BODY OF EVIDENCE

Britney Spears

BEAUTY SHIFTS

Before Shania Twain exposed her bare midriff to millions of music-video watchers in 1995—while coquettishly posing the question “Whose bed have your boots been under?”—her fore-sisters understood the importance of that swell between waist and hip. It seems that while roundness for women has been historically revered, a trim waist also dominates erotic imagery, and fashion does its part to accentuate what’s on our minds. Fashion doesn’t dictate erotica all by itself, though. Here, a look at How shapes have shifted over FLARE’s 30 years.

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Jane Fonda		Mariah Carey
		Photo, George Pimentel

1982: Jane Fonda launches her workout video.

1984: Thanks in part to Linda Hamilton in The Terminator, the emphasis falls on having great arms.

1988: Kate Moss, 14, is discovered at JFK airport.

1989: Pamela Anderson appears on her first Playboy cover.

1990: Supermodels reach their peak, making healthy curves the desired attribute.

1992: Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” celebrates the female backside.

1997: Ally McBeal’s skinny minis cause a stir.

1999: Britney Spears releases the video for her hit song “…Baby One More Time,” starring her exposed midriff.

2002: Plus-size model Mia Tyler appears on FLARE’s August cover.

2005: Hilary Swank wears a backless Guy Laroche dress to the Oscars to show off her Million Dollar Baby–trained body.

2006: Micro-miniskirt-wearer Mariah Carey’s long legs are reportedly insured for a whopping $1 billion after the diva agrees to be the spokesperson for Gillette’s Celebrity Legs of a Goddess campaign.

“Body of Evidence” has been edited for FLARE.com; the complete story appears in the April 2009 issue of FLARE.

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