From wasp-waisted and busty to Kim Kardashian-style derrieres: How the ideal body shape has changed over 100 years

  • Wasp-waists and large busts popular at the start of the 20th Century
  • Boyish flappers followed, then curves in the 30s and healthy in the 40s
  • 50s saw return of curves before the first waifs arrived in the 1960s
  • Today, ample bottoms on a slim frame like Kim Kardashian is popular

By MailOnline Femail Team

Published: 10:16 EST, 17 July 2015 | Updated: 15:11 EST, 17 July 2015

It is a subject that has long proved controversial, with parents and psychologists blaming it for everything from low self-confidence in teens to a rise in eating disorders.

But as a quick look back through Buzzfeed's assessment of the last 100 years of beauty reveals, being slim with Kim Kardashian-style derriere hasn't always been the ideal body shape.

Indeed, in some decades, the ideal was not only achievable but positively healthy such as in the 1940s when women were encouraged to be normal-sized and fit.

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Contemporary ideal: Kylie and Kim embody the modern ideals of tall and slender or slim with an ample bum

Contemporary ideal: Kylie and Kim embody the modern ideals of tall and slender or slim with an ample bum

Different ideals: Kendall is tall and slender, while Kim is famous for her curvaceous figure
Different ideals: Kendall is tall and slender, while Kim is famous for her curvaceous figure

Different ideals: Kendall is tall and slender, while Kim is famous for her curvaceous figure

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Most, however, were as unattainable for the average woman as modern ideas of bodily perfection are today.

Beginning in the 1900s, women were encouraged to be large busted and wasp-waisted - the latter achieved with the help of a tightly-laced corset.

But with the outbreak of war in 1914, privations on the Home Front led to sartorial innovation and changing body ideals to match.

Women began the war trussed up in corsets, strapped into awkward hobble skirts and burdened with huge wide-brimmed hats, regardless of class or political inclinations.

By the time Armistice Day arrived on the 11th November 1918, the nation's wardrobes were almost unrecognisable, with knee-length skirts, billowing harem pants and tailored uniforms taking centre stage - and setting the scene for the next decade, the 1920s.

Thanks to the influence of Coco Chanel and her brave new world of twinsets, slacks and drop-waisted dresses, boyish figures became the ideal.

Wasp-waisted: In the 1900s, the fashion was for women with tiny waists and large busts
Wasp-waisted: In the 1900s, the fashion was for women with tiny waists and large busts

Wasp-waisted: In the 1900s, the fashion was for women with tiny waists and large busts

Boyish: After World War I, boyish figures became fashionable alongside flapper dresses

Boyish: After World War I, boyish figures became fashionable alongside flapper dresses

Small breasts and non-existent curves became as fashionable as the smoky jazz bars that dominated the social scene, while long necks and slim arms and legs were prized.

The craze didn't last long, however. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, curves staged a comeback, with women aiming for an hourglass silhouette.

Fashion changed too, with V-neck jumpers and bias-cut dresses, both flattering on larger busts, ousting the shapeless flapper frocks that had been so popular a decade before.

Change came once more with the outbreak of war in 1939, with rationing and privations forcing a new look for both fashion and figure.

With less around to eat, well-fed healthy figures became the ideal, with diet supplements promising to help users gain weight becoming popular.

One famous supplement from the 1940s was sold alongside a picture of a curvy model with the strapline: 'Men wouldn't look at me when I was skinny'.

The return of curves: Curvaceous stars such as Mae West brought curves back into fashion in the 1930s

The return of curves: Curvaceous stars such as Mae West brought curves back into fashion in the 1930s

Healthy: In the 1940s, a healthy, sporty look of the kind epitomised by Betty Grable became popular

Healthy: In the 1940s, a healthy, sporty look of the kind epitomised by Betty Grable became popular

Curves again: Stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor made the hourglass popular in the 50s

Curves again: Stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor made the hourglass popular in the 50s

But the vogue for normal bodies didn't last long and with the 1950s came the return of the wasp-waist - all the better to fit into Christian Dior's New Look.

Contemporary stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were lauded for their gravity-defying curves, in Monroe's case a 23-inch waist combined with 35-inch hips and a 36D bust.

Dior's designs, with their tiny waist and exaggerated hips, became the fashion well into the 60s until a model named Twiggy burst onto the scene and introduced the world to the waif.

Twiggy, who was named 'the Face of 1966' by the Express newspaper, was the original waif and her tiny 23-inch waist and 30 AA bust were enthusiastically copied by the women of the day.

The clothes she loved and the ones she modelled were designed to flatter her tiny frame, with square shoulders, unforgivingly high hemlines and a skinny silhouette dominating the era's fashion.

Slender: Models, among them Twiggy (left) and Jean Shrimpton (right), popularised a waif-like look in the 60s
Slender: Models, among them Twiggy (left) and Jean Shrimpton (right), popularised a waif-like look in the 60s

Slender: Models, among them Twiggy (left) and Jean Shrimpton (right), popularised a waif-like look in the 60s

Long and lean: Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith strut their stuff in Charlie's Angels

Long and lean: Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith strut their stuff in Charlie's Angels

Athletic: Long and lean was still popular in the 1980s but came with added muscle and long, strong legs

Athletic: Long and lean was still popular in the 1980s but came with added muscle and long, strong legs

With the 1970s came a vogue for all things long and lean, whether leg-lengthening flares or tall, slender bodies.

While the body ideal of the era had much in common with that of today, large bottoms were out and sporty muscles reviled.

Glamorous stars of the period included the likes of Farrah Fawcett, Olivia Newton-John, who so memorably squeezed into a fitted catsuit for her turn in 1978's Grease, and 1974 Bond girl Britt Ekland.

All three had the long, slender shape so adored during the 1970s, which lent itself well to the clingy polyester gowns and slim shirts that dominated the fashion of the era.

Although 70s-style long and lean has never really gone out of fashion, the decades since have seen emphasis placed on one different body part after another.

Delicate: In the 1990s, long and strong gave way to the waif, as exemplified by Kate Moss (left)

Delicate: In the 1990s, long and strong gave way to the waif, as exemplified by Kate Moss (left)

Lean: The noughties saw the return of long and lean, this time with a larger bust completing the picture

Lean: The noughties saw the return of long and lean, this time with a larger bust completing the picture

Extreme: The look was taken to extremes by Katie Price, then in her glamour modelling days

Extreme: The look was taken to extremes by Katie Price, then in her glamour modelling days

The 80s take on the look focused on long, strong legs and played up athleticism, while the 90s brought the return of the waif, with Jodie Kidd and Kate Moss leading the charge.

A new century saw long and lean return in all its glory, albeit with more of a focus on breasts - a look enthusiastically championed by Katie Price during her glamour modelling days.

Today, the pendulum has swung back towards the curvaceous with a large bottom and substantial bust of the sort seen on Kim Kardashian gaining popularity.

Although some are challenging the dominance of the Kardashian body type with 'alternative' versions of the body beautiful, not least in the rise of the plus-size model.

But will it end the reign of the body ideal? It certainly seems unlikely. 

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