The Ever-changing Aesthetic of Aesthetic Appeal
What once was Hot, now is Not
Beauty is a beast of the most uncatchable nature. What is hot today, is in the 50% off bin tomorrow. Everyone knows this to be true, but why?
Why would something as black and white as ideals of beauty change?
First off, does beauty change? The answer is a resounding YES, and not in as trivial a sense as “orange is the new pink” or anything that mundane. Beauty has been completely reversed since the 16th century. Back then the ideal beauty would adhere to a more rotund figure (think complete career reversal for Kirstie Alley). For proof one needs only to look at the art of the time, which was largely (horrible pun intended) dominated by an Italian painter named Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli. Perhaps the best example of which is The Birth of Venus, depicting Venus (the goddess of sexuality and love) as a plumply proportionate person. Hard for our gym obsessed culture to imagine, but a beer belly was considered more fashionable than a prada bag.
For a modern day example of change in the ideals of beauty, we look to the most personal of fashion statements the Tattoo. In the late 90’s muscle bound men caught “barb wire” fever (oh and Playmate Pamela Anderson, great movie.) Perhaps a more recent example is the “tramp stamp”, a term referring to the popular placement of a tatoo just above a women’s hindside. Both of these once sought after tatoos are being removed in just as big a rush as they appeared.
But the question still stands, why the polar change? I suggest that beauty has a direct correlation to humanity and our generational struggles. In the 16th century alittle more shake to your milkshake was an indication of wealth and health, conveying the fact that you had the means by which to overindulge. Today, the exact opposite is an indication of wealth and health.
Throughout history the most constant ideal of beauty can best be summed up in this memorable quote “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, especially when the discerning eye of personal beauty is your own.
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