The Gibson Girl is a well-known American image, widely regarded as the first American ideal of beauty. The Gibson Girl was created artist Charles Dana Gibson and appeared in dozens of magazines and reproductions, becoming one of the early twentieth century’s most iconic images. Until World War I, the girl’s hourglass body and aristocratic features were considered a standard that many American girls aspired to achieve, as well as a romantic representation of feminine traits.
Charles Dana Gibson grew up in a working-class family and learned to draw from his father during a long illness. He went to art school for a few years before dropping out due to financial difficulties. Gibson was hired Life magazine to do pen-and-ink illustrations in the 1880s. Despite his lack of formal art training, Gibson was providing work for several major New England publications the early 1890s.
Gibson met his own hero, the English illustrator George Du Maurier, while studying art in Europe. Gibson began sketching women after being influenced Du Maurier’s style. Many socialites claimed to be the original models for the paintings, but many people believe Gibson was inspired his wife, Irene Langhorne.
Gibson’s portrayal of beauty has its origins in romantic-era classical art. She has a tall, hourglass figure that is usually cinched in a corset. She has long, flowing waves in her hair, which she wears back in a demure upswept style. Her eyes are larger than her nose and mouth, which are both small and well defined. She embodies the image of a well-bred young lady, dressed in high fashion and expensive clothing.
The Gibson Girl image was carried away in a marketing storm just a few months after her first public appearance. Reproductions could be found on everything from wallpaper to dishes and spoons. Some historians credit the Gibson Girl craze with inspiring all subsequent reproductive work, such as the wide range of Mickey Mouse-themed items available today. The Gibson Girl was the epitome of fashion, beauty, and social success from the turn of the twentieth century until the outbreak of World War I in Europe.
This well-known figure’s demise could be attributed to shifting attitudes toward women. The Gibson Girl was not a political figure, and was usually drawn to express traditional female roles, despite the fact that she was portrayed as playing games with men and even winning. Fashion in America changed dramatically with the rise of the suffragettes. The binding corsets were long gone, replaced dresses that could be both short and shapeless. Surrounded flappers and gangster’s molls, the Gibson Girl appeared to be a relic of the past.
Despite her lack of prowess, the Gibson Girl is a popular image in the United States. American girls were often a source of ridicule in European countries until Gibson’s drawings became well-known. The American girl, who was disliked for being forward, uneducated, and often gold-digging, was given a makeover thanks to Gibson’s work. Gibson created a one-of-a-kind image of the ideal woman combining traditional female beauty ideals with the sass and wit of American youth.