Virtual Beauty: The Phenomenon of Beauty in Digital Fashion and Its Affects

Abstract

This article explores the concept of virtual beauty, a burgeoning phenomenon in the digital realm. It examines artworks from the Virtual Beauty exhibition at Somerset House, London, from June to September 2025, and digital fashion projects creating virtual face masks, filters, tattoos, and body make-up. The article's relevance lies in developing a theoretical framework to explain digital tools' role in transforming aesthetic norms and beauty perception. Drawing on H. Foster's "compulsive beauty" and S. Ngai's ‘stuplimity’, the paper offers complementary theoretical approaches to interpret modern aesthetic practices. Both concepts share a methodological focus on revealing a dual emotional response to visual stimuli. "Compulsive beauty" captures the traumatic coexistence of beauty and ugliness, while ‘stuplimity’ describes a paradoxical affective state blending amazement and boredom, excitement, and cognitive suspension. The article argues that digital immersive art has an affective nature, serving as a somatic way of experiencing visual impressions. This experience activates often unconscious psychoemotional triggers embedded within the image itself.