From what I gather, I will probably really enjoy Tom Ford’s new film, Nocturnal Animals. When the film debuted in Venice earlier this month, the reviews were great but not universally rapturous. Like, most critics think it’s a beautiful and well-made film. A few critics think it’s an extended perfume ad. Still, I’ll probably enjoy it and I’m looking forward to Tom Ford’s interviews this fall. He gave a little preview of funny interviews to come when he chatted with Vulture last week, and ended up talking about his opinion on manscaping and the joy of physical pleasure. Some assorted quotes:
Physical creatures: “We are physical creatures. Touch your chair — it’s velvet. That feels good, doesn’t it? A steak, if you eat meat, tastes great. A fur coat, or cashmere, feels good. Things that are beautiful, we enjoy. I do create this consumer culture and this constant need for more stuff. I have come to terms with it.”
He doesn’t care about cinéma vérité: “I want a movie to be a movie! We have enough reality. I want the score to be big, I want the characters to be big, I want people to be more beautiful than they are in real life!”
He didn’t want his star, Jake Gyllenhaal, to shave his furry chest: “It just never occurred to me that he should shave his chest! I happen to like body hair. I think people should leave it alone — I’m not a fan of all this manscaping that goes on. I don’t really get it.” Ford gestured southward. “If you like the chest, you should see what’s down here,” he said with a grin. “There is no manscaping.” Ford repeated it for emphasis: “There is no manscaping.”
And just for good measure, as Ford was leaving the interview, he winked at the journalist and said, “Nice talking to you. I’ll get Jake to show you his bush sometime.” So… there you go. Much like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal rocks a ‘70s vibe in his low-down parts. As do I, in case anyone cares. I wish Tom Ford had included women in his “I love body hair” conversation, because it should be equal, I think. I don’t like it when men “manscape,” and I don’t like it when women feel like they have to be completely hairless too. It’s unfair to everybody.
Here’s the trailer for Nocturnal Animals:
Photos courtesy of WENN.
yeah he shouldnt say people when he only means men. but to be fair he is gay so its more his area of expertise.
But he designs for women. It actualy could have been a very unconventional statement if he would have meant people, not men. Now it’s just meh. And while I do full brasilian i do that because I feel cleaner for it. women do not have to do it just because that is what is expected of them
Yeah that was my first thought as well, he’s clearly talking about male hair and probably thinks women who don’t remove hair are yucky.
Yeah I’m guessing as a designer for women, he’s not suggesting the ladies rock a hairy pit with his gowns.
Seriously. Talk about double standards. I read this and immediately thought of that Gucci ad which he signed off on back in 2004. Link below – NSFW.
http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/in-the-world-of-high-fashion-sex-sells
Wow….to men like him, we women are just a sideshow aren’t we??
And he gets to make money off us by selling us ridiculous clothes too. No wonder he is comfortable with his double standards.
I saw “Nocturnal Animals” in Venice and I LOVED it. Gorgeous, suspenseful, emotional – I highly recommend it. The perfume ad criticism (Amy Adams has never looked more beautiful but less relatable) has some substance, but since he owns it by saying he wants his movies to be “more than life” it doesn’t bother me.
I just watched a trailer. I really want to see it. I really enjoyed the Single Man. It’s so aethetically pleasing.
Considering the level of perfectionism he applies to everything he does, I imagine the body hair must be groomed and flawlessly positioned. He is a forever tease.
There is a lot of common sense in what he says, not just in this interview, always. Movies are movies and people love pleasure. I think this is one of the reasons he is so successful, he keeps it simple and understands basic human nature.
Yeah he should see me in between waxes.
He should see me in winter.
Yeah, I put on the winter legs hardcore. By March, they’re a bit terrifying.
Furry winter legs are warmer winter legs!
Yeah he probably didn’t mean women.
I’m all for a bit of man or lady scaping though. It’s easier to play on a golf course than a bramble patch.
Chest, legs, armpits, whatever, that can all stay. Chest hair can be sexy.
I agree! I don’t love unruly but I loathe bare. I love a nice hairy chest and find it incredibly sexy.
Me too. Give me hair but groomed hair. I also love beards. And for some reason bald head and a nice beard is a big turn on for me.
I do like a good trim.
I saw a man many years ago who had a lot of body hair. He was a little self conscious about it, so he trimmed it evenly. Which actually turned out really nice? Not even close to bald, just very well kept. I appreciated that effort.
Running your hands through a little bit of fuzz is nice. Plus it reduces the sweaty skin on sweat skin gross feeling.
Also a well groomed beard, I Choose Me, dear lord that’s always good.
@i choose me: I loooooooooove me a bewrdy man too! Love love.
Love chest hair and big turn off for me if the man shaves it and smooth as a babies butt.
LOL, I used to swim , so I’m pretty used to waxed and shaved men. There’s an appeal to that, but personally I prefer a little treasure trail or something.
The worst part about the shaving isn’t the smoothness, it’s the stubble as it comes back in and the ingrown hairs.
What with his remarks about casting Amy Adams’ because of her breasts and emphasising Jake Gyllenhaal’s intimate grooming habits Tom Ford just comes across really skeevy imo.
I know he works in the arts, but so do I, and this is not how you talk about your colleagues. You can show admiration for their beauty and talent and unconventional flair in other ways. It sounds like the comments a dodgy salesman might make as after work banter at a cheap bar.
It’s a shame as I do like his designs (his older ones were beautiful, especially) and his film work is interesting.
Skeevy was my thought also. He is offering up a peek at Jakes’s bush? Would people feel differently if he were talking about an actress?
Yes, this comes off very creepy. Like why is he even going on about his employees body hair and parts? Especially since it doesn’t seem as if Jake does a full nude scene in this movie, at least I haven’t heard of him doing full frontal in this role. So how would he know what Jake looks like fully naked if it wasn’t for the movie? Why is he not being called out for the insinuating tone of his “trust me there is no manscaping” comment?
I agree. He is revealing intimate details of his employees body like it were his own. Plus he is sexually objectifying it. Why is he getting a pass? Because he is gay and his victim is male?
It might have been all tongue in cheek? I don’t know his sense of humor so I wanna give him the benefit of the doubt but I get y’all. His offering up Jake’s bush for the interviewer’s viewing pleasure didn’t sit right with me.
Ew, what did he say about Amy Adams?
It’s funny, growing up, that’s the real first ‘mark of womanhood’. Before bras and periods, most girls begin shaving, trying to reconcile the feeling that being older will mean being more respected (a major letdown, when you discover this is not true), with the fact that their bodies seem to grow hair when it ‘shouldn’t’. I quit shaving at 30. It grosses my socially acceptable family out, but there it is. The money alone just wasn’t worth it. I still will for a big date night with my husband, or if I’m going to an event where the looks and commentary just won’t be worth sacrificing my comfort, but those rarely come up these days. Also, I worked with a woman once who had a beard, and she was 10003284902384920384-8 times more comfortable in her skin, and pleased with her appearance than I ever have been. It was a turning point for me, in terms of what it means to be feminine. You’re feminine if you’re female, regardless of what that looks like.
I ageee! Leave body hair alone for all of us! Men and women. Unless it’s your preference not to of course
Back hair= manscape!
I don’t care! No furry backs for me!!
I’m neither for nor against body hair. I’m just far too uninterested in it to do anything about the body hair that I have. I can’t even imagine spending precious minutes of a day either thinking about it or removing it or shaping it or whateveritis people do with it. There surely is always something more interesting to do?
And with those lines, my interest in commenting on body hair is at an end!
So my local waxing bar has a treatement they call the showgirl wax. It involves going over your entire body and only leaving your eyebrows, perfectly groomed of course, and the hair on top of your head. I’m really fascinated by the idea.
Blimey. How long does it take, for heaven’s sake? I don’t even like getting my hair cut because the hour in the chair seems like such a waste of an hour.
It’s listed as a 2hr procedure.
With hotwax.
I honestly can’t imagine anything worse!
I actually don’t have that much body hair (much of it didn’t grow back post-chemo) but even if I did, I think I would be much happier hairily reading my book in the park.
@Sixer, yes, one of the benefits of chemo. My left underarm has been hair free since radiation and body hair is much thinner since chemo and it always was blond. But now, I have facial hair. Damn!
Do you have those really annoying blackhead-looking radiation tattoos? Mine annoy me far more than any remaining body hair does!
Six radiation tattoos. One right in the center of my chest so it shows when I wear a v-neck or anything low cut or strapless
I have one there too! Being a non-blackhead. Most annoying.
“I want a movie to be a movie! We have enough reality.”
Do we? I’d wager that a lot of people spend an unhealthy amount of time avoiding reality through entertainment and other forms of sedation and distraction.
” I do create this consumer culture and this constant need for more stuff. I have come to terms with it.”
I’m a shallow materialist but at least I admit it. Yay me!
As for the manscaping, I don’t mind some body hair but not on the back or shoulders.
Yes!! Love your comment on reality. Movies should be more real in how they portray people… maybe then people would have more compassion for each other’s experiences.
LOL. We should face reality, just so long as it isn’t back or shoulder hair.
Touche. ☺
I enjoy watching an aesthetically beautiful movie provided it’s well-crafted in other areas as well. This one looks divine.
Me too. I love beautiful, cinematic films. I don’t need to pay money to see shlubby looking people struggling through difficult, ugly things. I have to see that every day, and it’s nice to have an escape. Even if it’s only 2 hours.
Body hair grosses me out. But to be fair I’m an equal opportunity hair hater. It grosses me out on men and women equally.
I shave/wax religiously because that suits me. It’s really just personal preference isn’t it?
I agree Yura…I have been shaving my legs since I was 10! It’s a matter of preference. I stumbled on this little predicament the other morning: I was shaving them in the shower with my four year old and she asked me why I was shaving my legs and I couldn’t think of a good reason to give her. Geeze…I’m usually so good at explaining life and whatnot to her and I was completely stumped. I said something about sexism and it’s her choice if she wants to shave and left it at that.
Tom Ford does live in an idealized world. Like in a world where women can wear his clothes because they don’t wear bras. (I had this conversation with a TF sales person once).
i don’t like body hair much on anybody, me included. i wish it were equal for both men and women to do as they please, however i also wish it could be seen as just a preference, if i’m making any sense. for instance, i’ve been told plenty of times the reason i do a brazilian is because society and sexism, and i’m sure there might be some truth in that, but i’m also 100% positive i do it because it feels good to me. same when it comes to my partners, whether they’re men or women, i prefer some tidiness and too much hair turns me off.
overall i just wish we could stop telling other people what to do with their body hair, and yes you too, tom ford.
Well, I’m sure it’s unpleasant to be told why you do what you do, but the other choice is so mocked and derided, painted as filthy, unattractive, etc. that I just don’t think the negativity towards having no hair and having natural hair compares at all.
That’s what bothers me, people who hint that hairless is “cleaner” or something. If you’re clean you’re clean, regardless of body hair. On the flipside I tend to view people who are grossed out by body hair as a bit prissy and inhibited, but I know it’s not necessarily true. I have my own preferences as to how I keep myself (mostly bare, I’m a swimmer) and my as to my partner? It’s their body and I want them to feel good in it. If my man happened to have back hair and didn’t want to wax it I’d snuggle into that fur!
Basically, I think everyone should do whatever makes them feel comfortable, but it’s really not a choice when going natural is seen as unhygienic, unfeminine, and sexually repulsive (what a difference a generation makes). I encounter those attitudes all the time in real life, whereas I’ve only seen opposite comments in certain (usually feminist) circles on the Internet.
Yeah, I prefer men who are naturally not hairy.
I’m the opposite. A smooth man literally turns me cold.
I don’t like someone who is very groomed, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with a little maintenance.
One of the reasons why I married my husband is that he actually prefers wild, untamed ’70s bush. Nor does he mind my hairy winter legs. Love it!
Looks like Tom has been watching the David Lynch oeuvre for inspiration.
I love Jake, he’s such an amazing actor and incredibly hot. I love his body hair too lol. I think I have a body hair obsession though. I hate it when men shave anything, although I hate the hair on myself.
Dudes who have no hair downstairs… Gross. I agree though, Tom Ford makes some weird comments about actors’ bodies and comes off leering at times. Some of those adds using womens’ bodies as a literal backdrop kind of rub me the wrong way coupled with the comments he’s made in the past also. I like his movies and his designs. I’m a sucker for visual drama and will probably like this extended perfume add.
I like Tom Ford Ford, actually, sort of love, however I do think he has some odd body image problems. He himself has said he doesn’t like to see himself naked, he takes about 4 baths a day, hates the nude selfies, yet his ad campaigns feature a great deal of nudity. I’m citing this from a Vanity Fair interview from years ago. I love his work, though, love looking at him, he’s my ideal looking man….