However, the 1920s, the time of the Flapper, promoted this very slim, almost boyish body, and the clothes were very straight so that it didn’t show any curves. Both of these photos, as well as other times in history with pictures of the ideal woman’s body can be seen at here.
During the 1920s, early manufacturers and retailers, created, marketed and sold products to a target market, the thin woman. Mass consumption, entered dressmaking through these national women's magazines, and these clothes that were being mass produced to promote new ways of shopping (Fernandez, 2). Before women's clothing started to become mass produced, women's clothes were specifically tailored to their bodies. However, mass produced clothing gave way to a new form
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However, due to the new sizing of women's clothing woman started to be put in categories, and those that didn't fit this new ideal shape were considered plus-size. “By 1916, over 13 million women, or 12.7% of the total U.S. population, were considered overweight (Keist and Marcketti 1)”. Of course with news like this women became more worried about their appearance. Not only was being plus-sized not as desirable as being thin in fashion, but it also had this new stigma of being unhealthy. Women said that they felt humiliated when they went into stores to shop for new clothes and the women working there would tell them they didn't carry their size, that they were too big (Keist and Marcketti 6). The New York Times and Vogue said that women became overweight due to lack of exercise, laziness, and even the clothes that they wore because if they wore clothes that affected their circulation, it could lead to the production of fat in those areas of their body (Keist and Marcketti 3). I find it interesting that these fashion magazines with no actual education on the subject were telling these women absurd reasons as to why they were bigger than they were supposed to be. But these fashion magazines had a lot of power during this time especially in their advertising and women took what they said to heart and believed