Gibson Girls: Sex Goddesses of the American Victorian Age

In a recent interview on hubpages, Lilian Eden asked me whether I was drawn towards 'yesterday's definition of beauty' or to what Hollywood is projecting today. I all but skirted the issue (no pun intended) claiming that there were great beauties in every era despite the socially inflicted standards. I also mentioned my fascination with the Gibson Girls of the late 19^th and early 20^th , saying that those buxom, bloomered babes were quite the rage in their day. Incredibly sexy, despite their turn of the century moral standards, Gibson Girls possessed more than an alluring mystique. They possessed powerful skills and attributes that today’s women could easily emulate and from which they could benefit.

When I say “Gibson Girls” I refer to the fair creations depicted in the wildly popular drawings of American artist Charles Dana Gibson. These clever young women were considered “hot” when the word “hot” still referred to the state of your porridge.

Before I get down to the bootylicious bits and suggestions on how to become as steamy as a Gibson Girl, I feel compelled to offer a brief glimpse into the era in which Gibson became so popular.

Gibson lived from 1867-1944, which would place his most productive years right in the middle of the Victorian era. American Victorianism was trendy chiefly in the New England states from roughly 1875 to 1910 . During these puritanical times, sex was never discussed in polite company. Even the word “leg” dare not be mentioned for fear that gentlemen overhearing such conversation might lose control of their bodily functions. Sexual feelings and non-marital “relations” were barely acknowledged by people of good breeding, save for one or two goateed Viennese psychoanalysts. That’s not to say people of the day were asexual; quite the opposite. Brothels flourished and were widely frequented by gentlemen (mostly) of all walks of society both in Europe and the U.S. while thousands of pornographic pamphlets, photos and novels were fervently snatched up by a sexually repressed populace.

So what does that have to do with Gibson? A talented art student, living in New York City, Gibson got a real break in the fall of 1886 when he managed to sell a drawing of a dog chained to his doghouse to a little publication called Life magazine. He continued to produce drawings for Life for the next 30 years and became a veritable media superstar of his day. The dog had nothing to do with it. The Gibson Girl was what made him famous. She was to artwork what Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot were for photography. In Victorian times, it was the illustrators for popular magazines that influenced people’s esthetic values much the same as movies and television do today.

The real life sex goddess in C.D. Gibson’s day was a beautiful teenage showgirl named Evelyn Nesbit. Her story is a Hub in itself so I won’t say much about her here except that she was the model for Gibson’s most iconic illustrations. Her flowing tresses typified the Gibson Girl, along with her taller than average hourglass figure and seductive expression. Her personality probably matched Gibson’s modern woman as well. Life magazine’s Gibson Girls were spirited, well bred, independent and utterly feminine, yet underneath it all, there was that Scarlet O’Hara flash of mischief their eyes. That ever so naughty characteristic was what made them so alluring.

Coy, mischievous, intelligent, - those sexy attributes in the Victorian era are still sexy today. Ladies, don’t let any man tell you otherwise. Even in today’s era of uber-women’s liberation, bare-all swimsuits, and liposuction, it’s not too late to celebrate the cleverness and untapped power of the modern woman! Here are my highly educated suggestions for a Gibson Girl revival:

• We need to sport more Gibson Girl hairstyles. Curling irons, flat irons, hair rollers and the like are as cumbersome as corsets were in Evelyn Nesbit’s day. Just let your hair do its thing and pile it on top of your head. If a few tendrils escape, all the better.

If you're hair lacks volume, there are two ways to create that "Pompadore" look.

1- Buy a handful of synthetic hair from a beauty supply store and pin it behind your front hairline. 2- Lift your long bangs or forehead hair over it, creating a bun with all your hair on top of your head.

For a Fuller Gibson Hairdo Effect....

1- Cut off the leg of an old panty hose.

2- Fill it with cotton or any soft material. Make it the same length as the circumference of your head.

3- Sew the ends together.

4- Now brush your hair from the top of your head down so the back of your hair covers your back, the sides cover your shoulders and the front covers your face. Pull the stuffed stocking ring over your head and hair just above your ears so it feels like a hatband. Lift your bangs over the front and pin your hair on the top of your head. Do the same thing for the side and back strands of hair. If your hair isn't long enough to create a bun on top of your head with the ends of your own hair, just twist and secure what you have with pins or buy a small synthetic hair bun and pin it on the crown of your head where the hair ends meet.

Here are some more suggestions for a Gibson Girl Revival:

• Design and market a Gibson Girl swim suit complete with black stockings. I’m sure Gortex has some newfangled material that keeps you cool in 90 degree temperatures. When you’ve developed it, let me know and I’ll invest in your company. The reason the word ‘cellulite’ didn’t exist in Gibson’s day was because no one had it. No one had it because no one saw it. Surely you’ve heard of Schrodinger’s principle of the quantum theory of superposition? Simply put, it doesn’t exist until you observe it.

• Wear a shirtwaist blouse with a sexy bustier, corset or camisole. Padded push up bras are also acceptable and very Gibsonesque. Sport a flowing skirt hiked up a little in the back with just a hint of a bustle. If you’re bustle is already built in, more power to you.
• Buy some vintage silk lingerie. There is nothing sexier.
• Continue to trust your feminine intuition. It will help you screen out deadbeat suitors.
• Don’t be afraid to be “mischievous”. It worked for the Gibson Girl and it will work for you. Just don’t get arrested.
• Read Victorian sex novels. They're the real thing and your partner will thank you for it.

If you’re interested in an incredibly sophisticated Victorian read by a modern day author, check out “The Crimson Petal and the White” (offered below); a brilliantly conceived, funny, erotic and satisfying novel by Michael Faber. The book explores England’s Victorian society including “preening socialites, drunken journalists,.. and whores of all types and persuasions”. His brilliant heroine is in many ways, the Gibson Girls’ British sister.

© Copyright Green Lotus, 2011. All rights reserved.