Beauty In Time

I thought I'd make a post about beauty ideals throughout time, as find it quite interesting myself. How certain traits that are considered desirable to modern man would be considered horrendous to someone living in the 18th century. Make-up and different styles and ideals have existed as long as history can be tracked back, and have looked very different from what is considered beautiful in society today.

Above you see an example of a 16th century woman. During the medieval ages as a whole make-up was a big no no, but the women still strived for a pale skin. A pale skin was a sign of wealth, and to flaunt their social status. To achieve this they obviously stayed out of the sun as much as possible, painted their face with white powder and some even drained themselves on blood. Noble women also dyed their hair blonde with saffron, oil, cumin seed and calendine. To apply any kind of color to your skin was considered out of fashion. 

An example of a woman from the 17th century. Make-up got more popular during the 17th century and become an every day sign of beauty. It was not only used by women, also men used make-up regularly.  They first painted their face white, a bit like a foundation before they applied white powder. A blush in a brownish color was also commonly used together with red lip stain. "Beauty patches" also got very popular during this time. It was star or half moon shaped pieces of silk or velvet they would place on their face or body to cover up possible imperfections. 

An 18th century beauty. During this period of time make-up was applied a lot heavier and were often made by dangerous substances which resulted in tooth loss, skin problems and even poisoning and death. Also men and even children occasionally wore make-up to achieve the pale complexion, flaming cheeks and lips look. The eyebrows were usually filled in with pencils or covered beneath false eyebrows made of mouse fur. The heavier women where those considered being perfectly sized. Being heavier showed that they had afford to put food on their table, but also cause being heavier was simply in back then. On an average, women carried eight children so a pear shaped body with large hips was a sign of fertility and therefor considered beautiful. Another interesting fact is that even though the women of the 18th century might look beautiful in their dresses made of silk and satin they hardly ever bathed. Instead they soaked their clothes in perfumes to disguise whatever body smell they might give out.

An 19th century beauty. The 19th century can be divided into three parts though, the beginning, the middle and the end. The woman on the picture, Lillian Russel (1860-1922) is a typical beauty representing the end of the 19th century. This era would best be described as the age of the corset. In the beginning was the main ideal traits that the woman was supposed to have small feet, rosebud lips and a reserved personality. Due to the indoor lifestyle she was often very pale and frail. In the middle of the era the woman was supposed to be curvier with large hips. The corset became controversial due to the restrictiveness that came along with it. This was also when clothing sized started to be developed. The hourglass shape was the popular shape during the end of the era, small waists and high up-dos. The image of beauty was a much more natural one, so natural that many men often couldn't tell whether the women wore make-up or not. A natural looking foundation from France was acceptable but no lip color or rouge as it was seen as scandalous. Instead women were told to bite their lips and pinch their cheeks before entering a room. 

I think I will leave it here for the moment as the style during the 20th century has been so varied during the decades. All from 20s flappers to curves such as Marilyn Monroe's, to 80s style with huge hair and shoulder pads. I would need a completely own post for that I think. I also found today's ideal completely pointless to go through too as I think most people already are aware of it, and many can agree on that it haven't been too flattering the past couple of years.

Please, also remember when I say "ideal" I mean that this was widely agreed on, but of course not every single person alive shared opinions with each other.

On another note, the room is cleaned and I'll pop over to the shop in a short moment for my errand I mentioned in my earlier post. 

Love, Kristina