Beauty in the Twentieth Century: An Overview of Fashions Transient Trends - Dissertation Example

A desire for change and new intriguing silhouettes, societal factors prompting a change in generational identity, governmental dictums necessitated by war and economic stress, key prominent figures that are admired by the public leading by example, technological advances, and the media, among others. A desire for change and new intriguing silhouettes, societal factors prompting a change in generational identity, governmental dictums necessitated by war and economic stress, key prominent figures that are admired by the public leading by example, technological advances, and the media, among others.

 Decade by decade throughout the twentieth century, fashion trends swing from one extreme to another with almost astonishing predictability in timing. From the beautiful and becoming to the ridiculous and amusing, each generation of women seeks to define itself with an identifying fashion statement. The paper concludes with a reminder that whatever the influence, all fashionable pursuits should be tempered with the realization that the purpose of fashion is to benefit, not to cause harm of any sort.

The corset is an enduring symbol of the quest to mold oneself after the fashionable image of the day.  The cherished notion of the eighteen-inch waist, ridiculous by most standards and impossible for some without extreme self-deprivation, was the ideal at the turn of the century. However, is this the fault of fashion designers or the result of women taking a particular feminine attribute and accentuating it to its extreme? This paper intends to examine how fashion has played a role in the last century in negatively shaping a woman’s self-image and whether women or other social factors are also part of the process in determining what fashions will be adopted.

We would be near-sighted if we thought that striving for beauty was only a current affair.  Women have for centuries disfigured many parts of their bodies that did not quite fit a particular generations' fashion.  During the Renaissance, well-born higher class women pulled out hairs to give themselves high, rounded foreheads. Some who did not like plucking used mixtures of dung, vinegar, and quick-lime that sometimes removed skin and hair.