How the 'perfect body' for men went from chubby, to skinny, to muscular over the last 150 years
Artist Nickolay Lamm - who brought us the realistically proportioned girls' doll named Lammily, a direct challenge to Mattel's Barbie - wanted to see how the male ideal had changed over time. So he collected reference photos for what was considered among Americans to be the "perfect man" from each decade since the 1870s, then sculpted 3D models.
In the late 19th century, for example, the Dad-bod was the perfect-bod. Having a large waist and chubby cheeks was a sign of wealth and social class.
As with all generalizations, this will not be "perfect" for everybody. Lamm's study is only interested in body shape and does not take into account skin tone for example, explaining the whitewash. But the illustrations give insight into how pressures around the male ideal have changed so dramatically over the past couple of centuries.