Thursday, May 9, 2013

Weight and Curve

A bit more on regency fashion, and the reality of curves versus the fantasy thinness of fashion plates.  We really didn't invent ANYTHING in this generation - not even the ridiculously thin body ideal.  Indeed, look at the columnar human imagery of early medieval sculpture, the long and slender lines of men and women.  Long and lean comes and goes ... as does compact and curving.  The more things change.

The most interesting thing, to me, about all this talk of bums, is that the LESS textile lumped around it to exaggerate its shape, the MORE the natural curve of a woman's body becomes provocative.  The wedding dress photo I posted on yesterday's musings about the behind and about fashion clearly shows this phenomenon.  Bustles and bumrolls do more to HIDE the actual body beneath them than to emphasize them.  There's nothing erotic about a farthingale.  But a light drape of fabric, unaccompanied by corsetry, bustling, and petticoats ... is incredibly suggestive.

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