Women and Alizée

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by Aragorn97

This may be the meaning of your observation about Alizée's face, according to which it is average-looking and extremely beautiful at the same time.
I think that the average-looking thing is due to the harmony of her face: there is nothing out of place, everything is perfect and absolutely balanced.
But then, after you wake up from her hypnotic power, you start to focus on the little things: her nose, her eyes, her smile and so on. So every little part of her face becomes a little masterpiece and you can't help but feeling "mesmerised".

I have never seen so many reference to "perfect" than in the comments for Alizee's videos.

Perfection...




There must be around 1200-1300 tribute videos for Alizee. That has to be a record.

[Aragorn97]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

Perfection...

Just look at her! I can't find a more suitable word to describe her

[Scruffydog777]

There are so many very, very beautiful images of her from different occasions, but it seems like the ones on this day, seems to edge out the rest and take the cake. Maybe it's because her beauty is more evident in profile? or is it?. Maybe it was due to the lighting, maybe the beauty of her hair, maybe it was the embarrassed little smile she got on her face in reaction to something in the crowd, maybe the softness of the blue dress goes perfectly with the softness of her beauty? Whatever it is, it is mesmerizing and of course it's from this moment at the Eiffel Tower that I chose a picture to have a portrait done of. Last year I went to the studio and was able to get some pictures autographed. I was so worried about how it would all pan out, that I neglected to think of bringing that portrait with me. Next year, I 'might' try to rectify that mistake.

[Bamagirl]

I think you chose the ideal picture of her to use for the portrait. Everything about it shows her at her very best.

One thing I have noticed about Alizée is that both in still photos and in videos she looks equally good and like herself. Some women, even though very pretty in real life, just don't look like themselves in photos. Alizée has the kind of features and overall look that translates equally well in photos, video or real life. She's pretty in pictures, and her prettiness as well as her charm and personality show up especially well in videos, but also can be apparent in still photos. Though obviously some photos are more flattering than others, I think it is remarkable how good she looks in every photo I have ever seen of her.

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

There are so many very, very beautiful images of her from different occasions, but it seems like the ones on this day, seems to edge out the rest and take the cake. Maybe it's because her beauty is more evident in profile? or is it?. Maybe it was due to the lighting, maybe the beauty of her hair, maybe it was the embarrassed little smile she got on her face in reaction to something in the crowd, maybe the softness of the blue dress goes perfectly with the softness of her beauty?

Maybe all of the above?

Actually, the light blue dress is one of my least favorites on her. I have seen her in outfits of just about every color and the light blue seems to wash her out a little bit. But something about that night at the Eiffel Tower, the light blue dress didn't matter.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Bamagirl

One thing I have noticed about Alizée is that both in still photos and in videos she looks equally good and like herself. Some women, even though very pretty in real life, just don't look like themselves in photos. Alizée has the kind of features and overall look that translates equally well in photos, video or real life. She's pretty in pictures, and her prettiness as well as her charm and personality show up especially well in videos, but also can be apparent in still photos. Though obviously some photos are more flattering than others, I think it is remarkable how good she looks in every photo I have ever seen of her.

A lot of focus is on Alizee during the MCE period as far as beauty goes. Sure, I wish I had the skin and the hair of when I was 19 again, let alone the muscle tone. But Alizee has aged very gracefully so far. This is a picture of her at DALS last year. Still stunning.

[Silencio]

Originally Posted by Bamagirl

One thing I have noticed about Alizée is that both in still photos and in videos she looks equally good and like herself. Some women, even though very pretty in real life, just don't look like themselves in photos. Alizée has the kind of features and overall look that translates equally well in photos, video or real life.

I've noticed that she looks very different on different occasions. Even a small change of light direction, camera angle, not to mention another makeup - and you see a completely different Alizée. Her look on TV was completely different from her look on En Concert when she performed the same songs in the same 2003. I understand that different type of lighting was used but she even varied through the different En Concert performances.

Look at this part of interview and notice how she differs between one perspective and the other, on a screen where another camera's view is shown:

https://youtu.be/WSYBH9BzvUY?t=1033

I'd even have never guessed that it is Alizée performing "Moi Lolita..." in this video, if haven't heard the song or read the name of the video:



I think her skin and hair reflect the light differently than skin and hair of other people. Maybe this is the secret of her beauty.

Change of image is a usual thing for artists, but look at this (very incomplete) list of Alizée's images. You see 10 different women:



Some people even suspected that she had a double (or a doppelgänger ).

[Mr Coucou]

Originally Posted by Silencio

I've noticed that she looks very different on different occasions. Even a small change of light direction, camera angle, not to mention another makeup - and you see a completely different Alizée.

YES!!! I have noticed the same thing.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Silencio

[...] but she even varied through the different En Concert performances.

Could you give some examples? (Where her appearance varies in En Concert?)

Edit:

Originally Posted by Silencio

I think her skin and hair reflect the light differently than skin and hair of other people.

The human face is a three-dimensional structure. But we see it as a two-dimensional image-- a "projection" if you will.

When we say that Alizee's appearance changes, we are saying that her 2-dimensional image changes. But I suspect the underlying 3-dimensional structure of Alizee's face does not really change. My theory: the 3-dimensional structure of Alizee's face is such that the "mapping" from 3-d to 2-d has an unusually high dependency on illumination and cosmetics.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Silencio

Maybe this is the secret of her beauty.

It is a real possibility. Here are two thoughts of mine:

* One thing that researchers have done is take multiple faces, and using a computer, create an average of all the faces. I.e, take the faces of 50 different women and average them into a single face. The resulting "average" face is often more attractive than an individual face.

It is possible that a related principle applies to Alizee's face. (E.g. Alizee's face behaves as if it were an "average" of more than one female face--- and this makes it more attractive.)

* One of the things that we frequently say about Alizee is that she reminds us of the "girl next door"--- and this is what we find to be attractive about her.

Basically, what we are saying is that Alizee reminds us of a sort of a "generic" girl-next-door, rather than a specific girl. (Or to put it another way, that Alizee's face is a kind of abstraction. That there is an ambiguity that is inherent to Alizee's facial features.)

[Silencio]

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

Could you give some examples? (Where her appearance varies in En Concert?)

Here you go. I've taken these screenshots from Gourmandises only, i.e. the same song and the same outfit, and even here you can see how she varies, but this happens throughout the whole concert.

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

* One thing that researchers have done is take multiple faces, and using a computer, create an average of all the faces. I.e, take the faces of 50 different women and average them into a single face. The resulting "average" face is often more attractive than an individual face.

Interesting research.

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

It is possible that a related principle applies to Alizee's face. (E.g. Alizee's face behaves as if it were an "average" of more than one female face--- and this makes it more attractive.)

Yes, she is Spice Girls in one woman! (And even more than Spice Girls).

[Mr Coucou]

Originally Posted by Silencio

Here you go. I've taken these screenshots from Gourmandises only, i.e. the same song and the same outfit, and even here you can see how she varies, but this happens throughout the whole concert.

Hmm... she doesn't look different to me in those four pictures.



Here are some other thoughts / observations:

* Is Alizee herself aware that her looks change? I wonder what she thinks of it?

* I wonder how facial recognition software would respond to Alizee?? Would the software recognize Alizee as a single person, or would the software think she was different people?

* When Alizee was very young (6 years old or so), she didn't look at all like she does today. Totally unrecognizable (in my opinion.)

* It would be interesting to study photos of Alizee's face, and look at her features in isolation. Is it her nose that is changing? Her jawline? Her eyes??? A combination of features?

* Some girls are average-looking. Some girls are gorgeous. But to Alizee is both average-looking and extremely gorgeous--- at the same time. It makes no sense. (Again, I think it has to do with some kind of "ambiguity" in Alizee's appearance.)

[Silencio]

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

Hmm... she doesn't look different to me in those four pictures.

Because you already know that they're all Alizée.

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

* Is Alizee herself aware that her looks change? I wonder what she thinks of it?

Originally Posted by Mr Coucou

* I wonder how facial recognition software would respond to Alizee?? Would the software recognize Alizee as a single person, or would the software think she was different people?

I think the program will go to an infinite loop.