Look back. Look way back (for some it may be only to last season) and you’ll see them – the personal-style horrors.

You might see the dresses in unnatural colors and fabrics that your mother thought were so cute, maybe leg warmers, or the gym uniform (just think of it and you can feel that polyester and the sting of a well-aimed dodge ball or a cutting remark from a bitter, sexually ambiguous phys-ed teacher). Maybe your legacy is bad hair – perhaps the Farrah feather, the Dorothy Hamil bowl, the Flock of Seagulls coif.

Fashion abominations: whether self-inflicted from a misguided attempt at ‘a look’ or imposed from a higher authority, there is no doubt – unless you were a beatnik since grade two or your mother was Coco Chanel – you suffered them.

That universal theme, produced without missing one bittersweet beat and delivered with a twist, is the basis of this year’s Top Spots winner, Eaton’s ‘Beauty Pageant.’

The spot was created by Roche Macaulay & Partners, with writer Linda Carte, art director Alanna Nathanson and creative director Geoffrey Roche, directed by Stephen Scott out of Rave Films and lensed by Marcus Elliott.

‘Beauty Pageant’ was designed as part of a major repositioning for Canadian retail mainstay Eaton’s and employs images inspired by memories of fashion oppression. Driven by the no-quarter grunge sound of Hole’s Miss World, the spot is a deliberate step away from usual department store fare toward a more attitude-oriented, meaningful look at clothes and the woman.

As Courtney growls about lying in the bed she made, the briskly paced spot presents images of women and their often uneasy relationship with personal image, interspersing pristine, present-day shots with home-movie-look glimpses of fashion moments past.

It’s all there – the bridesmaid’s atrocities, the poured-on jeans, the prom dress right down to the crochet bag – and it’s all delivered with the message Chose Your Own Clothes as well as, get a load of Eaton’s – That’s right, Eaton’s.

The spot ran in theaters earlier this year as Eaton’s restocked its pantry with labels previously associated with upscale Bloor Street destinations, downtown boutiques and trips to New York.

‘That was the overall direction; they wanted to become a fashion destination,’ says Carte. ‘The strategy was you’ll be surprised what you’ll find at Eaton’s. That could have been very direct or very open, we chose to keep it open.’

Carte says the intention was to deliver the ‘I didn’t know that about Eaton’s’ message and, on another level, talk to women and explore some truths about how they feel about clothing and fashion.

‘It basically came from our own experiences and the experiences of other women – that whole idea of being forced to wear things you aren’t comfortable with as a child and then getting older and being a fashion victim,’ says Nathanson. ‘It was about breaking free from that and making choices. That’s where the images came from.’

This spot was conceived from the beginning as a theater ad and the aim therefore was to give it a large scope and an element of surprise, says Carte. The task was also to present a spot which would break down existing perceptions of the client.

Scott, an award-winning music video director who had recently moved into spot directing, was an immediate choice for the project; technical prowess and a knack for the brisk pace and telling stories with multiple-image juxtaposition earned him the challenge of his first big-screen commercial effort.

Scott brought in dop Marcus Elliott and art director Bob Stueck, who have also done a wealth of music video work through Scott’s company Black Walk.

The shoot took place in Toronto, using some of Scott’s own childhood stomping grounds, including exteriors of his high school. Scott used a combination of visual styles, shooting on 16mm and Super 8 for a vintage look and deliberate lapses in proper camera usage to create that home-made feel, while some segments were delivered perfectly on 35mm.

The spot uses lightning images, close-ups and wide-angle distortions with judicious use of a quick-cut editing style by Panic & Bob’s Michelle Czukar. Parts of the ad were given an aged look with the addition of scratches and dirt, with Susan Armstrong working on post on the Flame at TOPIX/Mad Dog.

Carte and Nathanson drew up a laundry list of ‘I can’t believe I wore that’ moments and then cut that list back into what could feasibly be captured in two shooting days.

The song was an integral part of the spot from the beginning, says Carte. ‘It wouldn’t have been the same without it.’