Leslie twiggy Hornby Essay

Body Image evolves from one look to another. According to The Peel Heritage Complex (www.region.peel.on.ca/health/commhlth/bodyimg/media.htm) we began in the 1890’s with a beautiful “plump body, pale complexion, representing wealth, an abundance of food and a refined indoor life style.” That would be about 5’8” and 132 lbs. Now, a model is no shorter than 5’7” and weighs no more than 115 lbs. Many people need to be reminded that most pictures of the models are airbrushed, possibly to the extent that it does not look like them anymore.

She has graced the covers of many magazines. Another reason why I like to have dinner with twiggy is because I would ask her for tips on how to be a successful teen model and were to start because I would like to pursue a career in modeling and theirs know one better to take tips from then Twiggy the first teen supermodel. I also admire Twiggy

She was the woman who took away the corset and made way for the flattering and flowing silhouette seen in most of the styles during this decade.

In a study done of female beauty icons, two time frames were studied, 1959-1978 and 1979-1988. In the research, the women who were portrayed as beautiful, and the icons in the media, were observed and over half of them had fit into the standards of having one of the eating disorders, anorexia nervosa (Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012).

Starting from the 90’s through to the 50’s, Jennifer goes through a transformation from tight tank tops and skimpy short skirts too buttoned blouses, bullet bras and poodle skirts. By looking at this comparison it is very clear that the way women dressed in the 1950’s was much more modest than the 1990’s.

In Susan Bordo’s article “Never Just Pictures: Bodies and Fantasies” this is an article that is informative as well as interesting. Bordo mentions celebrity names like Alicia Silverstone and famous dieting products like Citra Lean to introduce the “thin” trend in today’s popular culture. The author explains how today’s society explores different media cites to acknowledge how individuals should appear in today’s world. Advertisements have also become a big part on the reflection of society’s beliefs. Bordo talks about body figures that were once considered normal, have become known as an abnormal appearance. Bordo wants to convince the audience that being thin has become an issue that must be addressed by the general public,

Whenever it came to picking out the right clothes women usually chose what the men would wear. Unlike today’s time the women had a certain way they were expected to dress. Throughout all of the 1950’s the body types changed, women had the most change when it came to body type. There was always a type of body that

In her prime, Marilyn Monroe wore a size 16, but by our standards today she would be anywhere from a size 00 to an 8. Clearly, since the 1950s many things have changed; science, medicine, technology, but more specifically, body image and shape. The changes in Monroe’s size are a clear testament to the way body image and shape are constantly evolving in America. As miniscule as it may seem, body image and shape affects health, sizing, and changes overtime.

Marilyn Monroe and Christine Jorgensen are two well-known female figures from the 1950s. As we are entering 2015, I asked five young girls, ranging in age from 13-18, about Monroe and Jorgensen. Not one knew who Christine Jorgensen was; all five mentioned and praised Marilyn Monroe. I will admit, I myself had no idea to Christine Jorgensen was until this year, this brings up the question of if they were so both so well known why now nearly 65 years later we still only grow up knowing about Marilyn Monroe? What was expected from women in the 1950s is still in a way expected from them today.

The feminist movement, which took root in the era, lead to a liberated sense of fashion. Women began to wear pants in the workplace with the popularization of the pantsuit (Pendergast 922) to show that they were every bit as capable as men. Hot pants and bell bottom jeans, both styles unique to the era (Pendergast 889), were intended to make a bold statement. Another prominent trend of the 1960s was known as “mod style.” Women wore short, skin-tight skirts and form-fitting tunics (Pendergast 890) unlike anything the fashion world had previously seen. Twiggy, a model, quickly proved herself to be one of the most memorable mod icons of the time (“Twiggy”). One of the most popular and notable styles of the 1960s and 1970s, however, was the “peasant” look. Clothing was modeled after European peasants from centuries earlier; women sported loose-fitting, off-the-shoulder blouses and long, flowing skirts (Pendergast 925). Fashion was also used as a protest of sorts for American youth. Teenagers, male and female alike, creating inexpensive tie-dye clothing as a means of voicing their disapproval for the Vietnam War (Pendergast 927). Young Americans used tie-dye as a form of defiance against societal norms.

In the 1950s, excessively feminine silhouettes were celebrated thus accentuating curves, full bosoms and narrow waists was a prevailing way for women to dress. Nevertheless, with her sphere of influence on women, Audrey Hepburn introduced an alternative to this limited standard of how women—through various aspects of dressing and behaving—should be (Keogh 1). Some of the popular stars who eventually became sex symbols in the period were Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Grace Kelly. Hepburn’s physique however, was totally different from these women. She did not have a big bosom or a bottom. She was not curvy. Unlike Audrey Hepburn’s

It wasn’t until the late 1960’s that critics began “comparing Barbie to a Playboy Bunny and calling her a corrupter of youth” (”Bad Girl” 3). One woman commented, “She’s an absurd representation of what a woman should be” (“Bad Girl” 3)-–and that’s exactly what many others thought she was, too. With such impossible real-life measurements of 5’9” tall, 36”-18”-33” bust, waist, and hip (Benstock and Ferriss 35), it’s easy to see why mothers across the country banned the doll from their homes and refused to let their impressionable young daughters be influenced by a piece of painted plastic (Bestock and Ferriss 35). Since dolls have often been responsible for teaching children what society deems important or beautiful, many concerned parents wondered why Mattel did not design a doll that taught more valuable lessons than dressing pretty and being dangerously skinny (Edut 19)? Who said a runway model was best suited for teaching a child what is beautiful anyway? “According to a Mattel spokesperson, a Kate Moss figure is better suited for today’s fashions” (Edut 19), and that is one reason why Barbie must be so disproportional. Actually, another reason for Barbie’s anorexic figure can be traced back long before Kate Moss and the fashion runway. Barbie was

The Women Trends of this time was Joan Crawford, Louise Brooks and Gloria Swanson who inspired millions of women to copy their clothes, hair and cosmetics, and

Garner and colleagues also noted a trend toward noncurvaceousness from 1960 to 1979. The bust and hip measurements of Playboy models decreased and their waist measurements increased significantly. These findings are consistent with those reported by Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, and Kelly (1986) who examined the curvaceousness of models appearing in Vogue and Ladies Home Journal from 1901 to 1981 and of popular movie actresses from 1941 to 1979. The investigators found that among the models appearing in Ladies Home Journal and Vogue, the bust-to-waist ratio dropped significantly.

While it’s fashion week in London, the size “zero” models start to prepare for the big show by purging to be as thin as possible. Most models starve themselves in order to achieve the “waif”, stick-thin figure; it becomes so addictive, almost like second nature that it further leads to serious eating disorders. From recent studies, today’s model weighs about 23% less than the normal woman. Clearly, most models do not depict the average woman. Men and women all over the world follow the influences that the fashion industry provides. They believe that the fashion industry depicts on what society should be acknowledged as, picture-perfect thin.