In the field of cultural studies, glamour is the impression of attraction or fascination that a particularly luxurious or elegant appearance creates, an impression which intensifies reality. Typically, a person, event, location, technology, or product such as a piece of clothing can be glamorous or add glamour. "Glamour" originally referred to a magic spell, an illusion said to be cast by witches.
Virginia Postrel says that for glamour to be successful it nearly always requires sprezzatura—an appearance of effortlessness, and to appear distant—transcending the everyday, to be slightly mysterious and somewhat idealised, but not to the extent it is no longer possible to identify with the person.[3] Glamorous things are neither opaque, hiding all, nor transparent showing everything, but translucent, favourably showing things.[4]
The early Hollywood star system in particular specialised in Hollywood glamour where they systematically glamorised their actors and actresses.[3]
Glamour can be confused with a style, which is adherence to a particular school of fashion, or intrinsic beauty; whereas glamour can be external and deliberate.
"Glamour" originally referred to a magic spell, an illusion said to be cast by witches. In the late 19th century terminology, a non-magical item used to help create a more attractive appearance gradually became known as 'a glamour'.[3]
Late in the 19th century the common meaning shifted to being applied to ordinary objects and jewellery without connotations of supernatural, merely upon the effect that it has on appearance. This is a sense used in this article and to some extent is the way that it was used by the early Hollywood system.
In modern usage glamour is often confused with style or beauty; but they may be considered to be distinct, although glamour may give the appearance of beauty or present as a personal style.
Many forms of architecture employ glamorous motifs to enhance the appearance of what may be otherwise mundane buildings. The Art Deco style is generally considered to be a glamorous one.[2]
The "Golden Age" of the glamour in Hollywood was the 1930s and 1940s, following the depression and its aftermath.[5]
"Glamour is the result of chiaroscuro, the play of light on the landscape of the face, the use of the surroundings through the composition, through the shaft of the hair and creating mysterious shadows in the eyes. In Hollywood, stars as far apart as Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Rita Hayworth and Dolores del Río, own and acquire glamor, technology and willingness to refine the beauty of its own... Are indecipherable magic of the cinema, substance of the dreams of a generation and the admiration of the following meeting."
— filmmaker Josef von Sternberg[6]
Hollywood studios presented their female stars in designer gowns and exquisite jewelry,[7] both on screen and in carefully orchestrated occasions for publicity. Joan Crawford is quoted to have said, "I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford, the movie star."[8]
Photography was shot in rooms that had been specially painted to flatter the skin tone of the actors and actresses, and attention was paid to hair and clothes.[3] Notably this was successfully done with:
Glamour icons are people that are thought to epitomise glamour, that have an individual style that makes them more attractive.
For example:
Glamour photography is the photographing of a model with the emphasis on the model and the model's sexuality and allure; with any clothing, fashion, products or environment contained in the image being of minor consideration. Photographers use a combination of cosmetics, lighting and airbrushing techniques to produce the most physically appealing image of the model possible.
