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Make-over take over
Everyone's doing it with impunity. Falling to the seduction of a brand new improved persona, people are succumbing to the gentle art of the make over. A quintessentially American term, make over implies exactly what it says. You are `made over' into a new reinvented you. What are the aspects of a make -over? More external than internal, surface rather than seven layers deep, a make- over is accessible to all. One could extend the definition to a spiritual and psychological make over but at the most basic level it could be a new hair cut, a new wardrobe, but it is in the artful coming together of all the elements, the successful fusion of you with the new you that makes the make over complete. Take the famous Sonia Gandhi make over before the elections. A softer hair colour, softer colours in saris, muted make-up, a more frequent smile all totalled up to the old Sonia in a new persona. Reams have been written about George Bush and his multiple makeovers. Television has been the greatest facilitator. The show Indian Idols mapped a show-by-show make over of the last six participants. From small town to big city the journey was completed in the artful streaking of hair, in the accentuated lip gloss, the shimmer in clothes and a whole new attitude. The television channel Zee has had a make over with slimmer, slicker new graphics, muted and more sophisticated colours. Jassi, on Sony TV had the world's longest make-over, hyped and talked about and one that occupied more media space than the main event though the motivation of the character to go in for a makeover, from plain Jane to blow-dried Jane has never been clearly explained. Even NDTV the staid and proper channel has launched a show called `Make-over' in which couples get "made over". In the new paradigm, couples themselves want to be part of a combined look which could begin with coordinated clothes and colours for special events to coordinated hair colour or weight as they move from individual to unit.
What is the motivation behind a make-over? A need for something different, a sense of boredom, a special occasion, an affair, a special event and of course the television appearance, should one be chosen. But it isn't television that is the only reason of this general move towards a different look, an image make over. Sometimes it is just fun. Make-over parties are slowly gaining popularity, where a bunch of friends get together and have a shared make over. Increasingly, on television, make -over shows are jostling for space with reality shows. Homes and kitchens get a make- over even as viewers are invited for a personal make -over too. Part of a brand extension so to speak. Make over marketing is a new discipline, to help you to re-create and re-define yourself, make people take another look, or just update a look. An extreme make over - a radical and jaw dropping new look usually belongs to the realm of entertainment and glamour. But in the new look-ist age there are no barriers as the definitions between glamour and real life dissolve. A phalanx of image and style consultants has sprung up to help the make over become an effortless event. An image consultant has been defined as a man or woman who specialises in visual appearances, verbal and non-verbal communication. This is big business in the U.S. where the image is the thing and an accepted part of personality projection but we are rarely far behind. The individual brand is as important as the collective one. And a make -over is now just a blow dry or a stylist away.
GEETHA RAO
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