The Gibson Girl. The idealized Edwardian pin up illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson cemented the Edwardian style myth of nipped waists American women, including working class.
The Gibson Girl Look – Edwardian Style
Gibson Girls became the first 20th century standard of female beauty and style. Named after Charles Dana Gibson, a Life Magazine illustrator. His fanciful illustrations inadvertently created a new idealized style of Edwardian Fashion. American women emulated this look through the early Edwardian era up to the beginning of the First World War.
Gibson Girls Clock Out of Work in 1904
The Gibson Girl was defined as an emancipated post Victorian era woman. She wore daringly tight corsets to create an hourglass figure. She wore her hair long, and pulled it back into an updo bouffant or pompadour style. Read about the Real Gibson Girls – the amazing women who served as muses to Charles Gibson for his sketches.Edwardian Fashion – The Gibson Girl
Edwardian Corsets
Corset Evolution
The wished for waist size was about 18 inches, attained by the corset and much pain. This cut up to 6 inches off the natural waist size – not to mention blood supply !
Corsets were typical of the period and women wore them daily. Gradually tightening the waist cords over a period of time until she achieved her desired waist size.Camille Clifford, an actress was famous for her waist size, which closely resembled Gibson’s illustrations. But it was Gibson’s wife, Irene Langhorne, who was the original Gibson Girl.
To learn everything you need to know about Edwardian figure, we defer to the excellent Fashion Era.
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| Irene Langhorne – The First Gibson Girl ? |
Gallery of Gibson Girl sketches
The Gibson Girl Silhouette
Gone were the bustles on the arms, Edwardian dresses were now cut to slenderize the silhouette, thin sleeves,large hips, large bust separated by an impossibly thin waist. The new straight front corsets created what was termed the S-bend, which pushed the bum back and the bosom forward.Add to that mix, the latest fashionable parasol and you were ready for the public!
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| Edwardian Dress – 1902 |
The Gibson girl, was essentially an american icon, and was applied to young women generally. She was known as ‘ the new woman’ – she worked independently from men, and was usually politically active, seeking the women’s vote.
In the 1948 Vogue Magazine published an interesting retrospective on Charles Dana Gibson with a recreation of his illustration from The Weaker Sex. as photographed by Horst
That’s all !
© Glamourdaze
This will be the style of my wedding next year, cant wait to look for my dress now that I’ve seen your info!
An excellent piece of research. I paint Edwardian type ladies and will place a link to this post on my blog. Regards, Marie Theron.
Your post is really awesome! I really like it. I like vintage fashion. Thanks for the inspiration. Glad I found your site.
I love this post, it's particularly great to see that video of the gibson girls' hairstyles and hats! Thank you. :)
Great overview; thanks. The illustration of the evolution of corsets is scary. It does remind me not to be depressed when vintage clothes don't fit my waist – at least I can breathe properly!