The “Use of Lines in Your Clothing Will Work Magic”: Advice to Women From 1914 to 1961 on Using Line to Design an Ideal Body Type

Abstract

Women have sought and received advice on how to dress for as long as they have been putting clothing on their bodies. One area in which women have received advice on dressing for their body type is the use of line in dress as an illusion to change the way body shape and size is perceived. This study was undertaken to gain a better historical understanding of advice on dressing for different body types between 1914 and 1961. Advice books and textbooks written for women from 1914 to 1961 that included prescriptive information on how to dress for various body types were explored. This time period was selected as it coincides with critical years in the growth and maturity of the home economic movement in the United States. A content analysis of 15 historical texts revealed trends found within the themes of body ideal, line as illusion, and figure types.