The history of ideal breast size is filled with turns and curves, so to speak. While the ideal has always varied from culture to culture, certain trends have developed over time that can you leave you scratching your head when you try to consider how we got from there to where we are today.
Breast Size History – It’s a Mystery
What is considered “ideal” by today’s standards is markedly different than what you’d have found several thousand years ago. Through the years, the standards for what was thought of as the perfect female specimen would slingshot back and forth.
Women with slim waists and large eyes were carved into ancient pottery, but fast-forward a little and there are fresco paintings of much curvier women with larger breasts adorned across cathedral ceilings. Skip ahead to today’s representations, and you’re bombarded by tall, wispy supermodels on the covers of magazines.
Clearly, society doesn’t know what it wants, evidenced even further by the fact that we’re still riding that yo-yo today. After the popularity of the waifish models of the mid-20th century began to fade, we have slowly begun to revert towards the ideal of curvier women again. This is even truer when you consider the meteoric rise of one of our cultures biggest cosmetic surgery procedures: breast implants!
The Breast Implant Boom
Women of today have more options when trying to keep up with societies’ ever-changing beauty standards. It’s no coincidence that breast implant technology only really began to take off in the late 60s, as the thin, willowy look that defined that decade was slowly edging out of vogue and women wanted more options.
These days, the curvier look is back in, right alongside the appeal of breast augmentation surgery for a beautifully proportionate look in line with today’s beauty standards.
Dr. Ditesheim is a plastic surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina who is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the only board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. To become board certified, a physician must complete a minimum of 5 years of surgical residency training, including at least 2 years of training specifically in plastic surgery, as well as pass rigorous written and oral examinations.
In addition, Dr. Ditesheim is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, an honor reserved for surgeons who have demonstrated highest professional standards for competency, ethical conduct, and training.
