Now You See Them, Now You Don't

By Nadia Mustafa

Curves, that is. The model's figure keeps shrinking to new lows, so ahead of Milan's Fashion Week next month, Italy banned from its runways any body mass index under 18.5. Spain imposed similar restrictions, and Brazil--where a model died from anorexia--is also considering a ban. Here, a look at the shifting shape of the female fashion mannequin.

Louise Brooks A 1920s showgirl best known as Lulu in Pandora's Box, she epitomized the long, lean flapper look but had a healthy BMI of 19.9.

Betty Grable Her shapely legs were showcased in many Technicolor musicals during the World War II era, when she became an iconic pinup girl.

Twiggy A pubescent-like body won her fame in 1960s London, but with a stick-thin BMI of 14.7, she would be out of a job in Milan these days.

Cindy Crawford She was a popular glamazon and ubiquitous 1990s cover girl and supermodel, and her curvaceous figure supported a normal BMI of 19.2.

Vlada Roslyakova One of a group of featherweight East European postwaifs now strutting the runways, she has a silhouette that appears skeletal.