Bourdages Favorites: The Magazine Dress
I was asked along by a client who had created something fantastic and wanted a portfolio to showcase it. This particular client specializes in high fashion garments that really do speak for themselves… which makes my job so much easier.
When it comes to turning regular clothing into wearable art there is nothing that hits the spot quite like the magazine dress, shown modeled here by the delightful Nicole. Stylish, sleek and trend-setting in its own right; we had a great day shooting it in all its stunning glory.
Nicole is a true professional. She moves in between every shot just enough so you can capture the poses. She made it look easy to have the dress as the star of the show. Some models require more direction than others, but she just knew what to do… and the camera loves her!
I really wanted to make the bottom of the skirt pop so we had a little play around with the actual magazine style photographs. There was just this moment where she held them at exactly the right angle to bring it all together. I think this photograph shows off both the dress and the model’s skill.
I love Nicole’s pose here. She had just finished tossing the photographs around and was just kind of freer in her body movements. It gives you a good impression of how the skirt moves. It’s unusual to come across this sort of fabric that supports itself and stands on its own. Nicole was really good at working it.
Don’t want to lie, this one took a few takes to get just right. You have limited control over what the photographs do when you toss them in the air and the first shot had a magazine page blocking Nicole’s face. We did it again though… and as you can see it was totally worth it.
This was a versatility shot. As you can see we switched in the belt and the glasses in an effort to show how the magazine dress could be worn in different situations. This series of shots had an unknown elegance we weren’t quite hitting before. I love them.
Again, the slightly different styling shows just how many ways you can wear the garment, while Nicole is bringing chic detachment that draws the viewer in.
Continuing with that sort of haute couture feel, we added the shawl and Nicole rocked it. It brings a layer of balance to the symmetry of the outfit that kind of widens at the shoulders and around the hips. You could almost imagine an uptown girl going to tea in autumn when you look at this shot.
This image emphasizes the difference that something so simple as a tilt of the head can change the whole attitude of a shot.
Nicole is striking a more regal pose here, the magazine dress looks fantastic from all angles so it was a real pleasure to shoot.
We really wanted to capture the movement of the Magazine Dress and using some flowing materials as a combination of textures really helped to do that… so did the coffee cup. That was Nicole’s idea!
This image is just the height of sultry drama. You can imagine her waiting on her driver to pull up outside the hotel where she occupies the penthouse suite. It’s glamorous, it’s fabulous, the model looks great… everything was flowing just right by this point in the shoot.
And again; that high-class glamour she brings just with a tilt of her head… I love the lighting in this shot. It’s just cutting across her body and bringing out all the detail in the garment beautifully.
As you can see; I loved the light and the pose so much we pulled back for some wider shots. The dark background was intentional to bring out the impact of the skirt but it also ended up making this beautiful silhouette.
This is a nice, flowing shot that gives a sense of movement. The flowers picked out really nicely against the background and Nicole had this serene expression. Always makes me think of Springtime.
When we were wrapping up the shoot and everyone was happy with what we had, we started playing around with light just to try and capture extra footage. It’s a little more ethereal than the others, but it works.