From the 1990s to 2018, beauty “standards” have changed drastically. By comparing two Vogue magazine covers from 1992 and 2018 one can get a better idea of the changes throughout the years. The April 1992 Vogue issue is titled 100th Anniversary Special edited by Anna Wintour; photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, November 1999. The May 2018 Vogue issue was also edited by Edward Enninful; photographed by Craig McDean. Taking a close look at both Vogue magazine covers will give a better understanding on the beauty standards from 1990s to 2018.
The 1992 April magazine cover displays ten beautiful, tall, slender super models with voluminous hairstyles ranging from curls to pin straight hairstyles inspired from the mid-1980s to early 90s. Their hair colors of sandy blondes to deep browns. Beauty standards at this time was big on teased hair and glowing tan skin. Their makeup style involved a smokey eye with lip liner to draw attention to their big smiles and smily eyes.The models are all dressed in the same fit. White button down dress shirts tied to the waist unbuttoned mid way down with sleeves three fifths rolled up. Paired with long straight white denim jeans, barefoot. White is not just any color; it represents purity and renewal. Due to the magazine company reaching it’s 100th anniversary, it advocates as a milestone for the magazine cover. Noticing the position of each model on the issue, strutted sexual poses were done. Focusing on the skin being shown from bellies to v-neck button down white dress shirts. During this time period, women were portrayed more on the sexual side. In addition, beauty standards shifted towards being really skinny for the runways, which caused most models to practice bulimia. Bulimia is the act of eating a large amount of food and then try to get rid of the calories. It is often done by regurgitating or abusing laxatives. This lead to Anorexia nervosa, which is an eating disorder that causes people to become obsessed about what they eat and how much they weigh. Bulimia and Anorexia was a really big thing among models during that time to fit in with “beauty standards” at that time. Besides that, dark skin women weren’t seen as “beautiful” and were looked down upon. Where their bouncy curls were straightened to look “prettier” during this time. During the early 90s there was a change occurring for women with a darker complexion.
Moving to the 2018 May cover, there are nine beautiful women, of all different body types; pear, hourglass, apple, etc. Each of the individual models have their own unique hairstyles and different textures, from straight, curls to waves, not in any specific order. Beauty standards in 2018 revolves around the all “natural” look. Which involves minimal makeup with an all natural finish, as seen in the magazine cover below. Their postures portray confidence with attitude, showing how confidence is key. The lovely women in the magazine cover below are posing in different poses from strutting and relaxing. Skin is not show much in the magazine cover, but in the 2018 cover, they don’t have to show skin to show off their feminine curves or their body in general. As for their skin tones, each model has a different complexion, ranging from pale to deep skin tones. Women are seen beautiful regardless of their skin tone. Each of the models in the cover have a strong presence towards the camera. They aren’t just smiling and looking pretty, the models are gazing at the camera giving off a wave of confidence. These models weren’t all just one ethnicity, they have a variety of ethnicities. Just by looking at the cover we can see have there are different women with different hair textures, different hair colors, and different skin tones. Besides Caucasians and African Americans, asian women are being shown more in this cover, it is not just the minorities. Asian women are starting to hit the fashion industry during this time which meant that there is diversity. Since there are not many asians in this 2018, this could mean the rise of the asian community hitting “beauty standards”. Not only are the models all unique, they are all wearing different warm and cool tone colors including clothes. Diversity is shown in the 2018 era of beauty. Self love and appreciating your own body is advocated in the beauty community. In the runways there are different body types and a range of different women regardless of where they come from. The definition of beauty is no longer restricted to just one type of women wether it’s body shape, ethnicity, or weight.
Both covers show different types of women over the past few years. The evolution and change, in weight and style. In the older Vogue issue, notice the thin models, where in the 2018 version there is more of a range of women, from thin, medium, to bigger women (not in a specific order). The newest volume of the Vogue magazine shows more diversity in women. Each of the models have their own unique signature look, where the girls in the 1992 issue have similar hair styles, similar outfits, and similar sizes. Looking closer into the 2018 issue, notice the Asian model. During 1990s there were little to no Asian women in the fashion industry. In the 1992 cover, there were no Asian models at all. The only diversity that they had was one African American female. Over the past few years there was a growth in African Americans getting into the modeling industry, as seen in the 2018 issue. The 1992 issue has the beautiful dark skinned women with straight hair. Natural curls of a dark skinned women wasn’t considered beautiful during this time period, comparing it to the 2018 cover, every women has more of a “natural” texture kind of hair. Although the two covers had their differences, they also had their similarities. They both have their range of diverse women. Even though the May issue has more diverse women, it doesn’t mean that the April of 1992 doesn’t. The 100th anniversary special cover was the start of a new beginning for beauty standards. In the early 1990s, African Americans were’t the ideal “beauty.” During this time being either a light skinned person or tan was the ideal beauty standard. Until 1992, when Tyra Banks made her first appearance in a Cover-Girl magazine. Which was the start of African American women hitting modeling careers. Another similarity is their theme, in both images they have a color scheme. The 1992 issue has a color theme of white where the color scheme of the May 2018 issue has a fall color scheme which has warm and cool tone colors. Both of the covers have many similarities, in which it tells a story on the growth of beauty throughout the years. How beauty standards have grown, in 1992 there was one ideal type of beauty, but in the 2018 issue, there is an open mind towards beauty. Growth and change has always been there for beauty standards.
Women are portrayed differently in both Vogue covers. The models in the 1992 issue show a more friendly approach, whereas the 2018 cover shows more attitude, with their confident gaze. Both issues have different facial expressions that could be interoperated in different ways. Both have a clean set of color schemes and wardrobe styles. There has been an uprise for beauty standards in the past decades no longer limited. Where there in no absolute beauty standard since beauty is who you are and how you are the way you are. There is a story behind each cover shown with different history. With and open mind, from 1992 to 2018 there has been growth from comparing the two Vogue magazine covers, there has been an evolution in beauty standards.