Objective: The print media's depiction of the ideal of feminine beauty as presented to American women was examined for the years 1959-1999.
Method: Trends were investigated through an analysis of cover models appearing on the four most popular American fashion magazines.
Results: Body size for fashion models decreased significantly during the 1980s and 1990s. There was also a dramatic increase in the frequency with which the media depicted the entire bodies of the models from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Discussion: Both the increasingly thin images and the striking increase in full-body portrayals suggest an increase in the value placed by American society on a thin ideal for women, a change that is concurrent with the increase in disturbed eating patterns among American women.