They Told You Marilyn Was a Size 16. Her Dresses Say Otherwise

In May 2022, Kim Kardashian said she lost sixteen pounds in three weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe's dress. This is the same Marilyn the internet has spent years calling a size sixteen, and both stories can't be true.In this video essay, we're dissecting six Old Hollywood beauty myths we still believe and separating the receipts from the romance. We cover Marilyn's size sixteen, the "natural" faces of the studio era, Marlene Dietrich's pulled molars, Elizabeth Taylor's violet eyes, Audrey Hepburn's effortless thinness and the singular faces of Rita Hayworth and Merle Oberon.The truth is less flattering than the legend, and far more revealing. Old Hollywood was built on artifice: chin implants, years of electrolysis, negatives retouched by hand, and key lights placed high to carve cheekbones out of shadow. But the studios used that artifice to make a woman unmistakable. Today, the same tools are used to make faces resemble one another. One era lied about how a face was made. Ours lies about why.Featuring Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn and Merle Oberon, alongside Kim Kardashian, Bella Hadid and Kylie Jenner.Which of these myths did you believe before today? And now that you know the truth, does Old Hollywood feel more beautiful to you, or less? Let me know in the comments below.Beauty, Hollywood, and what we lost. Subscribe for new video essays every week. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM4hiMCyAEMxibzIYrOKD5Q/join #OldHollywood #MarilynMonroe #VideoEssay