How Evelyn Nesbit was exploited
The new beauty ideal
In the late nineteenth century, the ideal woman was buxom, curvy, her heavily corseted body hidden beneath bustles and layers of clothing.
But the dawn of the new century brought a new ideal of feminine beauty, and Evelyn Nesbit was it. With her pale complexion, lush chestnut hair, and slim, almost boyish build, she was a fragile doll, innocent and alluring.
At twelve, she was discovered by artists and photographers in Philadelphia, where she lived with her brother and widowed mother. She quickly became a favorite and posed for hours in diaphanous, draped costumes, obviously without corsets or bustles. She quickly became the artists’ favorite model.
Taking on New York
When the family moved to New York City in 1900, her mother had a letter of introduction to artist James Carroll Beckwith for the fifteen-year-old Evelyn. Beckwith took a paternal interest in the lovely young girl sensing correctly that her mother had no business sense and was hopelessly naive. He helped Evelyn to find jobs with respected artists. She was barely sixteen when her alluring face and body started to be seen on postcards and in ads. Though she later claimed that she never posed nude, there are several portraits of her nude…
