Dali and Schiaparelli - The Lobster dress 1937...

Photo found: http://twirlingclare.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/lobster-dress.html

Viewed on: Friday 11th October 2013

My initial reaction to the lobster dress is how subtle it is as a piece created by Dali. This dress itself is very reserved and elegant, more suited to the period in time it was made, compared to the outrageous lobster g string he also created. The lobster for Dali represents a shock factor and a way in which he could express his devotion to surrealism to many a people. It further represents a more risqué message that carries sexual connotations, however this is what Dali wanted as he knew that it would catch peoples attention.
As far as the nature of the image, it was created through a professional portrait, in which had been prepared for. 
The image itself tells a story of a woman looking to love. Wallis Simpson whom is wearing the dress, had these taken in france before her marriage to the duke of Windsor. The image is screaming for attention, partly the reason why i believe Wallis chose to enrobe herself within such a controversial and sexual dress for the time. The images further highlight this with the soft lighting and camera angles that capture her romantic longing. The way in which Wallis looks to the side shows off her jaw line adding to the dimensions of the picture, adding more angles to the image and attempting to distort slightly the soft romantic vibes this images gives off.
The photographer Cecil Beaton appears to have attempted to create a much less obnoxious image for Wallis. By using the big bundles of twigs as a prop in each hand combined with a camera angle that is slightly off centre, allows for Beaton to tone down the provocative aspects that are so highly associated with the lobster dress and try and hone in on a much softer less controversial woman that she wants Wallis herself to be. This was cleverly manipulated by Beaton and actually aloud her to create an image that had far more layers to the romance, frivolity and sexual connotations that would so obviously come with the images. 

However contrastingly to what Beaton has done, i believe Wallis herself was after a far more risqué and sexual shoot to really get the attention of the public and have people talk about her. The image now portrays Wallis as a woman who was caught in controversy but was however so blissfully unaware of the the messages the dress she wore held and stood for. Simpson however as much as wanting to shock the public may have also favoured the outcome of the pictures that captured even Vogues attention as it showed her in a far more naive light and in return help her reputation in being not so risqué for her time and the role she played within society.

I believe the image was created for Wallis to capture the attention of her husband however the public were a bonus and for Beaton, anyone who could truly appreciate both her photographic and artist skill. Both women appear to have succeeded in capturing there intended audiences without pushing out one another. The piece means romance, sex and pure decadence in a way thats almost subtle to add further dimension and layers to the piece.