The most anticipated show at the last Fashion Week in Paris, of course, was the Balenciaga show - in place of Alexander Wang, who left the brand last year, they called the controversial and young Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia, and everyone was terribly interested in what this founder of the Vetements brand, which makes clothes in the spirit of a local second-hand store, he will take it and show it to everyone. And Gvasalia demonstrated not just a collection, but a whole trend - the shift of beauty in favor of ugliness, the ideal - in favor of unpretentiousness, the chic - in favor of the everyday secondary - which is now unfolding in fashion.
Praised for his unorthodox approach to creating things even during his debut at Vetements, Demna Gvasalia followed the path of his colleagues Hedi Slimane and Alessandro Michele, who came to famous fashion houses (Hedi at Yves Saint Laurent, Michele at Gucci), “wiped legs" about the historical heritage, did not give a damn about all this nonsense about the "DNA of the brand" and began to create what they wanted, albeit on the basis of some already developed styles and silhouettes, and everyone began to desperately praise them for this - they say, this is new, unusual and interesting. From a person whose main item in his own collection is a top with the inscription “You Fuck”n Asshole, you somehow don’t expect aesthetically beautiful things, but everything that happens on the Balenciaga catwalk from Gvasalia is not a Gucci tent or a Saint Laurent brothel, and a certain gloomy thrift store, where a marginalized audience sells goods. The series of suits, in which, according to the idea, it seems to be a Balenciaga-esque futuristic silhouette, and ski jackets, which have that very favorite Cristobal neck in the shape of a bud, and the final one, are doomfully ugly. a series of patchwork dresses, which were initially accompanied by colored tights, and then even shoes with an identical pattern.
As a stylist, Gvasalia could have a lot of orders in fashion magazines for those wonderful photo shoots with semi-drug-looking girls in very strange outfits (if not “rags” - this is the word that is asked for those same patchwork dresses of the updated Balenciaga), but is it worth it so persistently praise as a designer? Definitely, he turned out to be more far-sighted than many of his colleagues in predicting the very moment when ugliness fully came into fashion. If earlier these were only “peripheral” designers of the industry with their crazy experiments like Vivienne Westwood or Rick Owens, now this very anti-beauty is everywhere - an unsightly baggy silhouette, incomprehensible shoes akin to market slippers, a frankly cheap-looking dress and stylization in the spirit of “I’m just I went to take out the trash.” You can no longer take hooligan designers, but look at those who are always featured on the front page of fashion magazines, and here it is - imperfection, reaching the point of ugly or simply banal human “no, guys, I’ll never wear that”, comes out on surface.
Ugliness has become part of fashion, its way to turn into news, into that very unpleasant “squeak” that everyone will definitely share on social networks. Disharmony and defectiveness have become a lure in an era when closets are full of clothes, and couture collections differ from each other from year to year only by the number of supermodels who were invited to them. Designers are looking for a way to interest us in something new, but it turns out as if they diligently drank all the working hours allocated to create the collection, and then woke up with a hangover and came out with what came to mind. From extraordinary fashion shoots on ruins in the mud and atypical faces of models who seemed to be an informal minority in the 2000s, now through a motley range of street-style images in the spirit of “who will dress the weirdest”, we have come to the conclusion that designers no longer dictate fashion, they just create something as strange and unrealistic as possible, and then the PR people invite the Kardashian family to promote it all, and sales grow. Ugliness is making its way to the masses, and now, perhaps, to look fashionable, you don’t even have to try very hard - you can just find worse leggings in the closet, tear an old sweater, forget to wear jeans under a sweatshirt, and that’s it - you’re ready to get caught into photographers' lenses.
1. Hilton Sisters
Violet and Daisy Hilton
These sisters are Siamese twins. They shared a common circulatory and nervous system. This meant that they experienced one pain between them. The sisters were sold into slavery by their midwife mother, who greedily took advantage of their misfortune. They sang, danced, played various instruments in the circus. Their slave owner took all their income and forbade them to communicate with anyone. In the end, one lawyer helped them escape the shackles, and even bought back all the money they earned. The sisters continued to work in show business and at the peak of their careers earned $5,000.
2. Wild men from Borneo
These "wild men" were actually doppelgängers, mentally retarded dwarfs who had no hope of employment other than to entertain circus audiences. At the age of 26, they were purchased from their natural mother by a man named Lyman Warner. They were taught acrobatics and dances, with which they performed in front of the audience. Enslaved by the Warner family, they continued to bring wealth to the family for fifty years.
3. Woman doll
Lucia Zarate
Lucia was born in Mexico in 1864. She weighed 8 ounces and was 7 inches tall. She weighed less than a kitten. To this day she is the smallest woman on Earth. Arriving in the United States at the age of 12, she was the highest paid midget at the time ($20 per hour). Unfortunately, she died at the age of 26 on a train.
4. Texas Giant
Jack Earl
Al had a condition called acromegaly. Jack Earle performed in the circus with famous circus performers. He also starred in movies like Jack and the Bean Tree (guess who?). Despite the fact that it was difficult for freaks to find work, Earl showed everyone that you can use your extraordinary appearance in any profession. He was a salesman for a wine company and later became their PR representative. He also sculpted, painted, and wrote poetry (his book Long Shadows was published in 1950).
5. "The Hunchback"
Quasimodo is not a fictional character. The eponymous Hunchback of Notre Dame in Victor Hugo's story actually lived in Notre Dame. One British researcher found fragments of a memoir that told of a “hunchbacked stone cutter” who worked at Hugo Cathedral. It is not difficult to understand why he was given the nickname "Le Bossu" - the Hunchback.
6. The woman with the face of a mule
Grace McDaniels
This woman was born with a facial deformity that made many people uncomfortable looking at her. She was declared "the ugliest woman in the world." This is also a kind of achievement. Despite her appearance, she was a very good person. Grace got married and had a child who did not inherit her facial features, but he became a drunkard and a social outcast.
7. Jo-Jo, the dog-faced boy
Fedor Evtishchev
The boy, like his father, suffered from a rare disease - hypertrichosis. His father lived alone in the forest, away from people, so as not to listen to their ridicule. To earn money, he performed in the circus. After Fedor was born, they began touring together. Soon his father died, and the boy performed for a long time in shows organized by the famous American entrepreneur F. T. Barnum. Like a trained dog, Fedor could bark and growl on command, but he was not a dog. He could speak English, Russian and German.
8. Julia Pastrana
This girl suffered from hypertrichosis - her face and body were covered with black, coarse hair. Outwardly, Julia resembled a gorilla. Her height was a little more than 137 cm. Despite her deformity, Pastrana danced well and was very kind and welcoming. She had a husband, Theodore, who bought her and taught her everything she surprised people with in the circus. Soon, Julia gave birth to a child who lived only 3 days, and she herself died 5 days after this event. Theodore mummified the corpses of his wife and child, and later their bodies were displayed in various Panic Rooms.
9. Schlitzi
Simon Metz
Schlitzi was very popular in the circus. He was a microcephalic - a man with a small skull and a small brain. His child's head sat incongruously on the shoulders of an adult. His brain was about 3 years old, yet he sang and danced like a 10 year old. Already physically an adult, he starred in the film “Freaks” (1932), then “Island of Lost Souls” (1933). After his death, Schlitzi became a true legend.
10. Caterpillar Man
Prince Randian
Prince Randian was a striking man - he wore sleeveless clothes and no socks. He had only a head and a torso and looked like he was paralyzed, although he could light a cigarette with just his mouth. He had a wife, with whose help he learned to move. He became famous in 1932 after a cameo role in Tod Browning's film Freaks. Prince Randian lived to be 63 years old.
In the late 1880s, a new phenomenon emerged that aroused the admiration and sympathy of Victorian society for people who had genetic abnormalities. Photographer Charles Eisenmann saw a great opportunity in this hobby and began photographing Freak Show people dressed as if they were from Victorian society. Eisenmann continued to work on his archive throughout the 1870s and 80s.
"Gnome Fatty" Sophia Schultz was a regular at the studio. During the 1880s, she began to grow facial hair, which was made even thicker through retouching.
Born with a beautiful face and giant legs, Fanny Mills had a dowry of $5,000 in cash and a “prosperous farm” in Ohio from her father, but could not find a man willing to marry her.
The four-legged Myrtle Corbin gave birth to 2 and 3 children, respectively, using two separate functional reproductive organs.
In the 19th century, physical deformity was often not only a curse, but a way to become rich and famous. Many of the Freak Show participants received good salaries and lived happy lives with their families.
"Russian Dog Boy", who participated in many productions of the "Beauty and the Beast" theme, was one of the most successful and popular participants in such shows and his portraits sold like hot cakes.
Charles Eisenmann paid great attention to backgrounds, lighting, props and costumes, creating evocative, atmospheric portraits. Today, about seven hundred similar works by the photographer have been preserved in private and museum collections. Among other works, there is also a portrait of the famous Barnum.
Incredible facts
This list will tell you about ten unfortunate people suffering from severe deformities.
Some of them, with the help of modern medicine, were able to live more or less normal lives.
Some of the stories are tragic, others are hopeful. Here are ten shocking stories:
Human deformation
10. Rudy Santos
Octopus Man
Attached to Rudy's pelvis and abdomen another pair of arms and legs, belonged to his brother, whom Santos absorbed while in the womb. Also on his body there is an extra pair of nipples and an undeveloped head with ears and hair.
Rudy became a national celebrity during his freak show travels in the 1970s and 1980s. Then he earned about 20,000 pesos per day, being the main “attraction” of the show.
It was then that he received his stage name - "octopus". Rudy was likened to God, and women lined up just to stand next to him or take pictures with him.
Oddly enough, Rudy disappeared from screens in the late 1980s and eventually He has been living in poverty for over ten years now. In 2008, two doctors examined him to see if he could survive surgery to remove unnecessary body parts.
9. Manar Maged
Two-headed girl
Less than a year later, Manar herself died due to a brain infection, the development of which was provoked as a result of complications that arose after the operation.
Unusual people of the world
8. Minh Anh
Boy is a fish
Minh Anh is a Vietnamese orphan who was born with an unknown skin condition that causes his skin to peel off massively and form scales. His condition is expected to be was provoked by a special chemical (Agent Orange), which was used by the US military during the Vietnam War.
This condition is associated with constant overheating of the body, so it becomes extremely uncomfortable for a person to “wear” the skin without regular showering. The same orphans from the orphanage nicknamed him “fish”.
Previously, Minh was subjected to violence by staff and other children living in the orphanage. They tied him to the bed and did not allow the boy to go to the shower so that "remove" old skin.
When Minh was just a child, he met Brenda, a 79-year-old resident of the UK. Now she travels to Vietnam every year to see him. Over the years, the woman visited the boy and became his good friend.
Brenda helped improve the life of the boy in the orphanage in many ways. She convinced the staff not to restrain him when he had another seizure, and she also found him a friend to take the baby swimming every week, which is now Min's favorite pastime.
7. Joseph Merrick
Elephant Man
Probably the most famous person on this list is Joseph Merrick, the elephant man. Born in 1836, the Englishman became a London celebrity, and later gained fame all over the world.
He was born with Proteus syndrome, a condition that causes unusual tissue growth on the skin that causes the bones to become deformed and thicken.
Joseph's mother died when the boy was 11 years old, and his father abandoned him. So he left home as a teenager, then worked in Leicester and a little later became a showman. He was extremely popular and at the peak of his popularity he received his stage name: “the elephant man.”
Due to the size of his head, Joseph had to sleep sitting up. His head was so heavy that the man could not sleep lying down. One night in 1890, he tried to go to the kingdom of Morpheus "like all normal people," and dislocated his neck in the process.
The next morning he was found dead.
The most unusual people
6. Didier Montalvo
Boy - turtle
Didier was born in the Colombian countryside with a congenital melanocyte virus, which causes the birthmark to grow throughout the body at an incredibly fast pace.
As a result of this disease, the birthmark became so huge that covered Didier's entire back. Didier's peers nicknamed him "the turtle boy" because his incredibly large "mole" was very similar to a turtle's shell.
Apparently, Didier was conceived during an eclipse, because the locals considered him "the work of the devil." For this reason, he was not allowed to communicate with other children and was banned from attending the local school.
When British surgeon Neil Bulstrode learned of Didier's problem, he headed to Bogota, where operated on the child and completely removed the unfortunate “mole”.
When the operation was performed, the boy was barely six years old. It was a real success, because the specialists were able to remove the entire birthmark. After the operation, Didier was allowed to go to school and began to live a normal and happy life.
People with unusual appearance
5. Mandy Sellars
Mandy Sellars from Lancashire, UK, was diagnosed with the same condition as Joseph Merick - Proteus syndrome. This resulted in Mandy's legs becoming incredibly huge, with a total weight of 95 kg and a diameter of 1 meter.
Her legs are so big that she orders herself specially equipped shoes that cost about $4,000. She also has a personalized car that she can drive without using her legs.
The tumor mass was completely removed after the first operation, the remaining three were aimed at facial reconstruction. The operations were successful, and a few weeks later, José was already on his way to Lisbon.
People with the most unusual disabilities
2. Dede Koswara
Man is a tree
Dede Koswara is an Indonesian man who has suffered from a fungal infection called epidermodysplasia verruciformis for most of his life. It causes the growth of large, tough fungal growths that look much like tree bark.
Over time, Dede became extremely uncomfortable using his limbs, they became so large and heavy. The fungus grows throughout the body, but manifests itself mainly on the arms and legs.
In 2008, Dede underwent a course of treatment in the United States, as a result of which 8 kg of warts were removed from his body. After this, skin grafts were done on the face and hands. Unfortunately, the operation failed to stop the growth of the fungus, so another surgical intervention was performed in 2011.
There is no cure for Dede's disease.
1. Alamjan Nematilaev
Fetal congestion is an extremely rare developmental anomaly that occurs once in 500,000 births. The reasons for this anomaly are unknown, but many scientists believe that it occurs in the early stages of pregnancy, when one embryo is literally “enveloped” by another.
In 2003, the school doctor noticed that the child's stomach was very swollen and sent him to the hospital. Doctors examined him and concluded that the patient had a cyst. The following week the boy was operated on and, to everyone's surprise, A child weighing two kilograms and 20 centimeters long was found in Alamyan’s stomach.
The doctor who performed the operation noted that the boy looked like he was six months pregnant. The boy's parents believe that the development of such an anomaly was provoked as a result of radiation after the Chernobyl disaster, but experts rejected this idea.
Alamyan fully recovered from the operation, but to this day he does not know that his twin was growing inside him.
