Femina, Mars 1928: pagina XI: foto van Mlle Mistinguett, poserend voor een reclame van de zeep Cadum 1928

Curator: It strikes me as rather glamorous, even for a photograph. All those feathers and shiny details. Editor: This is actually a page from *Femina*, Mars 1928 featuring Mistinguett, a famous French entertainer, posing for a Cadum soap advertisement. Curator: Soap! Really? She looks like she’s about to grace the stage of some lavish theatre. A sort of Parisian decadence that screams, "Buy this soap and feel like *me*!" Editor: Absolutely. It’s fascinating how the iconography of luxury – fur, jewels, the Art Deco aesthetic – are used to sell everyday products. Think about the aspirations embedded in those images! The symbolism really tells a story about that era, doesn’t it? Cleanliness equated with upward mobility. Curator: It's like, soap isn't just soap, it's a doorway to becoming a star. A really good looking star, mind you. Her gaze feels quite direct and inviting—though a little severe maybe? Editor: She presents such an interesting image—the star's beauty aligned with consumerism, the ideal that if we buy into this fantasy we may just catch some of her sparkle. Curator: I am quite sure it worked, at least for some. Well, looking back now, I suppose that soap ad feels almost timeless in a weird way, though I do wonder whether Mlle. Mistinguett really used it or if that’s just part of the illusion. Editor: That is where the power of an image resides—in the persistent ability to both deceive and transport. A slice of history in soap!