Do you know the history behind some of North America’s most
popular beauty trends past?
Check out this list of the biggest beauty fads throughout the
decades.
1940's The
Curl Wave
The curl wave was a precursor to the modern-day perm.
At the height of war in the 1940s, the men went to war and the women
took their place in the factories.
Long hair was hazardous when operating machinery and caused a
lot of unfortunate accidents.
As a result, women were encouraged to cut their hair to avoid
getting it caught in machinery, and a curl wave added some style in an
otherwise boring cut.
This was also the first time women started to wear pants because
dresses also proved to be hazardous around the equipment.
1950's Cat
Eye Glasses
Following wartime in the 1940s, women moved from working in the
factories back to working the home and searched for the hyper-feminine styles
they were devoid of for so long.
Enter cat eye glasses.
These were designed in order to beautify women’s eyeglasses in a
feminine way by having the frame of the glasses accentuate the shape of women’s
eyes, making them feline in appearance.
1960's
Prominent Eyelashes
As the sultry eyewear of the 1950s silently dissolved, emphasis
on eye lashes began to emerge from its ashes.
By the mid 1960s, the British-born Mod style made its way to the
U.S., and makeup was quickly adapting to keep pace with shorter skirts and
loose clothing that mirrored the sex movement of the time.
The look catered itself to teenagers and young women who
rebelled against the heavily made up face of the fifties and favored a more
natural look with large eyes.
A lot of fake lashes on the market were even made from human
hair.
1970's
Shimmer
Shine bright like a diamond… or disco ball.
The political and economic liberty of women advanced
significantly in the 70s, with women’s liberation groups throughout the world
demanding changes for women in all aspects of life.
Women were in the spotlight, and their shimmer mirrored their
drive for change and attention.
Disco beauty trends stomped on the sixties’ simple and demure
styles, and instead splashed on the shine, color and maximum glamour.
Disco divas piled on black mascara, shimmery eye shadow and
white eyeliner.
1980's Bold
Eyeshadow
Female empowerment continued throughout the ’80s as women made a
statement of power, self-respect and being taken seriously at the workplace.
The two defining makeup elements in the ’80s face were bold eyes
and blush that was meant to accentuate the cheek bones.
Eyes were colored in bold shades of shadow in dark hues of blue,
green, purple, and layers and layers of eyeliner was applied.
Women in the eighties era carried their makeup into their
workplaces—it was exaggerated, huge and bold, the same attitude women carried
into the workforce.
1990's
Face-Framing Tendrils
The nineties were all about girl power and spicing up your life.
The phrase “girl power” as a term of empowerment, was first made
popular by Riot Grrrl Bands and then later the Spice Girls.
Nineties women wanted to look sexy without giving the appearance
of trying so hard.
Enter tendrils, those two little strips of hair you pulled out
from your ponytail or updo for a more effortless look.
Tendrils represented the way women sought to manifest themselves
in ambition and assertiveness - looking effortlessly sexy and kicking ass.
2000's
Chunky Highlights
After the events of 9/11, fashion and beauty trends became more
conservative, forgoing the futuristic styles leading into the millennium.
Feel-good fashion was the mantra for the early 2000s runways
where color and comfort took preference.
Soon boldness in color made its way to hair via those zebra-like
chunky highlights.
However, the chunky highlights trend took to the grave and
blended highlights took their place as a less expensive and more easily managed
alternative.
Would you
wear any of these fads today?
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Jennifer Linklater
"Beauty is more beautiful when it is on the inside"