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Showing posts from March, 2014

Did You Know? The Shape of African Women May have Inspired 19th Century European Fashion

Originally published on 25 March 2014. Several years ago in the late 1990s, I was flipping through a British fashion magazine which was discussing the science behind the well sculptured dresses; bustles from the Victorian era (1800s) which enhanced women's features especially the bust and the buttocks area. Back then I could not help but observe the striking similarities between the dresses and the physical features of African women; recall that back in the day, the globally 'accepted' feminine shape was that of the waif, glamorised by the fashion industry.