'Perfect toned arms' Kate turned
We’ve long admired her super shiny hair, sparkling smile, and elegant figure. But a recent look in a summer frock selection proves that the Duchess of Cambridge has another beauty mission up her sleeve.
For the Duchess also boasts something special that millions of women have longed for since Michelle Obama stepped over the threshold of the White House: perfectly toned arms.
Wearing Emilia Wickstead’s white sleeveless dress to polo last week, her toned triceps and biceps earned as much admiration as the £1,350 ($2,372.30AUD) gown.
While the forearm muscles developed over the years were preserved by female athletes, looking too ‘masculine’ to guys like you and me, now elegantly sculpted upper arms are a discreet sign of youthfulness, confidence, and feminine power — which might draw an envious sigh from a woman watching as the perfect blowdry.
And unlike some other physical traits passed down to the genetic lottery, sharpened arms are aspirational, speaking of investing time and money in serious practice.
While the Duchess’ sleeveless style looks fresh and modern, she’s actually living up to a respectable tradition.
Because like many aspects of a woman’s appearance, our arm size is subject to a complex social evolution that has made it increase and decrease over the centuries.
In the classical world, a toned female body was associated with intelligence and competence—sculpted Spartan girls were seen as the erotic pin-ups of the era.
Trained in athletics and javelin throwing alongside their brothers, Spartan women proudly exercised in public wearing the most skimpy tunics.
The commentators were moved and appalled by what they saw as a show of shameless disrespect.
But in stark contrast to other Greek city-states, Spartan women were taught to read and express themselves, which in addition to fitness was seen as making them better mothers to super fighters.
Admittedly, the female arm then disappeared over the next few hundred years. No woman with any pretensions of honor would dream of showing her arms in public until the introduction of the classically modeled ‘Empire’ style gown in the late 18th century.
Even so, the simplest sign of muscle is a no-no.
Physical strength is associated with manual labor, and is therefore of low status.
In his book Curvology: The Origins And Power Of Female Body Shape, David Bainbridge, of Cambridge University, argues that in contrast to full breasts and hips, which signify that women have the fat reserves necessary for fertility, there is little biological advantage to being strong. arms, as traditionally men do the heavy lifting.
They are therefore considered irrelevant from an evolutionary point of view, meaning they do not fit into a set of female characteristics that are conventionally considered sexually attractive.
Indeed, for the Victorian woman the ideal sleeve was slender and ‘boneless’, suggesting the owner never had to pick up anything heavier than pearl button-down gloves.
A more curvaceous body favored by Edwardians is achieved by inserting padding into the sleeves to give the impression of fuller arms, all the better for managing delicate wrists and hands.
But with the gradual advancement of feminism, toned arms are starting to make a comeback. After World War I, which saw women enter the workplace in unprecedented numbers and reach the voices, fashion swung toward a more androgynous, naked ‘flapper’ look.
Golf and tennis are now promoted as healthy sports for women, and with the French Riviera becoming the vacation spot of choice for both the beautiful and the rich, women’s arms emerge from bathrobes bubbling in the sun.
World War II brought another brief change in the way society judged women’s physical strength, with the war effort in the homeland dependent on women’s ability to do manual labor.
The iconic figure of Rosie the Riveter, with her arms rolled up around her impressive forearm, promises the world ‘We Can Do It!’ That is a strong message.
But once the war was won, women were pushed back home and into more ‘feminine’ fashion, as embodied by the demure corset of Dior’s iconic ‘New Look’, launched in 1947.
With the passage of time, pin-ups like Marilyn Monroe had slender arms, but they were barely toned by contemporary standards, while Brigitte Bardot’s bouffant was more impressive than her biceps.
In Jackie O we see a more modern looking silhouette, with defined shoulders and collarbones, but like Farrah Fawcett, the emphasis is on flexibility rather than strength.
So it wasn’t until the 1980s, when Jane Fonda famously felt the burn, that triceps started to become a ‘thing’. When tank top-clad Linda Hamilton showed off her impressive deltoid sculptures in 1991’s Terminator 2, it still felt almost revolutionary.
Despite a further two decades of fitness videos, sportswear commercials, and a gradual rejection of size 0 models, it was probably not until Michelle Obama posed in a sleeveless gown for her official photo as First Lady in 2009 that sleekly sculpted sleeves became mainstream. desired. Since then we have seen very toned upper arms in women like Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Queen Letizia of Spain and Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot.
That said, it takes a lot of work to achieve the look. As women age, the skin on the upper arms naturally loosens and softens, causing the dreaded ‘bingo wings’.
Mrs Obama has revealed her training regime includes jumping, boxing and weight training, while the Duchess of Cambridge is known to be proficient in tennis, hockey and skiing.
Realistically, though, most women don’t have the time to develop a celebrity-level shoulder definition.
At 47, I’m not a big fan of my own upper arms, which tend to be thinner than the Spartans, but I’m a staunch follower of the streaming workout site Ballet Beautiful.
Pro ballerina Mary Helen Bowers has a series of short ‘Swan Arms’ programs that require no equipment and really make a difference to the upper arm muscles, so it’s worth a try if you’re planning to go sleeveless this summer.
However, if the evolution of women’s arms shows us anything, upper arms of any size can be seen as stylish and sexy.
So, if you don’t have bulging biceps yet, don’t panic; the slightly padded upper arm was good enough for Marilyn.
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