Sophia Loren was one of those rare creatures that could fit anywhere on the glamour spectrum--she had the cool European demeanor like Anita Ekberg and Brigitte Bardot as well as the Hollywood glitz of Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. Being Italian, she was most compared to fellow Italian vixen Gina Lollobrigida. Loren was part of the "Euro-skin" art house movement in the 1950's. Early on, she made a series of forgettable movies where she wound up getting drenched with water in each film--sort of a intelligent man's wet T-shirt contest. 
     Like many of her era, her bust line was the draw for most of her movies. The competition for the biggest, best and most revealed was all around the movie work. Take for example this famous shot of Loren looking disgustedly at a well-clevaged Jayne Mansfield bends over her table. 
     In the mid-50's, Loren had numerous breakout films like Boy on a Dolphin, The Pride and the Passion, Houseboatwhich put her on the A-list of stars. In the 60's she continued with Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Mara of Rome and Marriage, Italian Style (the last two with Marcello Mastroianni--who she teamed up with again in the 1994 film Ready to Wear.) Throughout the decades, Loren has kept her grace and sexual allure and has become one of the role-models for after-50 beauty.