The Feminine Role in High Fashion

In class when we were discussing why it seems that female viewers are able to view the female body as arousing without hinging on any lesbian notions, while if a man were to look at an ad with two naked men, he'll be considered to have gay feelings towards men. In high fashion this is especially evident. The above picture's purpose was to sell the Aurelio Costarella's leather jacket, but the model is placed in such an environment where the leather jacket seems obscured. In fact the entire picture is obscure, suggesting that in high fashion there is a hyper fantasical world we all hope to reach. One because the clothes are so expensive that any normal person can only dream to wear; secondly, there's something artistic played into this, that the clothes are not made for the mass. It is unique and genuinely made from the hand of the designer. Through couture fashion we're allowed to take on unimaginable roles, not just simply what I want or if I were to give my month's salary I can buy this product and live as happily as the person in the ad. Couture fashion is more like if I were to sacrifice my entire year's paycheck for this product, I will be happy. Since this is close to impossible we can view the couture shoots with lenses that we never imagined, like a male's lense.
But it should be noted that female positioning have a difference in appeal between the two genders. If you look at male oriented viewers with a female model, they position themselves as frontal and head on. There is no doubt of the female's power in honing all of the male's gaze onto her. For female oriented viewers with female models, we usually see the model's position from the side or at an angle, hoping to create that infamous S-line curve. Still provocative but less demanding. It seems like the model is trying to attract the female viewer in a subtle way. You're asked to admire but you find yourself attracted to the model without knowing that your attention is focused only on the body. 

It's also interesting to note that couture fashion has redefined female standards of sexiness. In the above shot, you see Natalia, international model for Jean Paul Gaultier in a campaign for his women's wear. She is standing and they way she is fashioned gives off a sense  of asexuality. Female attraction seems to less about what the body can do to grab your attention but how outer worldly you can look, a woman in seemingly men's clothing standing strong but yet oddly attractive.