The history of the 'ideal' woman and where that has left us

Hidden in the halls of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York are historic textiles and glamorous garments, many of which hold secrets from years past.
Yet no matter how aesthetically unique or historically significant a particular piece of fashion may be, most visitors to the museum typically ask one question, said Emma McClendon, the museum's associate curator of costume.
"People come and always want to know what size something is," said McClendon, who organized the exhibition "The Body: Fashion and Physique," about the history of the idealized body type in fashion, which is on display until May.
"Whether it's contemporary or 19th century, they want to know what size it is or what size it would correlate to, or what measurement it is," she said. "We as a culture, as a society, are obsessed with size. It's become connected to our identity as people."

Source: Edition.Cnn