Women's beauty in different eras. How did the standards of beauty change in different eras. XIII. Modern - Belle epoch
The ideal of beauty, the icon of style, the standard of female beauty - how often are such words spoken from the TV screen or read in women's magazine spoil the mood. Looking at their reflection in the mirror, many women notice with horror that they do not correspond to the image that is the standard today.
This is where it starts: sleepless nights, tears in the pillow, an insane desire to lose weight or make plastic surgery. Or maybe it’s worth considering how often fashion has changed, how the standards of female beauty have changed at different times?
Ancient eras, beauty standards
So let's start with Ancient Egypt. Egyptian women were very careful about their appearance, she was given great attention. The ideal of beauty is the languid look of green eyes, which was especially appreciated among Egyptian men.
For the most part, the Egyptians were brown-eyed, in order to comply with the imposed canons, they had to subject their health to a painful procedure. Ladies buried their eyes harmful substances to change the color and create a drag effect.
Women Ancient China believed that the standard of beauty - tiny legs. And again suffering and torment. Unfortunate Chinese women from early childhood were forced to walk with tightly bandaged feet, until they turned into tiny, deformed hooves.
A girl painted like a doll, with hair styled in a complex hairstyle, barely moving on tiny legs - this is the ideal of female beauty, sung by Chinese poets.
Epochs of antiquity, standards of female beauty
Antique times brought the ladies some respite. Women Ancient Greece, captured by the sculptors of that time, had a pleasant appearance and a figure that bears little resemblance to the modern standard of beauty. Small breasts, full hips and a fairly wide waist, this is what the ideal lady of that time looked like.
In ancient Rome, blond hair and pale skin were considered the standard of femininity. To achieve perfection, Roman women of fashion had to lighten their naturally dark hair with lime and wood ash. Aristocratic pallor was achieved different ways, not too useful for facial skin.
Middle Ages, canons of that time
In the Middle Ages, beautiful women could be accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake like witches. In the Middle Ages, during the rampant Inquisition, the ideal of beauty is a pale, emaciated creature that bears little resemblance to a woman. Women of that time did not have the right to expose their bodies and hair to the public. Shapeless, headdresses, lack of jewelry and cosmetics, this is how beauties looked in the Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance, the ideals of female beauty change again. In these times, ladies with a long neck come into fashion. And again, women are forced to conform. The unfortunate fashionistas of that era went to different tricks: they shaved their hair at the back of their heads, shaved their foreheads and eyebrows, making their faces look oval.
The time of the Renaissance again changed the standards of beauty. Luxurious forms, huge busts, a riot of flesh, it was these ladies who were considered the standard of femininity.
The ideal of beauty of the Rococo era is a lady who looks more like a fancy toy. Complex designs of hair, straw, fruits, wire and jewelry on the head, a tight corset that disfigures the figure, a white face with painted eyebrows and glued flies. It was these women who seemed beautiful to the gentlemen of that period.
Only the approach of the twentieth century returned naturalness to the ladies. Normal female figures, lush breasts and a fresh complexion are back in vogue.
Modern standards
For the last hundred years, time seemed to have taken off at a gallop. Different fashions, standards and ideals change with enviable regularity. Modern women hardly manage to match the recognized idols.
The forties of the last century put the inimitable Marilyn Monroe on a pedestal. All the girls of that time dreamed of white hair, plump lips and a mole on the cheek. A thin waist and a noticeable bust were the ultimate dream of every lady, the clothes of that time, by the way, favorably emphasized the dignity of the female figure, focusing on the waist and chest.
No wonder the fashion of that time often returns again. And the very image of a beautiful, but stupid and vicious girl, won the hearts of all men of that period.
Just twenty years later, in the 1960s, the standards of attractiveness changed dramatically again. The whole world began to go crazy with a model girl named Twiggy. A thin, teenage figure, sharp elbows, thin shoulder blades, huge eyes on a child's face, this was the ideal of a woman at that time. The girls tried to achieve it by any means.
Strange clothes designed to hide all the existing feminine curves, short, straight dresses, more suitable for teenage girls, heavy on thick soles, this is how fashionistas of that time dressed. Just at that time, a wide variety of diets, designed to help ladies lose weight as quickly as possible, gained popularity.
Gained immense popularity in the 1980s the new kind sports exercises called aerobics. Almost every girl of the eighties dreamed of looking slim and fit. Cindy Crawford, a famous model of that time, can be considered the ideal that millions of ladies dreamed of being like. Tall, full breasts, pumped up body, a smile on her lips - this is what the most attractive girls of those years looked like.
And since the nineties, tall, excessively thin, long-legged models, with practically no female forms, began to rule the fashion industry in the fashion industry. It was this type of female beauty that suddenly soared to the peak of popularity; supermodel Kate Moss can be considered a bright representative of this period.
And again, millions of women felt flawed, many began to strive with all their might to resemble new ideals, bringing their body with harsh diets and huge physical activity to the last degree of thinness. Many ladies, in an effort to be no different from the girls from the podium, were ready for numerous sacrifices: starvation or complex surgical operations designed to lengthen the legs or remove excess body volume.
A little about men
And now it is worth talking about the strong half of humanity. Are there standards for male beauty, and how often do they change?
From ancient times to the present day, the standard of male beauty remains virtually unchanged. In different centuries, ladies valued in men such qualities as: strength, valor, courage, brutality. It is strong charisma and natural sexuality that makes a man beautiful in the eyes of women.
Why is this happening? Maybe due to the fact that men are less likely to pay attention to imposed stereotypes, preferring to remain the way nature created them. They are less subject to the opinions of others, the self-esteem of men is always at the right height.
And again about women
The twenty-first century has dramatically changed the minds of many women. Increasingly, they begin to realize that beauty and attractiveness do not at all depend on the similarity to certain ideals momentarily imposed by society. Each person from birth has a number of advantages, everyone has disadvantages.
The main thing in this life is to emphasize all your pluses, and minimize the minuses. Any woman who has achieved such harmony is beautiful.
There are scientific theories that prove that history develops in a spiral. This applies to the history of a single society, state and humanity as a whole. The concept of "standard of beauty" also has its own history, which began, perhaps, from the moment a person appeared on earth. Having studied the theory of the evolution of "beauty", we can conclude that history does not move in a spiral, but in a circle.
>Moreover, closed. Each era had its own views on beauty, and its personification - the Woman.
The basis for the formation of certain ideas about beauty was the social system, ideas about morality and spiritual values of society. These shaky concepts in our world determined what should excite, delight and be called “beauty”. The basis is quite shaky, and it is not surprising that everything based on it is constantly changing, sometimes reaching extremes.
Paleolithic Venus
This is the name given to figurines in the form of female figures found by archaeologists and dating back to the Stone Age or thereabouts. They all depict women as plump, with very large breasts, hips and belly. Often without a head, or without a face, but what to do, it was not for that time. While some of the adepts of science are figuring out what exactly these first manifestations of creativity mean, another part decided that it was in this form that the ancients imagined the ideal woman.
If we imagine the conditions in which people lived in those ancient times, then such a “standard” fully justifies itself.
Fat women are often stronger, more resilient, easier to bear and give birth to children. What else is needed when it comes to the survival of the species.
There is no time for aesthetics, in our, perhaps, distorted understanding of it, at least. Although, a woman, at least round, is a symbol of abundance and fertility even now. So, nothing happened to our genetic memory.
Ancient Egypt
The next era, which left to the descendants not only a lot of unsolved mysteries, but also a cultural heritage that sufficiently gives an idea of \u200b\u200bwomen, beauty and certain of its "canons". Almost all the girls depicted in the frescoes are quite slender, with small breasts, long legs, broad shoulders, narrow hips and developed muscles. A prerequisite is a long neck, plump lips, thick black eyebrows and large, expressive almond-shaped eyes, which were emphasized by “eyeliner” made of soot or other natural dyes.
It is possible to treat this period in the history of mankind in different ways, because there were slavery, and a cruel struggle for power, and strange pagan cults, but, from the point of view of the history of the evolution of attitudes towards beauty, and the means of maintaining it, Egypt provided an invaluable service to everyone modern women.
Never before have women paid so much attention to their appearance and used so much cosmetics for this. Hair removal, wigs, lipstick, nail polish, eyeliner, creams, perfumes, and all this first appeared there, and was actively used by the Egyptians for personal care.
Ancient Greece and Rome
This is the time of building the beauty of the body almost into a religious cult. Not only many sciences come from there, but also the concept of aesthetics and harmony. During the time of the Olympian gods and Olympians, the ideal of beauty was
Venus de Milo. The statue depicts a graceful woman of short stature - 164 cm and with parameters close to modern ones - 86-69-93 cm.
She has wide-set eyes, a straight nose and a low forehead. The Greeks tried to apply a scientific approach to the search for the ideal of beauty, the main criteria of which were harmony and proportionality.
Between the eyes there should have been a distance of at least the size of one eye, and the lips should have been one and a half times the size of the eye. A really beautiful face, according to the Greeks, could be divided into three equal parts - along the upper superciliary edge and the tip of the nose.
The hair of most of the statues is gathered into a knot or bun, which is still popular today. Blondes were considered the standard of beauty with blue eyes and forms of Venus-Aphrodite. Greek women also used decorative cosmetics, but not in such abundance as the Egyptians. Natural beauty was in fashion, which was valued as the greatest gift of the gods.
The greatest empire of all time based its ideas about the ideal woman on the ideals of the ancient Greeks. True, over time, the "ideal" was a little rounded, especially in the hips. Hairstyles have become much more complicated, used different types perms and hair bleaching, as blondes were still "in vogue".
Middle Ages
Beauty, throughout human history, has been valued according to cultural, spiritual and worldly priorities in a given period of time. In the Middle Ages, Christianity became a political doctrine, a regulator of life, ideology and ethics, as well as a form of self-consciousness and self-consciousness in society.
Making the ideal of a woman a pale, to the point of ephemerality, skinny creature, wrapped "to the very ears" in several layers of clothing and spending all her time in fasting and prayer. A face without a shadow of cosmetics, which was considered the machinations of the devil.
The natural beauty of the face and body was considered shameful and sinful, given by the same devil to lead virtuous Christians into temptation. For beauty, one could pay with one's life, expiating this "sin" at the stake of the Inquisition.
Renaissance
The same story also confirms the fact that it is impossible to endlessly keep the mind and spirit of a person, under a cassock or whatever pressure. The rapid development of art, science and technology in the 14th-16th centuries proved this once again. Society has also changed, and with it the attitude to female beauty.
The canvases of Rembrandt and Titian, stunning in their skill, play of light and colors, depict beautiful girls with a healthy blush, swan neck, red or blond curls and seductive roundness. The embodiment of the beauty of the Renaissance - Simonetta Vespucci. Paintings by di Cosimo and Botticelli were painted from her, in particular, The Birth of Venus, which was portrayed by Simonetta.
Over time, the young ladies became more and more rounded in all places. During the transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, puffy women were popular.
Danae, Rembrandt
Baroque
The Renaissance idea of a harmonious, grandiose universal personality is in crisis. Understanding the complexity of the world, its inconsistency and the drama of being, led to the complexity of forms, pomp and majesty. As usual, not without "excesses". The ideal woman is puffy, stately, stately and mannered. Not a drop of naturalness: whitewash, corsets, wigs, complex costumes and even more complex hairstyles with additional strands on frames, the height of which exceeded half a meter, are in fashion.
Rococo
A period of gallantry and melancholic grace, attempts to escape from reality in the midst of a pastoral idyll in the company of a charming shepherdess. And the “shepherdess”, as a collective image of all the charms most in demand during this period, was really charming. Moderate roundness of forms, especially in the area of the shoulders, a small chest, a sweet, ruddy face with small features, framed by light or reddish curls, reminiscent of the faces of porcelain cupids. The expression of the doll's face is certainly playful and coquettish, with capriciously pouted lips and a languid look.
In fashion, after the exaggerations of the Baroque, everything is miniature.
Classicism of the Enlightenment
Having become a worthy continuation of the Renaissance and Baroque, the Enlightenment brought a return to the aesthetic and ethical standard of ancient art. Naturalness is back in fashion, and this is expressed by the rejection of the dominance of wigs, unimaginable hairstyles, costumes, whitewash and blush. Dresses on frames of incredible volumes are gone, and "antique" silhouettes with smooth lines have returned. A small amount of makeup, regular facial features and a pleasant roundness of the body are back in fashion. The main difference from previous ideals, which was especially expressed in painting, is the fashion for dark hair.
Bryullov, Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres
Romanticism
Having become more natural during the Enlightenment, women again reflected the state and mood of society, which, with the rapid development of industry, wanted to turn to the inherent value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, rebellion and passions. In the image of the beauties of the era of Romanticism, an echo of the ideals of the Middle Ages is felt. With only one difference, in the past, young ladies had to torment themselves with prayers, fasting and repentance, so they looked thin, pale and detached from this world.
BUT late 18th century, were considered beautiful beautiful girls about the same appearance, but not from reading prayers, but fiction. A thin figure and a subtle mental organization, which was emphasized by a spiritual melancholy expression, moist eyes with dark circles, corsets and the ability to cry over poetry or be carried away into an imaginary world of illusions from harsh reality, became the standard of beauty in this period, which has another definition - the cult of morbid femininity.
In the second half of the 19th century the described image was somewhat condensed bodily and mentally. Rounded smooth lines of silhouettes, bodies bursting with health and natural blush. The image of a modest lady, a good housewife and mother is in fashion.
By the end of the century, with the development of industry, the influence of the bourgeoisie increased. including fashion and beauty. Elegance and sophistication have given way to brilliance and decorative details.
The 20th century presents
20th century brought an aesthetic protest of the intelligentsia of the well-fed bourgeoisie and emancipation. The beauty standard is losing weight again, acquiring the angular features of a teenager with narrow hips, small breasts and short hair. Both blondes and brunettes are equally held in high esteem, with languid looks of richly made-up eyes, full of tragedy and mystery, surrounded by clouds of smoke from a half-meter mouthpiece.
A relatively peaceful period, when Europe survived one war, but has not yet entered the second, is characterized by an active process of struggle for women's rights and the fashion revolution of Coco Chanel. As a result, the fashion and beauty industry has acquired an industrial scale and has become a cult, to which, to one degree or another, every woman tried to join.
The length and width of the dress was rapidly decreasing, revealing more and more charms to the eyes, chemists took up the invention of perfumes and cosmetics designed to make a woman even more attractive. All this gained such momentum that the ideals of beauty, which had previously held for tens or even hundreds of years, were rapidly changing, like pictures in a kaleidoscope. Each decade asserted its own standard of beauty.
30s blondes with short haircuts were put on a pedestal again, but now they have become more feminine, rounded and natural.
The Second World War contributed to the female image. Men's suits, men's work, the need to raise life from the ruins, made women stronger and more resilient. There was no time for cosmetics and fashion.
But a woman always remains a woman, therefore, as soon as the physical, emotional, cultural and economic front wounds healed, they breathed more freely and were ready to take care of themselves.
50s became a triumph of femininity that could be demonstrated. Skirts shrank a few inches with each fashion show. Corsets returned, which tightened the waist to "wasp" parameters. High voluminous breasts, thin waist and rounded hips: a woman with an hourglass figure is the ideal of beauty in the middle of the last century: Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe.
The 70s brought revolution again, only of a different nature. Sex, drugs and rock and roll have influenced the notion of beauty, rebelling against social norms and foundations, making fashion "public" and challenging at the same time. The appearance was supported by the youth, who adopted the new style of a tomboy teenager with a bang. Thinness and androgyny, torn denim and defiant war paint, that was at the peak of popularity during the years of the sexual revolution.
Twiggy
80s became a period of admiration for the tall, but not angular, healthy natural beauty of a woman with pronounced muscles. This was facilitated by a passion for aerobics, fitness and sports in general.
Women became more self-confident, tried to realize themselves at work. They wore suits with pronounced shoulder pads, complementing the image of a self-confident strong woman. These qualities were personified by the idols of that time - Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell.
90s-2000s became a cult of dystrophy. With the appearance of the angular teenager Kate Moss on the catwalk, the world has again recognized the standard of beauty for thin people.
extreme beauty
The concept of aesthetics and beauty is perceived so differently that some "standards" simply do not fit in the head. For example, women "giraffes" from Burma, who wear copper rings around their necks from childhood to lengthen it up to 20-30 cm. Women of the Mursi tribes from Ethiopia stretch their lips and earlobes to incredible sizes. The Amazonian Indians paint their faces with dyes made from grass or animal blood.
Maori from New Zealand consider blue tattooed lips and chins to be the standard of beauty. There are tribes in Guinea, where a beautiful woman's nipples should be at waist level. For Mauritanians, as for many Asians, a beauty must be plump. And the more the better. Favorite concubines of Genghis Khan were almost all with crooked legs. There are nations where vegetation on the body is welcome.
And all of the above, someone likes. And some people are terrified. A person is very different and full of contradictions even in the perception of beauty, which is defined as a harmonious combination of aspects that cause aesthetic pleasure to the observer.
For every inconsistency with beauty, or your idea of it, there is a connoisseur who elevates to the ideal what others seem frankly ugly.
The 21st century has just begun, and it is quite difficult to single out clear canons of a modern beauty. Alternatively, because they don't exist. We can say that the ideals of female beauty of the 21st century are Angelina Jolie, and you can also look whatever you like, and this will not cause awe in anyone, as, for example, if modern girls were seen during the Inquisition or romanticism. One can only say that androgyny and dystrophy are no longer held in high esteem. modern woman should be healthy and natural, of average build, without excesses in excessive thinness or friability. Well-groomed and tidy. The image of a beautiful woman for us is no longer associated only with external data, but with character and inner world.
Self-confidence, self-sufficiency and self-realization, psychological stability and charisma. These are the qualities without which a recognized beauty turns into a plastic doll, and a woman who does not meet the "reference" parameters achieves recognition and success. Because beauty is not only in certain dimensions of external forms, but in their combination with internal content.
And the canons of beauty, like fashion, are very changeable. Is it worth fanatically striving to match them? It's better to just love yourself, outside the canons, standards and someone else's ideas about beauty. Then someone will definitely appear who considers you to be their canon of beauty.
Beauty is one of the most subjective and changeable categories. What was the standard of female attractiveness just a few years ago, today is not only not so, but may even seem defiant and out of place. How have ideas about beauty changed over time? And what will become the standard in the near future? Let's try to figure it out.
Ancient Egypt (XIII-XI centuries BC)
The real beauties in ancient Egypt were considered girls with long and straight dark hair framing their faces. This is evidenced by the numerous images of the Egyptians that have survived to this day. At the same time, by the way, the first semblance of cosmetics appeared: the Egyptians were the first to learn how to apply black paint around the eyes to give expressiveness to the look.
What was considered the standard?
- Slim figure
- High waist
- narrow shoulders
Ancient Greece (V-III centuries BC)
Ancient Greece put everything masculine at the forefront, and even female beauty was no exception. The male body was considered ideal, and therefore women in Ancient Greece were very often ashamed of their forms, and they treated their bodies as “an unsuccessful copy of a man.” With a change in thinking, the standards of beauty have also changed.
What was considered the standard?
- Lush forms
- Tendency to corpulence
- light skin tone
Renaissance (II century AD)
During this period, women were considered the epitome of virtue and were often separated from men, both in society and at home. The behavior and appearance of a woman reflected the status of her husband. That is why those features of appearance that emphasize femininity and sophistication come to the fore in the Renaissance.
What was considered the standard?
- Pale skin
- Lush thighs and chest
- Blonde hair
- high forehead
Victorian era (19th century)
In Victorian society, the change in the ideals of beauty was closely related to the change in the values that were then promoted in society: housekeeping, family and motherhood. These virtues were embodied by Queen Victoria, after whom this era was named. Then corsets came into fashion, which made the waist thin, and the figure of a woman - like an hourglass.
What was considered the standard?
- Hourglass figure
Equality of the Twenties (1920s)
During this period, women in the United States, having received the right to vote, felt equal rights and freedom. An appearance that combines both male and female features came into fashion - the so-called androgyny: ladies sought to visually make the waist lower and preferred bras that flattened their breasts.
What was considered the standard?
- boyish figure
- Absence of curvaceous forms
- small breasts
- bob haircut
Golden Age of Hollywood (1930-1950)
At this time, a code of ethics was adopted in Hollywood, which imposed restrictions on film roles for women. Femininity and splendor of forms came back into fashion: the brightest example of the embodiment of the female beauty of that era is the famous actress Marilyn Monroe.
What was considered the standard?
- Lush forms
- Hourglass figure
- Thin waist
Sixties (1960s)
Over the next 10 years, beauty standards again managed to turn over dramatically. In the 60s, feminist sentiments arose in society, and mini-skirts and A-silhouettes in clothes came into fashion. Lush feminine forms faded into the background, giving way to thinness and angularity.
What was considered the standard?
- Flexible and slim body
- Long and skinny legs
- small breasts
Supermodel era (1980s)
A fashionable hobby for many women in the 1980s was aerobics. The girls started playing sports to be in good shape. Along with their views, the type of appearance, which was considered ideal, also changed - all the girls aspired to be like supermodels. One of the standards of beauty of that time was Cindy Crawford: tall, slender, athletic, and at the same time full-breasted.
Incredible Facts
Fashion and beauty are relative concepts.
What seemed attractive at the beginning of the century seems ordinary or out of place today.
Time is running, and with it the standards of beauty of the female body are rapidly changing.
The article presents a selection standards of female beauty , from past centuries to the present day. Videos and photos prove that the ideal is a concept, nevertheless, very relative and extremely changeable.
Beauty standards in different eras
Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed freedom in everything. They enjoyed enormous privileges, on a par with men. Many centuries passed before such equality of the sexes returned to society.
Egyptian society was sexually liberated. For example, premarital relationships were not considered shameful; moreover, they were the norm of that time.
Women could own property independently of their husbands and had the right to initiate divorce without being ashamed of society's condemnation. Representatives of the weaker sex could also inherit the title of pharaoh.
© dimabl / Getty Images
An important aspect of the female beauty of this era in ancient Egypt was considered long braided hair framing a symmetrical face. A special black paint was applied around the eyes of women, making their look more expressive.
The following indicators were considered the standard of beauty of the female body:
- Slender body
- High waist
- narrow shoulders
Beauty ideals of ancient Greece
Aristotle called the female forms of that time "deformable male". Indeed, ancient Greece was very masculine-oriented.
The ancient Greeks were more focused on the ideal male physique than female, which means that during this period of time, it was the representatives of the stronger sex who had to reach high standards physical perfection.
For this reason, women were ashamed of their forms, as they were unlike men's. The female body was treated as "an unsuccessful copy of the man."
Nudity was an integral part of ancient Greek society. Despite this trend, sculptures and paintings of nude women were often covered. The first important female nude sculpture in classical Greece was Aphrodite of Cnidus, who showed that beauty in ancient Greece meant the following:
- Appetizing shapes
- Tendency to be overweight
- Bright skin
Female beauty in different eras
Chinese society has been patriarchal since ancient times. The patriarchal system of government minimized the role and rights of women in society.
During the Han Dynasty, a woman was considered the standard of beauty, whose appearance combined the following parameters:
- Slim, slender body that radiates an inner glow
- Pale skin
- Long black hair
- Red lips
- White teeth
- Smooth gait
- small foot
The small size of the foot has been considered the main indicator of the beauty of the Chinese woman for hundreds of years.
Beauty in the Renaissance
Renaissance Italy was a Catholic, patriarchal society. Women were supposed to embody all the virtues and were often separated from the male sex, both in society and at home.
The meaning and value of a woman was associated with her service to a man, God, father or husband.
It was believed that the behavior and appearance of a woman reflected the status of her husband. Beauty in Renaissance Italy meant that a woman should have the following appearance criteria:
- Pale skin
- Curvy shapes including full hips and large breasts
- Blonde hair
- high forehead
The Victorian era in England lasted during the reign of Queen Victoria. She was the most influential figure of the era. The young queen was also a young wife and mother.
In Victorian society, housekeeping, family and motherhood were highly valued. These virtues were embodied in Queen Victoria herself.
The direction of that time was reflected in the appearance of the weaker sex. The woman wore corsets, tightening them as tightly as possible, due to which the waist became thinner.
The figure resembling an hourglass was considered the standard of femininity. The criteria for beauty, despite the presence of a thin waist, were considered rounded shapes and a tendency to be overweight.
Beauty in different eras
In 1920, women in the United States gained the right to vote, and this set the tone for a decade. Finally, the representatives of the weaker sex felt equality and freedom.
Women who got jobs during World War II expressed their desire to continue working after the end of the war.
The so-called androgynous appearance came into fashion, women tried to visually make the waist lower and wore bras that flattened their breasts.
In the 20s of the last century, a woman with a boyish figure, a complete absence of magnificent forms, with small breasts was considered beautiful. Also in vogue was a bob haircut.
The standard of beauty in different eras
The golden age of Hollywood lasted from the 1930s to the 1950s. The so-called Hayes Code, a code of ethics adopted by the Hollywood Film Makers and Distributors Association, created moral parameters about what could or could not be said and shown in movies.
The code placed restrictions on film roles available to women. Beautiful girls were considered to have the following parameters:
- Appetizing shapes
- Hourglass body type
- Lush chest
- Thin waist
The embodiment of beauty and femininity of that time was the actress Marilyn Monroe.
Women in the 60s benefited from the liberation movements that swept through many countries of the world.
An increasing number of the fairer sex could be observed in the workplace. They were given access to contraceptives. All these factors have led to an increase feminist sentiment in society.
For centuries and definitely in all civilizations, nothing has cared for a woman more than her appearance. However, men have always been even more worried about the female image. From century to century, the fair sex was dictated by the canons of beauty, and happiness was born to them corresponding.
Antiquity
The desire for a physical ideal for the ancient Greeks was not just the imposition of fashion industry standards, as is happening now, for them it was a whole ideology.
The harmony of the body is an art in itself. A beautiful person is like a deity; he cannot be spiritually ugly. The parameters of beauty, especially for women, were strikingly different from modern ones. Greek women by nature had a fairly thick-boned skeleton. But this does not mean that flabby fullness was valued.
A beautiful body is fit and youthful. The ideal proportions, which correspond to the standard of beauty Venus of Knidos, were as follows: height 164 cm, chest 86 cm, hips 93.
No visual primitivism 90-60-90. It's not just that. There was even an ideal size for the foot and hand.
Shoulders, arms, calves, thighs were rounded. The chest is small, asymmetrical. The waist is mildly defined. The buttocks are slightly flat and low. Shin, ankles are wide enough. All lines of the figure had to be smooth.
Ideal facial features: large eyes with a wide inter-century slit and arched edges of the eyelids. The distance between the eyes is not less than the size of one eye, and the mouth is one and a half times larger. "Greek nose" is not a synonym for a long nose. According to Greek canons, the ideal nose is a small nose with straight lines and a barely pronounced bridge of the nose.
Hair was worn long, tied with the famous "antique knot". Golden curls were valued, so dark Greek women had to lighten them in every possible way with the help of sun exposure and alkaline soap. Samples of Greek statues have come down to us as snow-white, but the Greeks loved to paint them, and the women themselves did not boast of a blush.
Greek standards of beauty passed to the Romans with minor changes. Despite the fact that Roman women were smaller, a portly body was more valued. Hair tried to lighten. The skin was given special importance: it was bleached with white lead and milk masks.
No matter how strange admiration for short stature, short legs and a rounded figure may seem to modern girls, one cannot look at antique sculptures without admiration and deny that their canons of beauty are the most harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Ancient Egypt
The ideas of female beauty among the Egyptians were completely opposite to the ancient ones. It is difficult to name the parameters in numbers. The art of ancient Egypt was not so precise anatomically. But it is certain that tall, thin women with long legs were considered beauties. With broad straight shoulders, a long swan neck, small breasts and boyish narrow hips.
Hair was valued black, thick and smooth. True, they wore wigs, they shaved off their hair. In general, the hair on the body of the Egyptians was not honored. Even then, waxing was used in full.
Facial features were to be strictly straight. Especially the nose. Lips are large and plump. Ideal eyes are green and almond shaped. In general, special attention was paid to the eyes. The shape was emphasized with paint, green or black, lengthening them to the very temple, the eyebrows were thickened. Belladonna was dripped into the eyes for a special brilliance and pupil dilation.
The fashionable color of the skin was light yellow, it was achieved with whitewash. The standards of beauty of that time were Nefertiti and Cleopatra.
Middle Ages
With the advent of Christianity, female beauty was hidden under shapeless clothes and capes. Everything corporal was declared sinful.
Religious morality prevailed. Women strove to look unobtrusive. Pale, with small breasts, without pronounced curves of the figure, were especially valued. Moden was a small belly, as a symbol of pregnancy. Beauty standards were dictated by the church, and in pursuit of these standards, women resorted to dangerous methods - the skin was bleached with lemon or bloodletting.
The ideal is the Virgin Mary. Pale thinness, diminutiveness, small breasts, which were reduced with a tight bandage. All this was emphasized by a very narrow and closed dress. Lips small, plump, straight nose.
The forehead was especially important. He was supposed to be tall. To do this, the hair was shaved using painful epilation, and then special ointments were applied to this place to stop hair growth. Hair, by the way, as before, blond was valued, even though it was a “dishonest occupation” to dye it specifically in a blonde.
To lengthen the neck, the hair at the back of the head was shaved off. And to give a more meek look, they also shaved off their eyebrows.
But with the improvement of living standards, the development of production, the conquest of new lands, morals also softened. Culture becomes more secular. The image of the “Beautiful Lady”, sung by the troubadours, appeared. If you previously went crazy for an angelic unearthly appearance, then “ Beautiful lady” should already have a blush, scarlet lips, a clear and cheerful look.
In the late Middle Ages, the S-shaped figure came into fashion. Curved shapes, but at the same time a convex tummy, ladies with a flat stomach laid a special roller. There was a fairly deep neckline and corsets. A long train was extremely fashionable, the higher the status of a woman, the longer the train of the dress. For some reason, the church actively fought against them, calling them "devil's tails."
rebirth
The new era brought with it new standards. Lush forms came into fashion again, which was synonymous with health. A thin woman means not capable of offspring. The desired woman is powerful, with large hips, wide full shoulders, muscular forearms, long legs thin to the bottom, with white strong calves and small feet.
Not a single bone should show through on the chest. Paleness is sickness, the face should have been pink from good circulation. The hair is light and thick.
Rococo era
At the beginning of the 17th century, the female appearance changed dramatically. Lightness and playfulness take the place of splendor and idleness. Very frank necklines come into fashion, the chest is emphasized as much as possible.
Kissing a woman's breasts has become absolutely acceptable, just like the hand. The waist was tightly tightened into a corset, the bottom of the dress was as lush as possible. Particular attention is not paid to the figure, only the chest, neck, arms, shoulders and face are important.
Unnaturalness and theatricality in appearance, in comparison with the discreetness of the Middle Ages, reaches its peak. As much make-up as possible is applied to the face, spicing up with the help of flies. Perhaps this is also connected with the smallpox epidemic. Entire towers of flowers are inserted into hair and wigs. The hairstyle was so complicated and expensive that women, in order to keep it as long as possible, almost did not wash.
For example, the launching of the frigate "Admiral" led to the appearance of an "admiral's" hairstyle with a whole boat in her hair. France dictates beauty standards to the whole world.
Ideal parameters: incredibly white skin and teeth, black eyes, eyebrows and eyelashes. The distance between the eyebrows is wide. Red lips, cheeks and nails; long body, arms and hair. Rounded arms and hips; small legs, chest and nose.
Empire
The 18th century returned to ancient aesthetics. With the dominance of the Empire style, naturalness returned to fashion. Makeup, wigs and an abundance of other tinsel become a sign of vulgarity. It was believed that beautiful woman You don't even need jewelry.
They forget about cosmetics, the requirements of fashion are achieved in a natural way, if you need to whiten the skin - they drank vinegar, if you want to give a blush - they ate strawberries.
Antiquity was also imitated in clothes, this greatly changed the silhouette of a woman. He became more fluid. The figure was valued according to ancient canons: with full arms, wide hips, high waist, which in dresses was emphasized from the chest itself.
19th century
Since the 19th century, fashion and the female image began to change rapidly and constantly. Women were much thinner than their predecessors: fragile and wasp-waisted in tightly laced corsets.
Very fluffy skirts were worn to emphasize the roundness of the hips, all kinds of large bows were fastened to the lower back to enhance the S-shaped silhouette. Thalia sank back into place. The most fashionable figure of that time was the hourglass.
The requirements for the waist were very severe - 55 cm. So in 1885, one young lady died after the ball, a too tight corset broke her ribs, which pierced her liver.
Paleness was still a sign of nobility and prosperity. Despite the fact that already at that time women began to fight for their rights, the clothes remained closed and only the shoulders were allowed to be exposed, but how! Dropped sleeves, a bare neck introduced the fashion for complex raised hairstyles.
By the way, Pushkin was not just crazy about women's legs, for the first time in a very long time the skirt was shortened, first exposing the shoe, and then, of course, the small ankle. In addition to the fact that the skirt is shortened, it becomes less fluffy, which makes it more difficult to emphasize the hips. Finally, lush breasts are also in fashion. There are many recipes for breast care and breast augmentation.
Here is the ideal of that time: a pale, fragile, but slightly coquettish lady with an umbrella and gloves, with a lush and protruding bust, with a thin waist and decently protruding buttocks due to the bustle - lining under the dress below the waist.