To me, these Blackglama ads exuded elegance throughout their run. Because of the general attitude towards furs today, they are no longer produced the same way, but they honored many legends, and, especially in the early years of the campaign, Broadway legends in particular. I'll post as many as I can find, as I think they were really lovely.
The first one, shown with this post, is a 1968 photo of a young Barbra Streisand.
That same year, Channing's final replacement as Dolly, Pearl Bailey, posed for the series.
EDIT: It has been pointed out that Merman was, in fact, Channing's last replacement as Dolly. Bailey was somewhere in between, but played a return engagement in the role in 1975, five years after the original production closed shop. In 1978, in another return engagement, Channing returned to the role!
I've always loved the Martha Graham/Rudolph Nureyev/Margot Fonteyn one
I thought they were trying to revive the campaign, with some controversy, with Janet Jackson's ads--certainly some of them are based on the 60s/70s images although IMHO not as stylishly shot.
I think that was the aim of the Janet Jackson and Gisele Bundchen ads, as well as others like them, but to me, the star power of the "legends" depicted has dropped a bit. It's also no longer an annual series, and the photography isn't, to me, as attractive, or as incredible at capturing the personality of the star sitting for the portraits.
Ah, thank you for the correction about Bailey and Merman. Last night I was watching the "Carol Channing & Pearl Bailey On Broadway" DVD, which is fantastic, and I must have gotten that misconception into my head. Updated On: 5/13/12 at 05:20 PM
Oh I completely agree with all you say about the modern campaigns. I admit I'm not a fan of fur, but regardless I agvree that times have changed, and they can't be recaptured.