in the market-place in which the title is sold. For example, Lucire Romania saw its sales and profile increase after using a local cover girl, Monica Gabor, rather than those photographed by the "master edition" in New Zealand.
While familiarity is a desirable trait for magazine covers—hence the top models and celebrities can charge large amounts for a photographic shoot—there is always the problem of overexposure and dilution of one's image. If, for instance, the majority of covers featured a small handful of celebrities, then the differentiation becomes minimal (e.g. in certain months in 2005, Paris Hilton featured on numerous covers), and there would, in theory, be a tendency to promote lesser known faces.
In the 2000s, some have predicted the demise of the actress or celebrity from fashion magazine covers, citing overexposure and growing cynicism. However, with the success of magazines such as InStyle, which uses celebrity covers, there is little evidence that the predictions are being realized in the middle of the decade.
Image editing
Image editing is common practice for photographs used in advertising and publicity, and cover images are no exception. Image editing is an ongoing process of styling and selection, which invites debate on issues related to the representation of women. Arguably, advertising and cover images can help perpetuate an unattainable ideal of beauty, sometimes aided through methods of retouching to remove skin blemishes and shadows under the eyes, smooth out skin texture, widen pupils, or suggest an hourglass figure.
A contrary viewpoint has been put forward by some[who?] in the trade, saying that a retouched photograph is actually more representative of the subject. The theory is that when one is in the presence of the person, one does not notice the blemishes. Retouching, therefore, restores the "energy" of the subject.
A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products or to serve as an artist's model or to pose for photography.
A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model who has a worldwide reputation and background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became popular in the 1990s. Supermodels usually work for prominent fashion designers and clothing brands. They may have multimillion-dollar contracts, endorsements, and campaigns. Supermodels have branded themselves as household names and worldwide recognition is associated with their modeling careers. They have been on the covers of leading fashion magazines. Claudia Schiffer stated in 2007 that, "In order to become a supermodel one must be on all the covers all over the world at the same time so that people can recognise the girls."
Bondage pornography is the depiction of sexual bondage or other BDSM activities using photographs, stories, films or drawings. Though often described as pornography, the genre involves the presentation of bondage fetishism or BDSM scenarios and does not necessarily involve the commonly understood pornographic styles. In fact, the genre is primarily interested with the presentation of a bondage scene and less with depictions of sexuality, such as nudity or sex scenes, which may be viewed as a distraction from the aesthetics and eroticism of the sex scenario itself.
Herbert Ritts Jr. was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black and white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture, which emphasized the human shape.
Dame Lesley Lawson, widely known by the mononym nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London.
Cynthia Ann Crawford is an American model, actress and television personality. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was among the most popular supermodels and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers and runways, as well as fashion campaigns. She subsequently expanded into acting and business ventures.
Linda Evangelista is a Canadian fashion model. She is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time, and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. Evangelista is primarily known for being the longtime "muse" of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for the phrase: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day."
Playgirl is an American magazine that has historically featured pictorials of nude and semi-nude men alongside general interest, lifestyle, and celebrity journalism, as well as original fiction. For most of its history, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, though it quickly developed a significant gay male readership.
Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are considered to be unethical practices, especially when used to deceive. Photographs may be manipulated for political propaganda, to improve the appearance of a subject, for entertainment, or as humor.
Cheryl Rae Tiegs is an American model and fashion designer. Frequently described as America's first supermodel, Tiegs made multiple appearances on the covers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Time magazine.
Stephanie Michelle Seymour is an American model and actress. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was one of the most popular supermodels, being featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the cover of Vogue, as well as being a former Victoria's Secret Angel. She had a book published about beauty tips and has participated in advertising campaigns for clothing and cosmetic products. In 2017, Seymour launched her own line of lingerie. She has ventured into acting with one appearance in each medium of film, television, and video games.
Amber Evangeline Valletta is an American model and actress. She began her career as a fashion model, landing her first of 17 American Vogue covers in February 1993. During the 1990s, Valletta reached the status of supermodel, working as the face of Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Escada, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Valentino, Gucci and Versace, and signing multimillion-dollar cosmetics contracts with Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden. From 1995 to 1996, Valletta and her friend and fellow model Shalom Harlow hosted the MTV show House of Style.
Kylie Bax is a New Zealand-based model and actress. She has appeared on international magazine covers, including Vogue and Marie Claire. During her twenties, Bax had supporting roles in action and comedy films.
Tatjana Patitz was a German fashion model. She achieved international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s representing fashion designers on runways and in magazines such as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. She was one of the big five supermodels who appeared in the 1990 music video "Freedom! '90" by George Michael, and she was associated with the editorial, advertising, and fine-art works of photographers Herb Ritts and Peter Lindbergh.
Karen Mulder is a Dutch fashion model. She is known for her work with Versace, Dior, and Chanel during the 1980s and 1990s. Mulder was featured on the cover of Vogue and was also a Victoria's Secret model, making her one of the original "Angels" and the first from both the brand and from her country. In the early 2000s, she began to speak out about the dark side of the modeling industry and the dangers faced by underage girls and young women.
CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989, and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics line by allowing "cover girls", models, actresses, and singers who appear on the front cover of women's magazines, to wear its products. CoverGirl primarily provides a wide variety of consumer-grade cosmetics.
British Vogue is a British fashion magazine based in London and first published in 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine Vogue and is owned and distributed by Condé Nast. Currently edited by Edward Enninful, British Vogue is said to link fashion to high society and class, teaching its readers how to 'assume a distinctively chic and modern appearance'.
Glamour photography is a genre of photography in which the subjects are portrayed in erotic poses ranging from fully clothed to nude. The term may be a euphemism for erotic photography. For glamour models, body shape and size are directly related to success. This type of photography is also known as "cheesecake" or "pin-up" for women and "beefcake" for men.
Alyssa Elaine Miller is an American model. She has done print and runway work for numerous leading companies. Among her highlights are cover appearances for Vogue (Germany) and Elle (Italy), work as a featured model–spokesperson for Guess, and appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood is a black and white photograph taken in 1989 by photographer and director Herb Ritts. The subject of the photograph is a group of five women coyly entwined together in an embrace.
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