Fashion from the Past: Iconic corsets, celebs, and perfume

During the post war era, it was common for Hollywood stars to be style icons, inspiring women across the globe, as well as fashion houses and designers.

One such actress was Mae West, who was known for wearing corsets under dresses throughout her film career, including the 1933 drama comedy “She done him wrong”.

In the 1930s, fashion designer Schiaparelli created a perfume bottle based on the the famous Hollywood star’s body. Over the decades, the Schiaparelli brand had become known for their surrealistic and eccentric aesthetic, as well as, a use of human anatomy depictions.

In April 1990, Madonna performed her first show for her Blonde Ambition World Tour in Japan. During her song “Express Yourself”, she ripped off a modest black pinstripe suit to reveal a pink conical bra corset bodysuit that would soon be deemed as one of the most iconic outfits of the 1990s. The corset was custom designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and aimed to create further shock and female empowerment with its sexual silhouette after the “Like a Prayer” music video controversy.

In 1993, the JPGaultier Eau de Parfum was created by Jacques Cavallier for the brand.  The bottle shape was a female torso wearing a pink corset, allegedly inspired by Madonna’s previous tour outfit. The perfume’s name would later be changed to “Classique”. It is believed that Cavallier was inspired by Schiaparelli’s 1930s bottle and they used the similarities between Mae West’s and Madonna’s statuses as blonde pop icons and sex symbols to reinterpret the concept for a modern audience.

In 2018, Kim Kardashian released a body fragrance collection for her brand KKW in which the bottle resembled a women’s torso that was based off her own body. The shape of the fragrance bottle received criticism for copying the Jean Paul Gaultier perfume. However, Kim responded by saying “[Classique is] iconic and celebrates the women’s body, but [that her] inspiration was a statue [and] wanted [hers] to be really personal with [her] exact mold”.

This demonstrates the cyclical nature of the fashion and beauty industry, in which designers are constantly taking inspiration from the past.

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