Gibson Girls

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Gibson Girls
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the
feminine ideal of beauty portrayed by the
satirical pen-and-ink illustrations of
illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year
period that spanned the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century in the United States.Some
people argue that the Gibson Girl was the first
national beauty standard for American women.
Gibson's fictional images of her published in
newspapers and magazines during the Belle Époque
were extremely popular.
Merchandise bearing her image included saucers,
ashtrays, tablecloths, pillow covers, chair
covers, souvenir spoons, screens, fans, umbrella
stands.
The artist saw his creation as representing the
composite of "thousands of American girls. The
Gibson Girl was tall and slender, yet with ample
bosom, hips and bottom. She had an exaggerated
S-curve torso shape achieved by wearing a
swan-bill corset. Images of her epitomized the
late 19th- and early 20th-century Western
preoccupation with youthful features and
ephemeral beauty. Her neck was thin and her hair
piled high upon her head in the contemporary
bouffant, pompadour, and chignon ("waterfall of
curls") fashions. The statuesque, narrow-waisted
ideal feminine figure was portrayed as being at
ease and stylish. She was a member of upper class
society, always perfectly dressed in the latest
fashionable attire appropriate for the place and
time of day. Gibson depicted her as an equal and
sometimes teasing companion to men.3 In addition
to the Gibson Girl's refined beauty, in spirit,
she was calm, independent, confident, and sought
personal fulfillment. (She could be depicted
attending college and vying for a good mate, but
she would never have participated in the suffrage
movement.) She was also sexually dominant, for
example, literally examining comical little men
under a magnifying glass, or, in a breezy manner,
crushing them under her feet. Next to the beauty
of a Gibson Girl, men often appeared as
simpletons or bumblers and even men with
handsome physiques or great wealth alone could
not provide satisfaction to her. Gibson
illustrated men so captivated by her looks that
would they would follow her anywhere, attempting
to fulfill any desire, even if it was absurd. One
memorable drawing shows dumbstruck men following
a command to plant a young, leafless tree
upside-down, roots in the air, simply because she
wanted it that way. Most often, a Gibson Girl
appeared single and uncommitted however, a
romance always relieved her boredom. Once
married, she was shown deeply frustrated if
romantic love had disappeared from her life, but
satisfied if socializing with girlfriends or
happy when doting on her infant child.
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Gibson Girls
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Girl