BEAUTY THROUGH THE AGES

By: Bernadette M. Berger

RENAISSANCE ERA

1300-1600 A.D.

The Renaissance era spread all throughout Europe and was inspired by the philosophical belief of Humanism. Many artists during this time strove to reproduce the artistic styles of ancient Grecians and Romans. Artist such as

Raphael, Lucas Cranach and Botticelli all have their own view of beauty and portray that view in their works. These

perceptions, found in Renaissance art, are what led the trends of the day and dictated what Renaissance society

viewed as beautiful.

“Its impetus was the philosophy of Humanism, which strove to resurrect and emulate the

literature and art of the ancient Greeks and Romans.” – N. Haughton

“Especially in England, cosmetics were generally mistrusted as sorcery designed to trick helpless men. In essence, Renaissance women faced the same challenges that we do today - they had to

look like their beauty was effortless. Unfortunately, to achieve effortless beauty,

women had to absorb more toxic ingredients than the average lab rat.”

– C. Beccia

PALE SKIN

OVER PLUCKED EYEBROWS

If we examine pieces of art work from the Renaissance period the beauty trends of the

era are obvious to find…

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

Thin eyebrows

High hair line

Pale skin

ELIZABETHAN ERA

1558–1603 A.D.

The Elizabethan Era is considered by many to be the height of the Renaissance. It marks the

time during Queen Elizabeth's reign over England. Although Elizabeth maintained great control over her country; it is also known that she dictated the course of the times “trends”

as well.

• Different beauty attributes signified an importance

Pale skin = high social status since your days were

spent indoors shielded from the sun

• Many people went to great lengths to meet the Queens beauty

Bleaching & plucking of hair is just one of many examples

Light (Red) hair

Extravagant wardrobe

Pale complexion

Ornate hair pieces

Red lips

THE 18TH CENTURY

The 18th century was a time of formality and decadence. Both women and men’s fashion shifted and followed a more proper manner. Similar to today, the wealthy spent countless hours and money on their appearance and

rose the bar each time they wore a new outfit in attempts to out do their friends.

THE AVERAGE 18TH CENTURY MAN

•Men wore complicated outfits with many layers of pea coats and undergarments •While only some men wore make-up, almost all men spent time preparing and braiding their hair into the perfect style

THE AVERAGE 18TH CENTURY WOMAN

• Many woman took queue from Marie Antoinette who was a major contributor to the fashion world

• Hairstyles became even more complex, reaching unnatural heights (sometimes even springs were used to keep them up right)

• Corsets were also very popular during this time and were very uncomfortable to wear; however, women endured this pain at the price of being socially accepted.

VICTORIAN ERA

1837–1901

• The Victorian Era began with modest fashion• Women wore simple clothing and men

dressed casually

The Roaring Nineteen-Twenties

• Fashion during this time was altered for the comfort and mobility of the everyday woman

• Clothes were made with the woman in mind and never again would women have to suffer wearing corsets any longer

• Many women such as COCO CHANEL took initiative to structure her own wardrobe to suite what she wanted to wear not what society told her to

“Flapper” dresses were created to enable women easier mobility when dancing

Women began showing more skin at the turn of the century showing the overall more liberal movement

Men’s clothing were adopted into many women’s closets due their comfort

A great accessory that many women dawned was the hat A popular way

many women wore their hat was by covering their entire forehead (very different from the Renaissance era)

The Great Depression {1930-1940}

• America’s Great Depression brought the whimsical fashions of the 20’s to a halt

• Women forgot about their affinity for a boyish figure and began to dress more feminine again

• Hemlines grew longer and waistlines traveled up

At this time the film industry experienced a boom in sales and women across the globe looked to movie

starlets for fashion trends…

Joan Crawford in Letty Lynton Vivian Leigh in Gone With the Wind Lana Turner in They Won't Forget

Mae West Rita Hayworth

KATHERINE HEPBURNWore clothes which she wanted to wear & shocked women

everywhere when she wore men’s pants suits and other modern clothes. Completely altered the fashion world permanently.

1950’S

Trends did not change too drastically during the 50’s. Women were still viewed as objects and many continued to dress femininely

BOMBSHELLS Many people began idolizing certain celebrities as sex-

symbols. Women such as:

Brigitte Bardot

Marilyn Monroe

Hazel Court

Eartha Kitt

1960’s• Fashion went wild during this time and many

different trends evolved throughout the decade.

• Trends originated from different areas around the world

• Although the decade began conservative it ended with a bang, being very liberal

Early 1960’s • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a style icon for

American women while her husband was in office. • Her wardrobe was simple yet elegant and women world

wide followed her fashion for the newest trends

The “Mod” mid 60’s

• With the creation of Mary Quant’s mini skirt the era of mod fashion began

• Britain was the forerunner for fashion during this time

The Hippie Era

The 1970’s Disco

The 1980’sTop 10 trends of the 80’s [from liketotally80.com]

Shou

lder

Pad

s

Min

i Ski

rts

Large Earrings

Fing

erle

ss G

love

s

Puffy PantsM

embers O

nly Jackets

Unit DressesSti

rrup

Leg

ging

s

Oversized Tops

1990’s• The final decade of the century entered into

the grunge phase• Some trends included…

Ove

ralls Flannel

Hig

h w

aste

d pa

nts

Floral dress & clogs

Doc Martins

Fann

y pa

cks

This decade was a mixture many different trends from grunge pocket chains to Birkenstock sandals.

2000’sThe early 21st century is a mess of chic simple designs with cheap trends. Models on the runway have shrunk to abnormal sizes and purses have grown to ridiculous proportions. Although there is no staple outfit which could completely summarize the early 2000’s, this era was and still is a time of individuality. For the first time people are controlling the trends and there are many different popular looks at one time. In the fast paced life, there is barely time to keep up and by the time one fad is popular and new one is ready to make its mark on society.