During my research about 'shifting identities' one thing in particular seemed to cross my path again and again: the perfect body. Every magazine contains at least one article about getting in shape, losing weight and being skinny. "Get in shape for summer" or "train away your christmas belly" or "this new superfood wil make you lose weight in no time". What is this obsession of ours about losing weight? We all want to be skinny like the cover girl from Vogue. Or at least, that's what the media is telling us.
Grab any magazine from the 50's and it will tell you the opposite. "Skinny girls are not Glamour girls" and "Men wouldn't look at me if I was skinny" Uh, wait what? We can say for sure that some things have changed over the years. Not only trends in fashion keep changing, but the image of our body shape changes with it. When you think about it like that, it actually makes a lot of sense. Although, those 50's adds might look a little bit strange in our eyes, it was the most normal thing back then. The people at Greatist.com made some cool illustrations to show how much the female body has changed over the years.
It's fascinating how much of a contrast the body images of the 50's and 60's are; curvy vs twiggy. But when we look at the whole timeline, we see that this contrast is something that keeps returning. The shifts between curvy and flat/skinny are constant and are already starting in 1910/1920.
Although it's not exactly the same all the time. For example, we can see a change in the waist smallest point; under the belly button, over the belly button or exactly on in.
Although it's not exactly the same all the time. For example, we can see a change in the waist smallest point; under the belly button, over the belly button or exactly on in.
When we look at the 1990 and 2010 (see images below) we can see shapes and curves are making their comeback. When not much longer than a decade ago we were all starving ourselves to be the skinniest girl ever, nowadays it's not only okay to have a big butt, it's become a requirement (for being sexy?) to have one.
Does this constant shift mean that in 10 years skinny will be back in fashion again? I hope not, because I'm kind of liking this 'curve-loving century'. What do you think the future will hold for us? Want to check out the whole series? See Greatist.com for more!
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