Beauty and Fashion

How are beauty and fashion (as defined in the 'What is Fashion' section) related?
Do they influence each other? Are they completely separate?
Can beauty be viewed through fashion and vice versa?

Tell us, What is Beauty to You?

In today's world almost everything we see, do, think, and say is a result of society; everything is socially constructed.
One example is the idea of beauty.

Here are a few questions to get you thinking about it...

What is beautiful to you, physically?
Why?
What causes us to see women or men in magazines and know (or consider) them to be beautiful?
Does it come from the make-up they are wearing? the clothes they are wearing?
Can beauty be created?
Can true beauty be created?
Is it dependant upon the person and what 'nature' gave to them?
Do we agree with how society (media) portrays beauty?
Are our ideas of what beauty is coinciding with our actions?
Should anything be changed?
If so, what should we do to change it?

With those questions in mind, describe in the comments section below what beauty/beautiful means to you. This does not include inner beauty, strictly the physical aspects. Explain why you feel that way.

The Everyday Creation of Beauty

What we go through to fulfill society's idea of beauty.
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Which Image is Most Beautiful to You? Why?

Put your answer in the comments below.


History of Beauty

Renaissance
In the 15th century:
*They plucked hairlines to make forehead look higher, and wore elaborate headdresses
*Blond hair was a sing of high class and beauty so men and women would dye hair blond



















Elizabethan
In the 16th century:
*Francis I of France accidentally burned his hair with a torch, men began to wear short hair and grew short beards and mustaches.
*Women copied queen Elizabeth naturally pale complexion and red hair, using white powder in great abundance, along with red wig.
*Inspired by Italian women, the Elizabethan lady would also give a healthy glow to her cheeks by using lead-based rouge colored with dye. She'd color in her eyebrows, lips and even blue veins with alabaster pencils. For the final touch, she'd apply a thin glaze of egg-white paste to hold it all together.



















18th Century
*They wore white-powdered wigs tied back into a long braid at the back of the neck and encased in a black silk bag, or tied with a black bow.
*Women had trim, crimped or curled heads, powdered and decorated with garlands or bows.
*1770s, coiffures built over horsehair pads or wire cages and powdered with starch were all the rage.












Victorian
*A modest, natural beauty, restrained and without makeup.
*Middle- and upper-class women used cosmetics less. Beyond face powders, more audacious colored makeup was reserved for prostitutes and actresses, who wore it only on stage.
*Beginning in the 1840s, women's heads were sleek the hair oiled and smoothed down over the temples with long sausage curls at the side and later with a heavy knot of curls or plaits in back.
*In the 19th century men tended to keep their hair relatively short, sometimes curled and dressed with macassar oil. Most men wore some variety of mustache, sideburns or beard.



















1920s
*Popular new short "bobbed," waved or shingled hairstyles symbolized the growing freedom of women.
*The heavy use of makeup also returned to fashion in this era.
*Fashion-conscious white men wore their hair parted in or near the center and slicked back with brilliantine — an oily, perfumed substance that added shine and kept hair in place.



















1940s
*Longer, more feminine hairstyles became popular again,. Veronica Lake created a sensation by wearing a lock of hair that covered one eye.
*The hairstyle that most symbolized the era, however, was parted on the side, with soft curls falling over the shoulder.
*Also, for the first time, tanned skin (for both men and women) began to be perceived as a symbol of high class.
*Men continued to wear their hair short and often slicked back with oil, and skinny, trimmed mustaches.



















1950s
*The glamorous woman at home, able to attend to all domestic chores without a hair out of place, became a popular image.
*The "doe eye," created with shadow on the lids, eyebrow pencil, mascara and heavy eyeliner; along with a pale complexion and intensely colored lips, became fashionable.
*Hair was teased, styled, sculpted and sprayed at the salon every week into a helmet of perfectly formed curls, waves.
*Hip white men wore their hair combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it in place with hair grease coupled with long, thick sideburns.



















1960s
*opted for more practical short styles, or long, straight hair.
*dark eyes paired with pale lips (or, by the late '60s, no makeup at all).
*"mop tops" created a revolution in men's hairstyles — making long hair fashionable for the first time since the 18th century.



















1970s
*Hair became the symbol of the era in more ways than one, evolving into perhaps the most powerful means of projecting an image or making a statement. For most of the decade, men and women of all ethnicities wore their hair long, natural and above all free.
*Freely falling curls, bronzed skin and glossy lips created a short-and-sassy wedge cut.
*Men adapted "wingback" style into the center-parted, "feathered" hairstyles worn by teen idols such as Leif Garret and the Bee Gees.
*The Afro hairstyle remained popular and was also adopted by many white men and women, though a closer-cropped version,
*Punk look that included spiked hairdos dyed bright fluorescent colors, shaved and tattooed scalps, facial piercings and spectacular makeup.
















1980s
*The "age of excess" heavy makeup with vibrant neon colors and intentionally messed-up and off-colored hair.
*"Jheri Curl," sparkling and wet-looking,
*Punk-influenced spiked hairstyles, including a small braid at the back of the neck (the "rat tail").
*The "preppy" look was also in, popularizing traditional short hairstyles for men and women.



















1990s
*Extreme thinness, from the strung-out, emaciated appearance of the face and body.
*The "grunge" movement in rock music popularized an unkempt, natural style.
*Tongue, eyebrow and nose piercings (for both men and women).
*Shaving the head was a popular "hairstyle" for men of all races.
*Modern version of the '60s shag. The "Rachel" cut was sleeker, with longer layers and face-framing highlights.

Fashion Expectations

Society and the media are two of the greatest influences on what fashion and beauty is today

What you wear and how you look determines who your friends are, your success, and (to an extent) how you feel about yourself.

EVERYWHERE you go there is a certain style that is expected of you...
*School
*Work
*Gym
*Beach
*Formal Events (Weddings, Awards Shows, Etc.)
*A Night Out (Dates, Clubbing)
*Religious Activities


What is Fashion?

FASHION (as determined by the brilliant minds on Wikipedia) refers to styles of dress which are current in any given culture at any given time.

Such styles may change QUICKLY, and "fashion" refers to the LATEST version of these styles.

There are many styles that are accepted today.

The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" are employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current popular mode of expression.

Current global fashion centers are New York City, Milan, Paris, and London, but other cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, Rome, and Dubai are also becoming well known.

Other sites that tell us how to look include:

*For MEN: GQ, Men's Health, Details...
*For WOMEN: Fashion, Glamour...