The Artifice & The Erotic

Your very own glamour.

By Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki (Polish; 1843 - 1902)

What comes to your mind hearing the words “glamorous” and “erotic”? Is it the fishnet stocking of a dancer at Moulin Rouge? Or is it Veronica Lake with her iconic peekaboo look? Or perhaps what comes to the mind is an elaborate design of a perfume bottle? Or perhaps it is something different entirely. Usually, with the erotic & the glamorous, we associate a tantalising feeling of coming at the gate of something beautiful & pleasurable, yet being unable to fully grasp how or from where it appears. It puzzles us as much as it entices us, invokes anger & frustration as much as it does the desire.

The glamorous touches an important erogenous spot — our imagination. Unlike the embodied and earthy dimensions of raw sensuality (the alluring power of which I shall speak in the future), glamour takes us into the lofty heights of dreams and imaginations, of emptiness that allows us to insert our own fantasies and narratives into it. Because of this, the erotic is deeply connected with the artifice, or the ability to create glamour, and in doing so, inspire in others a desire to move towards you. The purely natural look — without nipples coated in amber oil, without the painted darkness in the eye with the kohl — is generally seen as unerotic, even if it can be sensual and inviting in another way.

Most women carry within them a deep desire to be alluring and inviting, yet many are advised against active pursuit of glamorous arts (or have personal feelings against it), because those incapable of seeing its depths have a tendency to ignorantly label it as false. Those who react negatively at any expression of glamour are simply revealing their inability to conceptualise the symbolic, the metaphoric, and the subtle, so it should not worry you or stop you from pursuing what you feel drawn to. To the perceptive, your creative play should directly point to your inner essence and inspire a desire to dive deeply into it.

A vision or a dream, a work of art, a fictional story or a film are not false. If nothing, such often condense the raw reality into a more subtle form, and it is there where a human being actively creates & participates. A woman often desires to tell stories not only through her writing, painting, teaching or anything similar, but also through her very own being, in which she becomes the embodiment of creativity & beauty.

Today, I bring basic principles & ideas behind cultivating & creating your very own glamour, unique to you and unrepeated in anyone else.

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1. Dive Deeply Inside Your Inner World - Most women have rich and intricate inner world full of various fascinations and interests — music, history, religion, mysticism, food, perfumery, literature and many others. However, for so many, the involvement in it remains basic and rudimentary, a hobby, a source of emotional comfort rather of any active and conscious pursuit and refining. This has them remain, in a way, in perpetual maidenhood, where they place their fascinations on their bedroom walls and in their diaries, operating on the level of pure consumption. Many such women may feel unaccomplished and unrealised, because their entire being remains perpetually at the state of potential. However, the existence of such a rich inner world points towards immense potential, that, if cultivated and actively built, can become active, creative, and mature.

When I say “dive deeply inside your inner world,” I don’t mean passively consuming the things you enjoy, but also actively thinking and contemplating why it is that it fascinates you. For example, you may have a fascination with a specific historical personality, or you may enjoy a particular poem or anything similar, but the task is to explore it and ask “Why?” — “Why do I feel drawn towards Anne Boleyn?”, “Why does this particular aesthetic appeal to me?” or any similar questions that invite self-reflection. It may take time but as you do so, your fascinations will reveal a lot about you and will initiate you into deeper parts of yourself.

2. Give It a Name & Imagery - After you acquire enough self-knowledge (it is rarely ever final, so do it when you feel confident and ready enough), baptise your very own glamour by giving it a name or keywords. For example: “The Ingenue Mystic” may be a good title for someone who loves the gentle and soft, popularly called “coquette,” aesthetic that pairs with it religious imagery of Virgin Mary, rosaries, etc. This is a very general example pointing at a popular aesthetic trend among young girls on the Internet to demonstrate how it can work. The more you know yourself, the more individualised and peculiar to you it will be, and so it will move from a more general, externally informed “aesthetic” towards being a more authentic, internally nourished, and actively created art.

Another thing that you can do is create a vision board inspired by the insights you get from reflecting on your inner world. Allow yourself to make it detailed and imaginative, allow it to be even contradictory (it usually will be the more authentic it is) and do not restrict yourself fearing how others may see it or perceive it, rather allow the pure creative drive to inspire you & move you.

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Case Studies

1. Ulyana Sergeenko

Ulyana Sergeenko Demi-Couture 2021

Ulyana Sergeenko, the Kazakhastan-born Russian fashion designer has created an intricate and unique visual identity in her fashion brand. She does not hide that much of her designs and collections are nourished by her own fascinations — novels & poems, moments in history & eccentric individuals from such, places, cinema and much more. For example, in a clip for her F/W 2020 collection, she features a scene (around 4:50 on the clip found here) which she has said is inspired by the iconic scene from Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Mirror” (sitting on a wooden fence, looking at an open field, with camera filming from behind & moving slowly towards her). If I were to give a name to her personal style and also to the visual identity behind her fashion brand, I would name it something like: “A Glamorous, Worldly & Ethereal Heiress” and I would get an image of a beautiful and poised countess who owns a large estate in the countryside but also enjoys the clamour and life of Champs-Elysees. It would be an image of a late summer afternoon, a guitar playing in the summer house, children’s laughter coming from the garden while the ripe fruit, with a half-finished porcelain cup of tea sits on the table, light reflecting against it.

2. Dita Von Teese

The most famous burlesque star of our generation does not hide away from the fact that her beauty and allure were entirely actively created and inspired by the great Old Hollywood divas & burlesque icons. Often, in her interviews, she admits to being a plain and ordinary “Girl Next Door” (I would like to divert & note that the “Girl Next Door” can have her own way of captivating, but I shall speak of that in another article). Fascinated by the glamorous grand dames, she went onto a path to create her unique expression — the one she is so loyal to that she does not allow stylists and make up artists to do what she does best. She also often explains how her “created look” is not false as many would assume, but that it is actually who she truly is and far more authentic than the “bare look”, as the created one is an expression of her fascinations and passions. Over time, her style and glamour has evolved into a spectacle that others try to mimic and she has become the glamour icon of our age. If I were to name her glamour, I would name it something like: “An Eccentric & Mysterious Sex Symbol” and I would get an image of Paris between the wars, eccentric & decadent groups of artists, women in fishnets and men with kohl in their eyes.

3. Azam Ali

Your unique glamour does not always have to be about sex appeal or the use of highly stylised make up or fashion looks — perhaps many women who do not feel drawn to such may feel there isn’t enough examples for them how to captivate & lean into their allure. Because of that, I wish to include the Iranian musician Azam Ali, who while being different than what many may associate with the word glamorous or erotic and having a visual expression that can be described as alternative, bohemian, or hippie, still has her own allure that will invite and incite the one who is seeking such. Just like with the other two, her visual and musical expression is inspired by her culture, poetry, mysticism and other fascinations. Women similar to her that I would include here are Loreena McKennitt and Kate Bush. If I were to name it, I would go with something like: “A Mythopoetic & Otherworldly Siren” and I would get an image of Avalon mysteries and the folktales from Cornwall and Brittany, of a Persian carpet under a large tent, of Alhambra’s gardens and beautiful birds.

4. Lana Del Rey

It is difficult to exclude probably the most well-known, and for many women (and men), the first association with the glamour cultivation — the singer Lana Del Rey. Her exploration of different themes and archetypes, and her own person through them has often brought confusion and similarly to Dita, accusations of inauthenticity. Just like Dita, she would often have to explain how the personas she embodies and plays with are nourished by her fascinations that she has had ever since she was very young. For many in the younger generation, she has become the image behind the nostalgic & glamorous Americana dreams. If I were to give her glamour a name, I would go with: “An Americana Fantasia’s Mistress” and would bring images of Old Hollywood icons, American flags waving with the wind, open roads & wide seas, Whitman’s poetry, small & bare churches in beautiful landscapes & lively, skyscraper-filled cities. An image of a jazz bar full of smoke, of a kiss as the midnight announces the New Year, of youth & vitality.

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I hope you enjoyed this & found the guide useful. Feel free to join the conversation — add your own tips & tricks or mention other women whose glamour & creativity you admire.

Until next time,

Volupta