Engineering and Fashion

The intersection of engineering analysis, satiric humor, and fashion all came together in the monthly student magazine, California Engineer in December 1951 (the article was based on an article in the Arkansas Engineer - - which speaks more for Arkansas in 1951 than I would have thought possible).  Written under the name Charles E. Seim (in this case the E was for Engineer) - - the article was entitled "The Stress Analysis of Strapless Evening Gowns" and needs no explanation or introduction (California Engineer, December 1951, pp. 16-17).  The link to the paper - -

http://gendertree.com/a_stress_analysis_of_a_strapless.htm

Duke civil engineering professor Henry Petroski and popular-engineer-writer-godfather-of-engineering has a chapter on the paper (and others - - "A Study of the Coefficient of Distribution of Lipstick") - - An Engineer's Alphabet.

View the paper in the context of the social norms in the 1950s - - but also the impact the paper obviously had on the evolution of the strapless dress.