Eighties' beauty ideals They were tall, slender, and strong. A more muscular look for women was continuing to emerge due to advances in fitness and, in part, the feminist spirit. Muscle tone signified strength, capability, and independence.
Beauty consisted around the fitness and nutrition craze in the 80s, encouraging athletically toned bodies, bodysuits, and tracksuit bottoms. Supermodel and bodybuilding became a sensation, along with leg warmers and big hair.
The 1980s saw supermodels and fitness fanatics take over, with the ideal body type regarded as tall and slim with an athletic figure.
Alongside the idealisation of the waif body type in the 90s, this resulted in an unhealthy and unattainable beauty standard for women and young girls.
In the 1970s, the thin-framed, long-legged look was still idolized. In this decade, we began to see an increase in eating disorders, and as a society, we gained more knowledge about them. In the 1980s, with the popularity of the Jane Fonda at-home workout videos, the athletic supermodel look became the goal.
From 1959 to 1978 there was a remarkable shift towards a thinner ideal in the fashion industry: models represented in big magazines as Vogue, Ladies Home Journal and Woman's Day decreased significantly in weight.
Despite this, there are many different body shapes, with an hourglass shape being one of the least common, but the most desired.
"The ultimate early-2000s female body was all about appearing long and lean. Body conditioning workouts grew in popularity as they promised to 'lengthen' muscles without weight training. There was a lot of attention on flat, hard stomachs, and the elusive 'thigh gap' became idolised.
For about 400 years, roughly between 1500 and 1900, bodily weight and volume, for both men and women, had a strong visual appeal. There were variations according to country and century in this standard of good looks, but in general it was considered not only beautiful but natural to look physically substantial.
In the 2010s, a new fitness craze spread with the assistance of widespread accessible social media, which resulted in the hourglass body type coming to the forefront. While skinniness remained, an interest in working out blossomed, serving as a healthy alternative to drugs and eating disorders.
Kelly Brook was identified as having a scientifically "perfect" body according to studies from the University of Texas. Her body measurements closely match what researchers considered ideal: a BMI of 18.5, with measurements of 93-61-87 cm (bust-waist-hips)
Hourglass body shape
This typically “perfect body shape” (do not listen to these stereotypes though, every body shape is perfect) is characterized by balanced proportions with the bust and hips nearly equal in size and a significantly narrower waist.
Minnoch usually weighed 800–900 lb (363–408 kilograms; 57–64 stone) and stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) in height. He had a body fat percentage of about 80%.
The eighties was the decade of MORE: Big hair, loud fashion, neon color, fast cars, mega-hold hair gel, and acid-washed jeans, the more rips, the better.
80's Exercise Revolution: New Fitness Forms
The 80s gym classes and 80s yoga were as much about community and socialising as they were about exercising. The appeal of a fun group workout was massive. This is where the 80s workout meets its modern-era remix.
Skin-tight acid-washed jeans were also popular in the 1980s with most heavy metal bands, and in particular those in the thrash metal scene, such as Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer. This was the trend for those who did not wear spandex, which was popular with the dominant heavy metal scene at the time.
At least as far as America is concerned, Johnson pointed out that the current preference for slender physiques traces back to the 19th century, when magazines and other disseminators of popular opinions started popularizing muscular men and slender women to the public.
Research shows that a waist–hip ratio (WHR) for a female very strongly correlates to the perception of attractiveness. Women with a 0.7 WHR (waist circumference that is 70% of the hip circumference) are rated more attractive by men in various cultures.
In 1898 the newspaper reported that the average weight of a man was 140 pounds and a woman 123 pounds, with the average male height at about 5 feet 6. Only one out of 208 men exceeded 6 feet tall.
Hourglass is the rarest body type, with only estimated 8% of women having this figure. Here's the thing: hourglass bodies are versatile. The stereotypical hourglass is too narrow of a depiction that often fails to capture the true beauty and diversity of this shape.
Mesomorphs build muscles easier than other body types. Bodybuilding comes naturally, and with the right fitness regimen a mesomorph can develop an impressive physique. Easier to lose weight. Mesomorphs may be prone to weight gain, but they also tend to lose weight easier than people with other body types.
Apple shape
People with a so-called “apple” body shape carry more weight around their midsections. Having a full waistline, or “abdominal obesity,” can be a red flag that you may be at risk for conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
For both groups of males in this study, their ideal and body shape preference for females was figures with larger hips and buttocks, more similar to the Hourglass and Pear shapes. It was concluded that both ethnic groups of males prefer and idealize slightly larger body shapes than the women in the study did.
The rectangular body shape is characterized by a straight silhouette with not many curves, shoulders and hips of similar width, little to no waist definition and very long legs. The shoulders, chest and hip are fairly uniform.