Nearly every woman envies them, and nearly every guy wants to be with them. They have gorgeous hair, gorgeous bodies, gorgeous everything! Supermodels can be found on the covers of magazines, in commercials and on billboards. However, they were not always the image we see today.
Supermodels from the 1920s through the 1950s were full-figured and the epitome of Hollywood glamour. Viola Dana is known for her gorgeous eyes and became one of the first makeup models for Maybelline. The first blonde bombshell was Jean Harlow. She was also known for her great personality, which is something you don’t usually hear about today’s models. Betty Brosmer had a nearly perfect hourglass figure. Her measurements were believed to be 38-18-36 and she stood 5 and a half feet tall. Most fashion models today are desirably 34-24-34 and around 5 feet 8 inches tall.
These changes started around the 1960s and 1970s when models like Twiggy became popular. Thinner body styles became the norm for high-end fashion. In these decades, models became more recognizable to the public. Glamour magazine is reportedly the first magazine to refer to these types of models as “supermodels.” Naomi Sims is sometimes referred to as the first black supermodel. She was the first African American to be featured on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal in 1968. In 1974, Beverly Johnson was the first African American on the cover of American Vogue. Cheryl Tiegs and Verushka were two other popular models of this time.
In the 1980s supermodels began associating their names and images with certain brands. With fashion designers now using billboards and television for advertising, it helped to have that recognition. Models started getting exclusive contracts with designers. Brooke Shields and Christie Brinkley were both popular models at this time.
By the 1990s supermodels were celebrities that the populace either loved or loved to hate. They were popular and trendy in their own right, and they partied at local hot spots. They even started doing talk show interviews and appeared in gossip columns. Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford are still regular targets of controversy in the modeling world. Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, and Tatian Patitz were other popular models during this decade.
Today, supermodels are regularly seen on television, in magazines, and on billboards. However, now they have their own brands and own names to represent, not just the work of someone else. Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks both have reality television shows, Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model, where models compete for contracts with popular magazines and brands.
While the styles may have changed, our obsession with their beauty has not. Supermodels continue to grab our attention with their ever evolving role in society.
