The Spinal Analysis: Fashionable Postures From the 1900s S Curve to Today’s Tech Necks Inline
Photos: Monica Feudi / Indigital.tv; Irving Penn, Vogue, September, 19521/13From left: Balenciaga, Fall 2016; Sunny Harnett, 1952
Photo: Camille Clifford: Bettmann / Getty Images2/131900s
Posture: The S-Curve, or Pouter Pigeon
Attainable only with a corset, this posture was characterized by a protruding, rounded bosom and derriere. In 1901, the Los Angeles Herald linked proper carriage to “Delsarte principles [a method of acting/movement]—head well up, chest out, abdomen held well back, back quite deeply indented.” It was threatened by the so-called kangaroo walk adopted by more liberated women who favored the man-tailored blouses and stricter skirts of the Gibson Girl.
Photo: Eve Lavalliere: Apic / Getty Images3/131910s
Posture: Exclamation Point
The raised waistline of the columnar Directoire line demanded “high chests, broad shoulders, and flat stomachs.” This uncorseted look was often achieved with the help of stays that contained rather than trained the waist. Political events contributed to women’s new stance in this era. “Military Figure Is Here; Avaunt, Slouch!” was the headline of a 1915 article, which explained that “the call to arms electrified women as well as men. Presto! Fashions must have more dash, vim, and vigor—and the result is straight lines and an erect vibrant figure.”
Photo: Eve Lavalliere: Apic / Getty Images4/131920s
Posture: Debutante Slouch
The C-shaped slouch was taken up with enthusiasm by the unfettered, dance-mad, Jazz Age flapper who slunk around with “shoulders hunched, her chest caved in, and her spine bent over in a curve.” “Corset buyers and fitters still remember, with a feeling somewhat akin to horror,” reported a contemporary industry paper, “the vogue of the ‘debutante slouch’ and the ‘panther glide,’ which came into fashion along with the tango and maxixe.”
Photo: Jean Harlow: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images5/131930s
Posture: Backwards Slash
“Smart Women Have Discarded the Debutante Slouch” declared one 1933 headline, a fact corroborated by another contemporary report that stated that “women no longer stand with hips out and stomach in. They stand poised and straight, and wearing the new hats, they perch their heads coyly.” The icon of the age was the poised Hollywood star dressed in long, slim dresses, many with low backs or dramatic sleeves, and who often stood with a slight backward lean, or added drama to their stance by placing their hands on their slim hips.
Photo: Rita Hayworth and Marlene Dietrich: Bettmann / Getty Images6/131940s
Posture: Proudly Military
A proud, straight bearing wasn’t adopted only by women who became WACS, WAVES, or the like, it was also required of fashionable women wearing the broad-shouldered, tailored suits of the time.
Sunny Harnett: Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, September, 19527/131950s
Posture: Couture Bend
Former Met curator Harold Koda describes the “New Look posture” as “slightly hunched, with the back curved, the buttocks tucked under, and the pelvis pushed forward.” And waistlines, at least depicted in fashion photographs, were trained to Scarlett O’Hara proportions. Mere mortals might have more reasonable measurements, but they too relied on shaping garments to achieve the hourglass silhouette of the era.
Photo: Twiggy: Popperfoto / Getty Images8/131960s
Posture: Coltish
The 1960s street-focused youthquake was a rebellion against convention and haute posturing. The “art and artifice of ladies was replaced by the gamine,” photographer David Bailey once said. The most celebrated of the lot was the wide-eyed, knock-kneed model Twiggy, whose much-copied stance has been described as that of a “coltish adolescent.”
Photo: Naomi Sims: Anthony Barboza / Getty Images9/131970s
Posture: Flexible
The maxi skirt might have emerged during this decade, but there were few other fashion refuges. In place of body-skimming A-lines, the popularity of formfitting knits (often worn commando-style) demanded a slender, flexible physique.
Azzedine Alaïa with Frederique van der Wal: Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, February 198610/131980s
Posture: Powerful
The body consciousness of the ’70s was beefed up in the 1980s when the ideal was “muscular and lean.” (Cue Cindy Crawford.) The sartorial complement to physical strength was the power look, created with volume and extravagance.
Photo: Kate Moss: Rose Hartman / WireImage11/131990s
Posture: Waifish
The 1990s waif was a creature with a “straight line between the shoulders and the hips,” as one model agent put it in Vogue. Is it any wonder she tended to wilt? Her crumpled, don’t-care grunge stance was one expression of her unconventional beauty—and a rebellious one at that. “Good posture, i.e., a straight back,” explains scholar Marie Riegels Melchior, has traditionally been seen “as an expression of moral justice and inner strength among the bourgeoisie.”
Gisele Bündchen: Photographed by Mario Testino, Vogue, May 200712/132000s
Posture: Athletic
“The bodacious body is back,” wrote Philip Weiss in Vogue as Y2K approached. If the curves were in the right places, that is. The ideal was athletically fit and feminine, and the attitude was comfortable in one’s own skin, a fact reflected in a relaxed stance.
Vanessa Axente and Yumi Lambert: Photographed by Mario Testino, Vogue, July 201513/132010s
Posture: Gargoyle Bend
Bending over your favorite devices can cause all manner of physical symptoms, like slouch pouch, tech neck, and slack back. The swagger and stance of Balenciaga’s ’50s couture–inspired suits had the fashion pack standing at attention. It remains to be seen who has the backbone to wear them.
