ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Fillmer, Carel (2010) The shaping of women's bodies: in pursuit of the fashion silhouette. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/29138/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/29138/ THE SHAPING OF WOMEN’S BODIES: IN PURSUIT OF THE FASHION SILHOUETTE Thesis submitted by CAREL FILLMER B.A. (ArtDes) Wimbledon College of Art, London GradDip (VisArt) COFA UNSW for the degree of Master of Arts in the School of Arts and Social Sciences James Cook University November 2010 Dedicated to my family Betty, David, Katheryn and Galen ii STATEMENT OF ACCESS I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and; I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. Signature Date iii ELECTRONIC COPY I, the undersigned, the author of this work, declare that the electronic copy of this thesis provided to the James Cook University Library is an accurate copy of the print thesis submitted, within the limits of the technology available. Signature Date iv STATEMENT OF SOURCES DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and list of references given. Signature Date v STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTION OF OTHERS Support for the completion of the thesis and practice was obtained via the following sources. Fees: Study was supported by James Cook University. Supervision: Supervision was overseen by – Professor Diana Davis: Principal Supervisor – Professor Rosamund Thorpe: Associate Supervisor Other assistance: Victor Lam – for DVD animation technical support Annette Krausmann – for the thesis formatting Signature Date vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been possible without the continual support, patience and guidance of Professor Diana Davis (Supervisor) and for the academic help provided by Professor Rosamund Thorpe (Associate Supervisor), James Cook University. My thanks and appreciation to John Hughes (Media Studies COFA) and Galen Needham for their help in the initial stages of the animation process and to Lee Whitmore for her help with the storyboarding of my concept for the DVD Seen Through Fashion. Thanks also to my brother the cellist David Loew Filmer for the use of his music from his album Safari Classics, tracks from which feature on the DVD. vii ABSTRACT The first thing the first couple did after committing the first sin was to get dressed. Thus Adam and Eve started the world of fashion, and styles have been changing ever since. Time, Nov. 8 1863, fashion survey entitled “Gilding the Lily”. Certainly the Western fashion silhouette has never been static, with hemlines and necklines morphing in and out and up and down over at least the past five hundred years. The emphasis has not been to enhance or flow with the natural contours of the body as did the ancient Greeks and Romans, but rather to manipulate and fashion the shape of the body to create what is considered to be the de rigueur shape or silhouette of the era. Given a constant female body shape, this has often been challenging. Indeed, at various times, the achievement of the fashion silhouette has required the design and manufacture of a range of devices to assist in the artificial manipulation of various body parts. Undergarments which enhance or, alternatively, conceal the part of the body to be given most prominence and significance in a particular era or decade are the handmaiden of fashion and their necessity has spawned a parallel industry. While this industry is still important today, there is no longer total reliance on external devices to shape the body, but rather less direct methods such as the gym, diet and/or cosmetic surgery. Bust enhancement no longer relies solely on the temporary support of a padded bra as there is the permanent option of breast implants. A corset can be replaced by the medical procedure of tummy tucks. viii Research has traced the history of fashion, as it has also documented the undergarment solutions which have accompanied it. The cumulative effect of these inner and outer layers on the female body has not received the same attention. The purpose of this research is to explore ways of visually portraying the coalescence of the female body, shaping mechanisms, and the fashion silhouette at pivotal points across time. The study identifies ten pivotal points of change to 2010 and documents key historical and contextual markers of change. It explores the conformity/ nonconformity of artists’ depictions of the female nude with the achieved fashion silhouette of the time. The research thus demonstrates the extent to which the ideal fashion shape of each era has influenced the way the male artist perceives the female body shape by the way the fashion silhouette has been consciously or unconsciously superimposed on the naked form. Various visual solutions were trialed in the search for a way of representing the three layers of body, undergarment/s, fashion outer garment/s. Ultimately a process of layering and animating hand rendered drawings was developed. The resultant DVD Seen Through Fashion provides a microscopic view of female anatomy, undergarments and the relevant fashion look for each pivotal period from 1066 to 2009. Accompanying the DVD are pedagogical notes which suggest ways in which the resource might be used for a range of applications from fashion history to medical training. In the latter area, of course, the contemporary obsession with the ideal body image has created multiple anxieties, low self-esteem and self-loathing in many women and, specifically, eating disorders in an increasing number of young women. The thesis concludes with reflections on the process of creating the DVD, including consideration of technical issues in the production of this kind of animation, as well as an examination of a range of possible areas for further research, in particular to the synergy between old and new technologies. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................................1 1.1. Why Clothe the Body?............................................................................................................................................................................1 1.2. The Significance of Clothing........................................................................................................................................................4 1.3. Fashion as Imperative: Manipulating the Body .......................................................................................7 1.4. Cultural and Social Values: Manipulating the Female Form .......................................11 1.5. Pedagogy and Visualization....................................................................................................................................................13 1.6. Rationale for and Aims of the Research..............................................................................................................15 1.7. Organization of the Thesis ..........................................................................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 2 THE CHANGING SILHOUETTE.......................................................................................................................18 2.1. Tracing the Fashion Silhouette ............................................................................................................................................18 2.2. History and Fashion of the Body.....................................................................................................................................28 2.3. Historical Origin of Fashion Underpinnings.............................................................................................31 2.4. Identification of Pivotal Fashion Eras.....................................................................................................................37 2.5. Focal Points of the Female Body.......................................................................................................................................38 2.6. Pivotal Fashion Eras vis à vis Female Body Shape............................................................................49 CHAPTER 3 THE BODY: SHAPE AND IMAGE ................................................................................................................52 3.1. Contemporary Body Image: The Ideal Shape ..........................................................................................52 3.2. Contemporary Body Image: Why the Current Shape? ...........................................................55