Nowadays, some models look (or want and aim to look) like this. You might think it's beautiful, but seeing a skeleton with skin (and those enormous-looking hands) scares the crap out of some people - including me. Thankfully, the fashion industry is slowly changing and most big designers have stopped working with way too skinny models. But back in the late 50's, early 60's, being skinny was considered a sin!
This ad for an "amazing new scientific discovery [that] helps fill out skinny figures without pads, exercise or overeating" proves how society thought about beauty back in the day. Spokesperson for Wate-On (weight-on, get it?) was actress Eva Six, born in Hungary and a child star over there. She moved to Hollywood in 1956, has appeared in three movies in 1963 and then kind of vanished into thin air. In her short-spanned career, the Hungarian-born was known for looking similar to Marilyn Monroe (who had just died in August 1962) and sounding similar to Zsa Zsa Gabor (sharing a Hungarian heritage).
With all the fuss about being skinny and looking like a skeleton, some people seem to forget that curves are perfectly normal. With a curvy beauty ideal in the sixties and a skinny ideal right now, one day curvy might make a comeback as beauty ideal. Me and my slighty-bigger-than-average butt are certainly looking forward to that day! ;-)
See more vintage anti-skinny ads after the jump!
xo, Jelle.
