Losing Direction

Alyssa, Miss July 2013

There's obviously been one consistent, recurring theme when you take a look at Playboy magazine's material for the last several months, basically from the beginning of this 2013 class. It can be summed up like this: bad photography with good models. The talent has not been stellar, but the production value has been dismal.


I've always put a lot of weight on the actual material produced for a Playmate's portfolio. A great bit of production value can take a potentially mediocre posing talent and produce something wondrous. The key really is to keep it rather simple - all a great model needs is a little glamor makeup, a touch of rouge and dark lipstick, a nice set of black lingerie, and a bedroom with some ruffled sheets. Then, let her go at it. She'll writhe and flip, lay on her chest, lift her legs, and with some even lighting it looks spectacular. It was a simple, effective formula for years. And it's been thrown to the wind in favor of some really poor concepts.

The new generation of photographers, namely Sasha Eisenmann, are taking things to an overcomplicated level. It's shown time and time again, with Audrey Allen, Ashley Doris, and Shawn Dillon, we've seen more focus on props and photographic filtering tricks rather than the gorgeous nudity of those gifted ladies. Unfortunately, we see more of the same with Miss July, Alyssa Arcè.

Alyssa's breasts and
legs give her 2013's
best body

With Alyssa, we have a solid model with an awesomely attractive body who we will sadly never get to know. Why's that? It's because her photo set is abysmal. I mean, terrible. It doesn't seem to scratch the very surface of Alyssa's skill set, putting her in everything but an intimate setting to showcase her skill.

There seems to be an obsession with thematic motifs for Eisenmann's pictorials, obviously. His misguided mind throws this project into disarray from the very start. Miss Arcè can be found doing just about everything but looking natural and relaxed, taking on a character of a flag girl at a race.

Now, I like this girl, I really do. In the photos with her hair pulled back and the fishnet cutoff top, she looks amiable and beautiful. The lighting is even, and the costuming is cute, with those checkerboard leggings allowing her to show some more-than-decent height (which she has, at 5'8"). But the pictorial doesn't go far enough, putting her in artificial poses throughout. When she goes full-frontal on the racetrack, the tailpipe smoke lens effect is just terribly misused. How much do we have to express this? WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PICTORIAL THEME. Give us a non-artsy-fartsy setting with a comfortable model, and it all comes together beautifully. Instead, half of the photos have Alyssa donning hot pants and large shades, obscuring anything we might dare learn about this girl.

It's a shame, since Alyssa is one of the prettiest, most accessible models of 2013. She's not a fancy girl, and not a fully glamorous one either. She seems comfortable in her own skin, and probably has what is the best body in the class so far. In what little you actually get to see of her figure, you can tell that this lady's got something to offer. If only...

• Face: B
  While Alyssa is definitely physically gifted, in this year of memorable and intriguing faces, Alyssa falls short by a lot. It could be a slight result of the pictorial not conveying enough about this girl, and the disastrous decision to take half of Alyssa's photos with clunky sunglasses on her face, but she's just not someone that will stay in your mind because of her big eyes or pearly grin.
• Body: A
  What Alyssa lacks in facial beauty, she makes up for in droves with her awesome physique. This girl is not paper-thin, and at 120 lbs, you see where it all goes (to the right places). Her hourglass figure is quite apparent, with easily the best Playmate breasts since Shelby Chesnes. They're visibly natural and hang away from her body beautifully, and when the shadows catch them just the right way, it's heavenly. Not too shabby an ass either, but not enough footage of it available.
• Talent: B+
  Alyssa never gets to truly flex her muscles in her pictorial set, so it's not simple to make a judgement with only that as an indicator. Once you dig in to her videos, you realize that her movement is fluid, and her bubbly personality really makes her a fun shoot. This is a girl who loves to take her sleek body for a ride, so she's minimally at fault for the finished product here.
• Pictorial: B-
  You have a model here with loads of potential, probably the best physique of the year, and a level of energy that could make her a true dynamo in a sexual, intimate setting. What do you do? You squander every bit of it, and then some. You lay a complete egg, showing ineptitude of massive proportions. This is a terrible pictorial, showing off more car than woman, akin to Shawn's "ship-torial." I was left dumbfounded as to how little artistry can be shown when shooting an obviously pretty girl. 
• Centerfold: B+
  This is a decent shot, although not in my favorite pictorial setting (the red scarf on the racetrack might have been better suited for a centerfold). The colors and the even lighting are nice, and Alyssa's cheerful personality come through. I do like the costuming, showing off her good size.
• Overall: B+
  The 21-year old Alyssa is another above average talent in the 2013 class, that sadly has been mishandled to the point where it hurts her final score. It's a sad reality in this era in Playboy's history, where we're seeing some really poor decisions from the magazine's management, but it's how it goes. Miss Arcè is physically the most superior model of the year, with her balanced and voluptuous body providing a look at some of the most palpably natural set of breasts in years. She comes across amazingly in videos, but it's her photo set that really hurts. It's something that slides Alyssa into the middle of the pack for the PMOY race, although she certainly will have fans that will look at her solely for the model she is.