The Gentleman Amateur

Slim chest and waist, with modest musculature

Big muscles have always been a sight to behold, whatever century you live in, but that doesn’t mean they have always been held in high esteem. For long stretches of history, they have often been seen as vulgar, even animalistic – quite the opposite of what a nice, ‘civilised’ man should portray.

From the late Middle Ages, the notion of chivalry appeared, which dictated certain codes and conducts men should follow. And from that, the Victorian gentleman arose.

“In the late Victorian era, the rise of professionalism in sport was increasingly seen as distasteful by certain categories of the population,” says Professor Carter. “Public school types upheld the ideals of amateur sport and championed the Corinthian ideals of amateurism. As a result, they also put forward a certain body ideal: lean and athletic, but not overtly muscular.”

GOOD SPORTS

Because of mass urbanisation in the 1900s, there were fears of a physical decline of the British and their empire. Defeat in the Boer war shook Edwardian society badly and a big report on British troops at the time found they were in poor physical condition. As a result, much more emphasis was put on outdoor sports, such as football and cricket, and we also saw the introduction of Physical Education in schools.

is impact transformed body image within the UK class system and can be seen at the heart of a number of fashion trends. e 1960s executive man is a great example: he is

t, but not covered in muscles, and demurely dressed with the cut of his shirt hinting at his trim gure rather than

aunting it ‘obscenely’.