Bosoms Up

The ancient Greeks knew what they wanted in the shape of a woman, and showed it by their statues. The marble goddesses of Greece almost invariably measured the same across the bosom as between breast and navel. Later came the Dark Ages, when men cried for breasts higher and smaller. Germany's Lucas Cranach (1472-1553) painted nudes that conformed strictly to the taste of his time.

In Paris last week, the very latest word in fashion was that Christian Dior had gone gothic, and brought out a brassiere-girdle-corset to shift bosoms about to conform to the new, flatter look. Said a Dior artisan of the bustline: "The main idea is to bring the bosom--which used to center some 25 to 26 centimeters (9.8 to 10.2 inches) from the shoulder--up to 19 or 20 centimeters (7.4 to 8.2)." Although U.S. designers dutifully listened, some claimed that his new look was old stuff to them. Said the New York Dress Institute's Eleanor Lambert: "After all, fashion has been moving away from the pointed bosom and the nipped-in waist for some time . . . Dior crystallized the thinking and gave the new look added publicity."

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