Seductively Rounded and Padded to Perfection: Re-Evaluating ‘Victorian’ Beauty Ideals

An article commissioned by the online platform Foundations Revealed.

This article uses music hall performer Kitty Lord (1883-1972) and her padded ‘symmetricals’ as a vehicle through which to explore and challenge popular conceptions of beauty ideals in Victorian Britain - particularly the misconception that anyone identifying as female had to strive for a slender and delicate figure, with a painfully narrow waist. As it will discuss, the preference for a more voluptuous silhouette (at least within the world of popular performance) has been obscured by a recurring focus on myths surrounding the oppressive nature of corsets and the obsession with tight-lacing. Through the analysis of specific examples from amongst the wide range of bodies appearing on the nineteenth century stage and – as importantly – of the costumes which shaped them, it argues for a more nuanced understanding of attitudes towards race, class, gender and beauty during this period.

Whilst this article focuses on the ways in which performers assigned female at birth shaped their bodies to appeal to popular taste, it will also touch on the experience of those who adopted - temporarily or otherwise – a female identity on the stage and highlight the significant scope – and need – that exists to expand the discussion further.

• https://foundationsrevealed.com/