History of Modeling
By Elisa C.

Haute Couture

Haute Couture is a French term for high-end fashion that has a very defined standards. It is high quality, hand made garments where every single stitch has a purpose and place. The exact beginning of haute couture can’t be pinpointed with absolute certainty but it is thought that it has its roots in royalty. Queen Marie Antoinette of France employed a fashion designer by the name of Rose Bertin in the late 1700s to create Rose was credited with the spread of haute culture as many people around the world would see the fashion of Parisians and emulate their practices in different countries.

One of those people that was influenced by French haute culture was Charles Fredrick Worth, who is considered to be the father of haute couture. He was born in England but made a name for himself in France working in the French fashion industry. Along with his new fame as a designer, Worth also changed the way the general public saw fashion. Before Worth came along, it was just dressmaking. Now he was a fashion designer. He had a huge say in what became popular at the time. He also may have very well coined the phrase “model” when he asked his wife to pose in one of the dresses he made for his clothing company.

Modern Day Modeling

Until the 1950s, models were relatively unknown and very few of them were paid adequately. Photography had been a major part of the exposure that aided models careers but it wasn’t until the introduction of modeling agencies that models became world famous and had the ability to travel to different markets around the world. Around this time, there was also a large counter-culture movement in the United States and although people were rebelling against the modeling establishment, it also allowed for more international exposure.

The 1970s and 1980s also provided another boom in the modeling industry, this time with more commercial modeling. As the need for advertising models grew, much-needed variation in the types of models also came about. Plus sized models, tv show models, commercial models, and many others rose to prominence during the 70s and 80s as television became a mainstay in the American entertainment industry. The loosening of social norms also allowed for industry growth. Suddenly models were on the tip of everyone’s tongue and with the new found fame came a higher salary.

The models of the 90s were a continuation from the 1980s with high fashion models taking center stage. Models were making millions of dollars on ad campaigns and it wasn’t just fashion models from Europe and America cashing in, South American models, in particular, had made a huge breakthrough. Models with more unique looks were higher in demand and more specialized models came to find work as well. The public also started to realize that there was a bit of an image problem in the modeling industry. The 90s and 2000s were a time when eating disorders and unhealthy lifestyles of models rose to become a major concern. People started to see the ill effects of drug use and poor eating habits as they took their toll on the beauty that had originally captured the public’s attention. Around the same time, there was a demand for younger models. Teen models in the advertising and commercial areas started to draw concern because of the footsteps they followed in. Ad campaigns were created by the industry to help those young models started to spring up and big time models were warning their younger counterparts about the dangers of the lifestyle they could so easily fall into. But with the rise of the internet came a new breed of model, one that was self-sufficient. Social media models exploded onto the scene and suddenly everyone had the power to be a model. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and other social media sites allowed for anyone with a phone or computer access to start their careers in an instant. Nowadays, the modeling industry is bigger than ever and with it has come so many new opportunities for everyone across the world to get a piece of the action. Models also have greater ability to make money in other ways as well, and they now have more flexibility with what they can earn as modeling has become a totally viable way to earn money on the side.