Boxes

I've been talking mostly about the process of constructing my body image dolls, and not so much about the boxes they'll be standing in front of. These boxes will be hanging on the wall with the dolls on stands in front.

My "Fubs" (or future husband for those not in the know) is a dynamo with a saw and some nails. We were a little worried about how these things would come together without ruining the ads underneath. But they came out amazing!

I chose vintage ads as the background for my dolls because they represent a time when the fashion industry sought to urge women to mould themselves into certain shapes. Now, I'm not saying that modern media doesn't do the same thing. It's just that advertisements of yesteryear use such absurd and sexist wording and imagery to sell their products. A faceless woman selling you underwear. A woman tethered (an obvious control issue) and told that she can be a "living doll". There was no fear of upheaval from women for blatant sexist ads.
Modern advertisements are just as absurd, but they're just a tad more subtle, and honestly, not as funny to me. I can't look at these vintage ads and wonder what agencies were thinking. I highly doubt that it is as interesting as any episode of Mad Men could portray. (Check out this link to see some even more obnoxiously absurd sexist ads)

While the four images I'm sharing don't show the breadth of the images I'm using, it's a small sample. I like that my awesome dude was quick to help without a peep of complaint, and they look gorgeous!