Editorialism in Mainstream Media

I came across this old commercial that I was mesmerized by when I first saw it as a child. It was for Lady Clairol and it featured models in the iconic 60's plexiglass bubble.

Seeing this commercial again made me think of several things...

First it reminded me of my favorite part of the film "Valley of the Dolls": the fashion modeling montage in which the main character Anne Wells becomes the Gillian Girl. The tone of the faux advertisement in the film and the real one for Clairol is identical, from the voice over to the swelling background music.
(forward to 7:20 mins)

My next thought was how straight out of the pages of Vogue magazine the Clairol ad seemed. Its a direct take from the work of photographer Melvin Sokolsky. This is one my favorites of his photographs, mainly because of the severe elegance of the Lanvin Castillo gown and the Alexandre de Paris up-do, but also for its amazing composition.

It struck me how amazing it was- the immediate affect high fashion had on mainstream media at that time. Sokolsky's work was and remains highly editorial...it was the product of the Vreeland era of fashion images, as compared to the preceding austere Carmel Snow era and the succeeding realism of the Mirabella era. Usually that which is highly editorial, whether hyper-sexualized in nature or pure flight of fancy and fantasy, is watered down considerably before it is given to the general public via television or some other less esoteric medium. But in this almost surreal epoque of the mid and late 60s, the image is a direct, unfettered representation of its original inspiration.

I feel we lack this today. I feel like for all the wonderful things still happening in high fashion and the striking editorial images still being produced, its not significantly or sufficiently trickling down to the masses. There is no glamour... no chic...no real INSPIRATION nor ASPIRATION. But maybe its just ole, nostalgic me?

So I pose the question, how do you feel the fashion editorial impacts mainstream media images today?? Is it watered down OR is high fashion accurately represented? Or do you think the reverse is true and that the mainstream media is influencing the editorial trends?