We’ve known for a while that fashion advertising can be unrealistic in the extreme, mostly because they use Photoshop to make the models look unachievably thin and perfect. When do you think this obsession with faux photographic skinniness started? The 60s? The 70s?
If you visit The Happy Page this week, you’ll find out you’re off by nearly 100 years. And those teeny tiny Victorian and Edwardian waists had little to nothing to do with tight lacing and almost* everything to do with paint – and not the Windows version, either.
*To find out where the almost comes in, visit the video’s page on YouTube to see Karolina’s additional notes and sources. She’s also done some other great videos on historical fashion!