Tom Ford: Creep or Liberated Genius?

Gentle readers,

Tom Ford’s recent entry into the fragrance market has not gone unnoticed by bloggers, shoppers, or the fashion press. So there’s really no need for him to do something like, well, this.

I have just a few thoughts.

First.  It’s a fragrance for men.  Okay, so if you figure that 90% of men are straight, I guess this ad might appeal to them.  Gay men, probably not so much.  But I’m also guessing that gay men buy a lot more cologne (for themselves) than straight men might.  Maybe I’m wrong.  It also kind of reminds me of ‘tucking’, and brings to mind the scene in Silence of the Lambs where Buffalo Bill tucks his junk and vogues in front of the mirror.

Looking at the details,  I really do like the manicure.   But the rest of the image verges on hyper-real.    I see this in the way the corners of the bottle indent the model’s thighs, the oil almost pools over her left hip, and the razor burn/chicken skin is plain to see.  It’s so sexualized it’s not really sexy, is it?

After staring at this for probably twenty minutes too long, I have to conclude that it’s really just a joke on us and is done for shock value.  It’s sure to get the perfume blogosphere abuzz, for at least five minutes, anyway.   I fail to care what the cologne actually smells like.