Tamed???

"French engineer Louis Réard named his 1946 invention of the modern bikini after a nuclear testing site on the Bikini Atoll, purportedly for its 'explosive, dangerous potential.' American couturier Adrian released an 'Atomic 50s' collection to celebrate the start of the decade, featuring dresses that emulated the silhouette of the mushroom cloud. Scholar Masako Nakamura writes, 'Once it was linked to the sexuality and the bodies of beautiful white women, the atomic bomb and its deadly power were turned into something fascinating, desirable, explosive — and yet something that could be tamed.' The atomic bomb lent a flattering light to the white-hot glow of All-American girls, who stoked the American ego with a sexy atomic optimism in military might. Their dazzling curves, amplified by mushroom clouds, cushioned US anxieties about a nuclear holocaust — seeming to forget that for hundreds of thousands, that day had already come."

Florence Pugh’s Fashion at the “Oppenheimer” Premiere Was an Atrocity
Pugh’s incendiary look was a modern incarnation of the atomic pageants of the 1950s.

CULTURE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
COMMENTARY
WORDS: CHELSEA SHI-CHAO LIU

https://inkstickmedia.com/florence-pughs-fashion-at-the-oppenheimer-premiere-was-an-atrocity/