BODY OF EVIDENCE
How shapes have shifted over FLARE's 30 years
Liza Finlay March 4, 2009
How shapes have shifted over FLARE's 30 years
By Liza Finlay
BEAUTY SHIFTS
Before Shania Twain exposed her bare midriff to millions of music-video watchers in 1995—while coquettishly posing the question "Whose bed have your boots been under?"—her fore-sisters understood the importance of that swell between waist and hip. It seems that while roundness for women has been historically revered, a trim waist also dominates erotic imagery, and fashion does its part to accentuate what's on our minds. Fashion doesn't dictate erotica all by itself, though. Here, a look at How shapes have shifted over FLARE's 30 years.
Photo, George Pimentel
1982: Jane Fonda launches her workout video.
1984: Thanks in part to Linda Hamilton in The Terminator, the emphasis falls on having great arms.
1988: Kate Moss, 14, is discovered at JFK airport.
1989: Pamela Anderson appears on her first Playboy cover.
1990: Supermodels reach their peak, making healthy curves the desired attribute.
1992: Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" celebrates the female backside.
1997: Ally McBeal's skinny minis cause a stir.
1999: Britney Spears releases the video for her hit song "…Baby One More Time," starring her exposed midriff.
2002: Plus-size model Mia Tyler appears on FLARE's August cover.
2005: Hilary Swank wears a backless Guy Laroche dress to the Oscars to show off her Million Dollar Baby–trained body.
2006: Micro-miniskirt-wearer Mariah Carey's long legs are reportedly insured for a whopping $1 billion after the diva agrees to be the spokesperson for Gillette's Celebrity Legs of a Goddess campaign.
"Body of Evidence" has been edited for FLARE.com; the complete story appears in the April 2009 issue of FLARE.