Gibson girl

American  

noun

1. the idealized American girl of the 1890s as represented in the illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson.

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adjective

1. of, indicating, or resembling the characteristic clothing of the Gibson girl, typically a high-necked, fitted blouse or bodice with full puff sleeves and a long skirt with a flared bottom and a tightly fitted waistline.

Gibson girl British  

noun

1. the ideal fashionable American girl of the late 1890s and early 1900s, as portrayed in the drawings of Charles Dana Gibson, 1867–1944, US illustrator

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Etymology

Origin of Gibson girl

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

Charles Dana Gibson was exquisitely euphemistic, translating masculinity into shoulder padding and chiseled chins on the Gibson man; femaleness into coy tendrils of hair and a suspicion of ankle in the Gibson girl.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Gibson girl, created by Artist Charles Dana Gibson, was the modest and aloof dream girl of U.S. males in the early years of the century.

From Time Magazine Archive

A framed Gibson girl was as important to the U.S. undergraduate of 30 years ago as a bulldog pipe and a pearl-buttoned reefer.

From Time Magazine Archive

By the artistic canons of his day, the classical Greek figure was the ideal of feminine form and the hourglass Gibson girl in her geegaws and gilded garters the height of fashion.

From Time Magazine Archive

Don't you dare compare me to a ghost!" commanded the Gibson girl," with energy that brought the blood to her pale cheeks.

From The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake Or, the stirring cruise of the motor boat Gem by Hope, Laura Lee