Book time: "Compacts and Cosmetics" - Inter-war: the rising of Hollywood

This is part of a series of posts on beauty through history, following the book of historian Madeleine Marsh: Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day.

• Introduction and "the long 19th century"
• Inter-war: the rising of Hollywood
• War and Post-war: a society in recovery
• Baby boomers: when teenagers are consumers
• Capitalism wins: supermodels, super products

Expect to see a new text every tuesday until the end of August.

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The 1920's

The Great War represented a big shift in society. Never before had a war caused so many deaths, needed so many men and been so cruel. With fire arms one didn't need to face the enemy anymore, which represented an enormous change on how war was fought.

With men away in the front, women were to take over new tasks and work. The body had to be more free to perform certain movements, and so in the 1920's we see much loser garments that certainly look very different and feel much more comfortable compared to that "S" Edwardian silhouette.

It's interesting to see though how this flat body shape took over and became the idea of beauty (that certainly happens all the time), to the point of actually there being binders to help women compress theirs bodies and achieve the desired boyish look.

In make-up, everything seemed more exaggerated: rouge, dark and bright shades of lipstick and an incredibly thin eyebrow, usually shaved and drawn over with a pencil. By the way, body hair was suddenly of great concern, since dresses were more revealing and more skin was exposed. And so a number of products espefically designed for depilation were suddenly available.

The author draws attention to how products were advertised at this time. Relying on women's insecurity, advertisers asked if you were hairy, smelly or wrinkly to sell razors, deodorants (a brand new product, can you believe it?), Q-tips, mouth washers, powders among other products. 

What I certainly think abhorrent is how these ads paved the way to reinforce women's dissatisfaction with their (actually "our") bodies up to the present time. But even though I find the need we feel even today to be always depilated and smelling like strawberries, I certainly buy the idea that a lot of it is personal hygiene. I know, I'm contradictory.

The 1930's

Now, this is a decade I still don't quite get and plan on researching, but I'll tell the little I understand of it.

As I see it, this is when Hollywood really took off, with sound films increasingly popular and movie stars on the spot. Max Factor, who was already a film industry authority, invented and commercialized the pancake in the late 30s. With colored movies, foundation had to have different colors while still providing a flawless skin to be showcased in close-ups. People were eager to know what stars used and imitate them, so it seems like this decade was when make-up previously designed for performing arts became more readily available to a broad audience.

 

I can't avoid thinking glamour when talking about the 30s. Wavy hair, bright red lipstick and shiny fabrics. Apparently the new created star system (at first, actors weren't supposed to be famous in order to avoid high salaries) made it for great publicity not only for movies, but brands and style in general. You could copy a look with the right technique and products and actresses even used make-up as a way of distinguishing themselves: Bette Davies applied her lipstick ignoring the cupid's bow, while Joan Crawford went for enlarging it. Eye make-up was also becoming more elaborate with the use of eyeshadows and a lot of mascara.

In conclusion, it seems that the inter-war period was when make-up really secured its place as a contant in women's lives. The beautiful compacts from those decades are also a sign of this change, when painting one's face wasn't a private act and something to hide, but rather to show-off: and Hollywood played a great part in it.

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Next up: we'll talk about the war and post-war era: the severity of the early 40s and the soviety in recovery in the 50s.


All images were taken from the book "Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day". Except for the picture of the abdominal binder (taken from the private collection of the author, Madeleine Marsh), all other images are in public domain.

Book time: "Compacts and Cosmetics" - Introduction and "the long 19th century"

As I have previously posted, the book of the hour is Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day, which I've been wanting to read ever since I saw the author, Madeleine Marsh, in two Lisa Eldridge videos about the history of make-up.

Since it is a rather long period to write about and there are a number of things which I'd like to draw attention to, I thought it would be better to split my comments into a series of posts. Following political history, I decided to divide my posts into:

• Introduction and "the long 19th century"
• Inter-war: the rising of Hollywood
• War and Post-war: a society in recovery
• Baby boomers: when teenagers are consumers
• Capitalism wins: supermodels, super products

Expect to see a new text every tuesday until the end of August.

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The book covers, as the title says, the Victorian times onwards, with a little introduction on beauty in the Ancient world, going briefly into the Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations. This is mainly to stress how the concern about body image isn't something new, but could actually be traced far back in human history.

As the author is also a historian the focus when writing about an accessory or a particular cosmetic is more towards the use of it and the particular historical moment rather than a pure fetish on the object and its physical description. Although it may not suit avid collectors, this point of view provides an insight on the lives and cosmovision shared by subjects of the time.

Although I'll be writing mainly about the aspects of change in fashion and thinking, Madeleine Marsh also tells how big stores and brands were started and certain products were invented, which are absolutely among the nicest parts of her book, providing a fun, entertaining and yet informative read.


The Victorian Era

Marsh starts at the 1800s when no make-up was allowed and the vanities were expressed through skincare and an obsession with hair. As we know, the 19th century was a very conservative time: etiquette was everything and the idea of tradition reigned, creating rituals from the pompous crowning of Queen Victoria (which came to set the tone for every subsequent crowning and royal wedding ceremony) to the very dressing of common women. Tight corsets and gloves, wigs and some creams were used daily.

If you like me watch a number of BBC series based on period novels, you know that blushing was not a desirable quality, as a woman could never show her feelings, especially if they were directed to men. Therefore, rouge was confined to the stage and to prostitutes (as actresses were also viewed).

To me it was particularly amusing to see those old advertisements. As we often see those wonderful films portraying beautiful and clear skin women from the 19th century, is hard to imagine how it actually was, when hygiene wasn't what it is today and even soaps were just beggining to be widely commercialized. I get the chills thinking about them curling their hair - and eventually burning them - and then having to reach for those wigs and toupès!

The Edwardian Era

The approach on cosmetics change: if before the association they had with the stage was a negative one, with enterpreneurs now looking for famous actresses (whose beauty was admired by everybody, particularly by men) to endorse their products rouge and powder become acceptable, even though mainly for the upper classes. Make-up in general was still regarded as something theatrical, but the availability and diversity of products began to increase due to the changes in illumination, which required more attention to skin.

The creation of department stores also represented a big change on how people, especially women, consumed. (Please watch the Mr. Selfridge BBC series, it portrays exactly this moment.) Selfridges was the first store ever to put cosmetics right at the front, transforming it into a delight and something to show off, rather than to conceal.

Women were beggining to work, to ask for certain rights (like voting) and to question standards. It seems to me like this was a time when even if just to a certain limited extent, women were doing it all for themselves - even if also to prove themselves.

It is very interesting to see how the sillhouette changes dramatically from the victorian woman, all suffocated in fabrics. True, the edwardian fashion was not so forgiving (it was still required to wear corsets to achieve the Gibson Girl look, but at least this provided more freedom to move and bycicles were adapted for women to ride them.

The raising participation of women in the working force was to be even more accentuated during the Great War, which finally ended the long and conservative 19th century.

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Next up: we'll talk about the inter-war period: the crazy 1920s and the golden era of Hollywood.


All images were taken from the book "Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day". Except for the picture with the cold creams (taken from the private collection of the author, Madeleine Marsh), all other images are in public domain.

Price tip: "Compacts and Cosmetics", by Madeleine Marsh (ebook)

One book I have been wanting to read for a long time is Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty From Victorian Times to the Present Day, which I first heard of through Lisa Eldrigde. I haven’t finished it yet, but since I’m really enjoying the reading I thought I’d share the opportunity with you.

Amazon is selling the e-book version (for Kindle, but you can download the app for your smartphone or Mac/Windows computer) for the incredible price of US$0.88. That’s it.

You can click the title of the book (linked to Amazon website) and enjoy yourself. The book has many pictures of vintage packagings and ads as well. Anyway, I’ll leave the comments to when I decide to properly write about it.

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By the way, I’m feeling more and more excited about discovering the world of vintage fashion and cosmetics, especially the establishing of stores and brands. Do you have any recommendations on books or movies about the subject? I’ve devoured Mr. Selfridge and The Paradise (BBC series) and have the Émile Zola book waiting to be read, but don’t know what else is out there.