The Transformation of Women in Appearance

Top Left Photograph

unknown, _Two Girls in Chairs_, photograph, 1970, Greta Kenney Collection, Tucker, Georgia.

 

Top Right Photograph

unknown, _Grandmother and Grandfather_, photograph, 1938, Greta Kenney Collection, Tucker, Georgia.

 

Bottom Left Photograph

unknown, _Ladies in Chairs_, photograph, 1940, Greta Kenney Collection, Tucker, Georgia.

 

Bottom Right Photograph

unknown, _Family Photo_, photograph, undated, Greta Kenney Collection, Tucker, Georgia.

 

The body image of women has changed drastically since the Victorian Era. During the Victorian Era curves and a small-corseted waist lines were emphasized. “There was a strict stratification of dress according to status, and women in general were used to quite a limited palette of colors.” (1) Long hair was the trend and deviations were unlikely. The first revolution in the appearance of women occurred in the 1920’s. Motion pictures and other forms of entertainment highlighted the newest fashions and were extremely influential. Women chopped off their hair, which was seen to be a symbol of femininity. Waistlines were also changed immensely. Before the 1920’s a corset was worn which emphasized the small waist that was seen to be ladylike, but the new fashions called for more of a boy-like, straight, and box-like shape for the body. Cosmetics also became popular and hemlines were raised to new proportions that would have been considered indecent in recent years. In the 1930’s make-up was worn almost always and bright red lips were increasing popular. By the 1940’s women’s curves were accentuated again and by the 1950’s a woman was expected to uphold a softer and more feminine image. Dresses were worn that accentuated the bust and legs. Another fashion and appearance revolution occurred in the 1960’s. The ideal of mod fashion and make-up was increasingly popular and gave women the look of youth and almost a child-like state. Girls wore heavy make-up that made their eyes look huge. The mini shirt or mini dress was very popular as well as bohemian and “hippie attire” or “flower power attire.” The body of women also disregarded their curvature once more, “overnight they went from sporty, elegant and definitely womanly, if a little slimmer than before, to gangly, waif-like girls with huge staring eyes and the rounded uncoordinated limbs of children.” (1) A trend that occurred in the 1970’s was the extreme layering in clothing and the punk revolution. Hair was worn at all different lengths and usually permed and full of volume. In the 1980’s fitness was stressed as well as a more natural make-up. Fashion was more self-expressive and individualistic. “The body is a consuming project for contemporary girls because it provides an important means of self-definition, a way to visibly announce who you are to the world,”(2) and the image of women has done just that-proclaimed through appearance the changes that women have undergone throughout history.

 

Mulvey, Kate. Decades of Beauty. New York: Reed Consumer Books Limited, 1998.

 

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project-An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

 

Love, Barbara. "Feminists Who Changed America: The Second Wave." Urbana, IL: University Vol. 28. Issue 32007 23-24. 12 02 2008 .

 

Taft , Jessica. "Girlhood, Identity, and Power." Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources Spring2007, Vol. 28. Issue 37-10. 13 02 2008 .

 

For more information on the evolution of Women's fashion visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion.

 

 

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