The research also found the models became more racially and ethnically diverse. Average dress size dropped from 5.2 to 3.7. Waist size dropped from 24.7 inches to 23.6 inches , and hips shrank from 34.9 inches to 34.4 inches. The study found that bust measurements dropped from 32.9 inches in the 1990s, to 32 inches 20 years later. The research relied on a directory of fashion models that did not include weight but did include measurements, and looked at the change over three-year periods starting in 1995 and ending in 2018 Though that hasn't stopped some from trying. The study notes a dramatic recent rise in cosmetic surgery, "with buttock and lower body lift increasing by 4295% and 256%, respectively, since 2000." In 2019, with ratings low, Victoria's Secret canceled the fashion show, saying it needed to evolve and be rethought for a new media era.Īs a cosmetic dermatologist, Vashi focuses on enhancing people's looks, she says, but she also hopes people recognize that Victoria's Secret models, "have bodies that are just not attainable by an average person." Victoria's Secret did not reply to an emailed request for comment. "These findings represent an ideal of beauty that continuously moves further away from the characteristics of the average American woman," says a news release accompanying the study. "Overall, these models became slimmer and their dress size decreased," says Vashi. "The ratio stayed the same, but each one of those measurements did decrease."Īnd as Victoria's Secret models got thinner, the average American woman's measurements grew - with the average woman now at least a size 16.Ĭoncern over that rising disparity comes across in the research paper's title, which begins: " Unattainable Standards of Beauty." She found that the 0.7 ratio - roughly a 24-inch waist divided by 35-inch hips - did hold true for the models, a nice confirmation of her hypothesis.īut the results from other measures the team examined were surprising - and, she says, concerning. So Vashi, an assistant professor of dermatology at Boston University and director of the Cosmetic and Laser Center at Boston Medical Center , and colleagues analyzed the measurements of models who walked the runway at the now-defunct fashion show over 23 years, from 1995 to 2018. She was curious, she says, to see whether previous cross-cultural findings that men tend to prefer women with a 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio would hold true across time in a group known for beauty - models in the famed Victoria's Secret fashion show. Neelam Vashi says she is fascinated by women's waist-to-hip ratio, the hourglass curve from the narrowest point of the waist to the widest point of the hips. (Evan Agostini/AP) This article is more than 3 years old.Ĭosmetic dermatologist Dr. Models walk the runway in the final Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2018.
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