of mortality in older people than waist circumference or body mass index (bmi). bodies as identity over the past several hundred years, there has been a shift towards viewing the body as part of one's identity – not in a purely physical way, but as a means of deeper self-expression. david gauntlett, in his 2008 book, recognizes the importance of malleability in physical identity, stating, "the body is the outer expression of our self, to be improved and worked upon". one of the more key factors in creating the desire for a particular body shape – most notably for females – is the media, which has promoted a number of so-called "ideal" body shapes. fashionable figures are often unattainable for the majority of the population, and their popularity tends to be short-lived due to their arbitrary nature. during the 1950s, the fashion model and celebrity were two separate entities, allowing the body image of the time to be shaped more by television and film rather than high fashion advertisements. while the fashion model of the 1950s, such as jean patchett and dovima, were very thin, the ideal image of beauty was still a larger one. as the fashion houses in the early 1950s still catered to a specific, elite clientele, the image of the fashion model at that time was not as sought after or looked up to as was the image of the celebrity. while the models that graced the covers of vogue magazine and harper's bazaar in the 1950s were in line with the thin ideal of the day, the most prominent female icon was marilyn monroe. monroe, who was more curvaceous, fell on the opposite end of the feminine ideal spectrum in comparison to high fashion models. regardless of their sizes, however, both fashion of the time and depictions of monroe emphasize a smaller waist and fuller bottom half. the late 1950s, however, brought about the rise of ready-to-wear fashion, which implemented a standardized sizing system for all mass-produced clothing. while fashion houses, such as dior and chanel, remained true to their couture, tailor-made garments, the rise of these rapidly-produced, standardized garments led to a shift in location from europe to america as the epicenter of fashion. along with that shift came the standardization of sizes, in which garments weren't made to fit the body anymore, but instead the body must be altered to fit the garment. during the 1960s, the popularity of the model twiggy meant that women favoured a thinner body, with long, slender limbs. this was a drastic change from the former decade's ideal, which saw curvier icons, such as marilyn monroe, to be considered the epitome of beautiful. these shifts in what was seen to be the "fashionable body" at the time followed no logical pattern, and the changes occurred so quickly that one shape was never in vogue for more than a decade. as is the case with fashion itself in the post-modern world, the premise of the ever-evolving "ideal" shape relies on the fact that it will soon become obsolete, and thus must continue changing to prevent itself from becoming uninteresting. an early example of the body used as an identity marker occurred in the victorian era, when women wore corsets to help themselves attain the body they wished to possess. having a tiny waist was a sign of social status, as the wealthier women could afford to dress more extravagantly and sport items such as corsets to increase their physical attractiveness. by the 1920s, the cultural ideal had changed significantly as a result of the suffrage movement, and "the fashion was for cropped hair, flat (bound) breasts and a slim androgynous shape". more recently, magazines and other popular media have been criticized for promoting an unrealistic trend of thinness. david gauntlett states that the media's "repetitive celebration of a beauty 'ideal' which most women will not be able to match … will eat up readers' time and money—and perhaps good health—if they try". additionally, the impact that this has on women and their self-esteem is often a very negative one, and resulted in the diet industry taking off in the 1960s – something that would not have occurred "had bodily appearance not been so closely associated with identity for women". melissa oldman states, "nowhere is the thin female ideal more evident than in popular media." the importance of "the body as a work zone", as myra macdonald asserts, further perpetuates the link between fashion and identity, with the body being used as a means of creating a visible and unavoidable image for oneself. the tools with which to create the final copy of such a project range from the extreme—plastic surgery—to the more tame, such as diet and exercise. alteration of body shape a study at brigham young university using mri technology suggested that women experience more anxiety about weight gain than do men, while aggregated research has been used to claim that images of thin women in popular media may induce psychological stress. a study of 52 older adults found that females may think more about their body shape and endorse thinner figures than men even into old age. various strategies, including exercise, are sometimes employed in an attempt to temporarily or permanently alter the shape of a body. dieting is also sometimes used, but is generally not effective in the long term. at times artificial devices are used or surgery is employed. in 2019, 92% of all cosmetic procedures in the us were undertaken by women, with the most popular being a breast augmentation. breast size can be artificially increased or decreased. falsies, breast prostheses or padded bras may be used to increase the apparent size of a woman's breasts, while minimiser bras may be used to reduce the apparent size. breasts can be surgically enlarged using breast implants or reduced by the systematic removal of parts of the breasts. hormonal breast enhancement may be another option. historically, boned corsets have been used to reduce waist sizes. the corset reached its climax during the victorian era. in twentieth century these corsets were mostly replaced with more flexible/comfortable foundation garments. where corsets are used for waist reduction, they may cause temporary reduction through occasional use or permanent reduction through constant and continuous use. those who use corsets for permanent reduction are often referred to as tightlacers. liposuction and liposculpture are common surgical methods for reducing the waist line. padded control briefs or hip and buttock padding may be used to increase the apparent size of hips and buttocks. buttock augmentation surgery may be used to increase the size of hips and buttocks to make them look more rounded. social perceptions of the ideal woman's body in the a 2012 experiment, researchers crossley, cornelissen and tovée asked men and women to depict an attractive female body and the majority of them chose the same ideal. the women who participated in this experiment drew their ideal bodies with enlarged busts and narrowed the rest of their bodies. the male participants also depicted their ideal partner with the same image. the researchers state, "for both sexes, the primary predictor of female beauty is a relatively low bmi combined with a relatively curvaceous body". however the generality of their conclusions was limited given their small sample size and single ethnicity of participants.