Fashion and fashion editorial
Historical development of hair and makeup styling in the fashion industry.
The history of fashion can be traced all the way back to ancient egypt with fashion icons such as Cleopatra herself. As technology was not around 3100 B.C, the closest we have to images of Egyptian fashion are on the hieroglyphs themselves.
As it does in every era to this day the type of fashion is based on your social status, for example the Egyptian pharos would never be seen in the same cloth as the peasants of the time.
alot of the fashion of this time period was very similar due to lack of materials and global influence, however jewls were a big
front of one’s financial status. This was not the only reason the wealthier Egyptians wore alot of jewls, they had a deeper meaning to them. To the Egyptians their jewels were representative of beauty among the beholder and would also provide many things such as good luck and protection in the after life. The colour scheme were gold, turquoise and red, and similarly to the makeup the jewellery were made from scarab beetles.
As seen in the images above the Egyptians garments were loosely worn and made from linen to keep them cool. The Egyptians were very conscious of the clothing that they wore as I previously mentioned that it was a gesture of their social class.
as for the makeup it was worn by both men and women. It was believed that makeup “protected them from the gods Rara And horus” . Black Eyeliner was the centerpiece of their makeup, which at the time would have been made from; malachite which is a bright green mineral, lead, and oil or fat with a mortar and mortar and pestle.
Egyptians believed that the black eyeliner would protect their eyes from the sunlight as it would apparently deflect the sunlight. Although the egyptians had also believed that the eyeliner would protect them from eye based diseases, it was quite the opposite. The lead in the eyeshadow was very dangerous as it could leave them with lead poisoning, brain damage and even cause miscarriages.
Onto the Victorian era there were a multitude of styles from the upper class to harlots and even steam punk! again its another case of social status= your style. During the “roaring twenties” there were big problems economically as we were faced with the great depression, inflation all whilst at the brink of a potential global disaster that was world war 1.
for those who were of the “upper class” which only made up for 10% of the population were able to afford the more fashionable clothing.
for women this would be tailored gowns for the evening that were long and covered from the neck downwards to keep their modesty however there was a tight hemline along the waist to give them more shape unlike the 1800’s when the women would wear long shapeless dresses to be able to leave more to the imagination.
for mens wear it would typically be full formal shirt, waistcoat, trousers and maybe some gloves. this was not the same attire for those of the working class or also known as the under class.
the working class men would be seen in smart/casual wear day to day as they were working throughout the day as they were the breadwinners of the family and the women were housewives. The womens wear was labelled as “Serviceable House Dresses Attractively Priced” as shown in the image above. These types of clothes would be advertised as “service house dresses” as their target demographic were house wives who needed stylist house wear that was also comfortable enough for them to be able to do their domestic chores with no fuss. 1920s were big for the Harlots who would be apart of the underclass bracket. their “style” per say would completely depends on their income.
For those on a higher income they were able to dress in a slightly more classy manner, which would be slim fitted dresses which were short and low cut. However for those who were on a minimal income they would work in their lingerie.
these styles of this era were not completely for everyone as this is wear the uprise of the steam punks.
unfortunately there are a scarce amount of authentic steam punk images so its hard to tell 100% what the steam punks of this time wore but the generalised idea of the steam punk women would have been long sleeve tops, with a corset over the top of it with a long thrilled skirt or a shorter skirt with lots more volume with some knee high socks/ tights. for the accessories this would include the obvious steam googles which typically would be worn on the head and chunky dark jewellery. As for the men they would be seen in shirts, long straight coats and also similar accessories to the women, the googles and a top hat.
during the 1940s the fashion wasn’t majorly different from the 20s.
Men were still wearing there suave suits in a formal manner and women wore smart casual dresses.
in the 1940s the woman we’re wearing slightly more makeup as they were becoming more independent as women as they were the ones who were working whilst the men were at war, this gave the woman a sense of empowerment within themselves. their makeup was fairly light coverage. The look as a whole all came down to their hair.
However this was not the fashion throughout the whole of the 40s as world war 2 struck around 1941-1943. this had impact on womens fashion.
“FOR FEMININE SAFETY
for protection, her hair is up, closely covered to protect it against sparks and machines. She wears strong service-
able jeans or overalls without cuffs, heavy low-heeled work shoes and a closely fitting jacket for comfort. She will leave her necklace and rings at home along
with her high-heeled open-toed shoes and inflammable cellulose or silk slacks and jackets. For these are down-right dangorous. Preferred colors are dark and subdued. The safety record of women in the Higgins yard is excellent . Proper work-wear will help to keep it this way.”
( written in the image above)
as women had to dress in a more “masculine” work appropriate attire this took the bright floral colours out of their day to day wear and were left in neutral less flattering outfits
However all of that colour was brought back in the 60s
The 60s was known to be the “hippie” era as it was full of bright clothing, flower power style and lots of psychedelics wether that be in the clothing pattern or the drugs themselves.
music had alot of influence on this era as western indie music was very big at the time and the artists themselves were known to take the recreational drug LSD which is a psychedelic drug that causes hallucinations. These psychedelic patterns were incorporated into alot of clothing.
as this era was post war peace signs were very big as they were fighting for civil rights whilst also protesting anit-war movements.
60s makeup was a prolongation of the 50s with a more editorial eyeliner, along with variety of vibrant eyeshadows including colours such as greens, blues, yellows and pinks. The lipsticks were a mix of nude shades than previous years. alternating from browns, and coral colours to reds and pinks. The deep red colour was still the go to colour for stars, supermodels and women looking to stand out. The makeup and general fashion was influenced heavily by the changing art and culture during the 60s, inconsonant from the more basic 20s look. accentuating the shadow while suppressing a more natural facial look was in fashion. With a more experimental aspect being adopted towards the end of the decade.
The 1980s was also known for its very bright and colourful manner but in an altered way than the 60s.
the 80s were heavily influenced by pop culture and celebrities such as madonna. the cloth was very bold, in your face and definitely made a statement. This also applied for the makeup too!
the 80s was very bright with their eyeshadows rather than neutral tones. hair and shadow was the main focus of makeup. curly perms and blow outs were v popular amongst most woman in their 20s+ so the big hair and bold makeup were very complimentary of each other.
Vivian Westwood was an iconic designer in the 80s who produced a fair amount of avant garde runway pieces in a punk style.
To this day vivian is still producing alot of punk style collections.
Punk fashion was on the uprise in 80s, from spiked mohicans, leather jackets and colourful hair. These people were deemed as the outcasts of society as they didn’t fit into the social norm. Dr marten boots were a big part of the outfit as they are big chunky platform shoes, which are still trend and in fashion today.
the 2000s fashion very similar to the 1990s so i am going to write about them as one. This era was alot more toned down from the 60s and 80s, it was very basic and casual wear. for women low rise baggy jeans and cropped tops were a go-to as well as silk tracksuit, the “juicy” brand in particular was very popular amongst women.
alot of womens fashion was influenced by rnb girl groups such as destiny's child or singers such as Brittany spears and reality tv stars like Paris Hilton.
men wore over sized clothes, this applied for their tshirts and ridiculously baggy boot leg jeans. This was a look that was widely worn by rappers and rnb singers like nelly. because this type of fashion was so casual it was affordable for all classes of people.
this casual style carried into the early 2010s . Fashion was beginning to become more fast pace due to social influence and more social media platforms having leverage over what seemed to be “in trend”
typically what was in style seemed to last a decade however from the 2010s upward styles seem to change by the year.
through the years it seems as though people have found their own unique style rather than crumbing to fit into societal norms and social media pressure to look a certain way.
During the early 2000s period there was alot of societal pressure to look a certain way. And that way was THIN. This is due to alot of toxic advertising of what a body is supposed to look like. Most models would in this time period would be a size 4-6 and models size 8-10 would be classed as “plus size” or be bashed for being “fat”.
This made it harder for more average sized and bigger people to find more stylish clothing. Its was not inclusive of normal sizes. to this day there is still a slight problem with size inclusivity even though we have come such a long way in normalising fast pace fashion for all sizes.
Here are some example of how early 2000s fashion was only publicised on smaller women. This was very damaging mentally for anyone who didnt look this way as it was pushed onto the minds of people that only this body type was desirable.
however in modern times we have come along way in being inclusive with all people, all ethnicities, disabilities and sizes.
Body positivity is more in trend now than ever with celebrities such as kim kardashian with her new skims line.
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