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Stylized Eyes
| Article
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15649 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1989 |
828 Words |
| Author
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Wendi Winters
Wendi Winters is the fashion writer for Manhattan's West Side
Spirit as well as a special correspondent for the Antelope
Valley Press. She has written several fashion articles for THE
WORLD & I. |
Eyes that bedazzle, bewitch, and beguile. Eyes that flirt and beckon. Eyes that speak of passions poets have yet to record. These are the eyes any woman can have through the combined wizardry of modern technology and application arts that have been practiced since the beginning of recorded history.
Today, American women spend over $4 billion annually on cosmetic products to make their eyes appear bigger, brighter, and more attractive. Why? Simply put, eyes are the windows of a woman's personality. In close encounters, a man usually looks first at a woman's eyes. Fashion consultants do not consider a modern woman's "look" to be polished unless her maquillage includes made-up eyes.
Pots, Palettes, and Paintbrushes
The ancient Egyptians left us a trove of information regarding every aspect of their lives, including their lavish, ritualized use of cosmetics and conspicuous use of eye makeup. Pots, palettes, and paintbrushes bear residues of the kohl and facial paints that upper-class Egyptians considered essential for everyday life. During the era of the pharaohs, both men and women wore the stylized eye makeup immortalized in statues of Nefertiti and Tutankhamen. They were not alone--many of their Mesopotamian neighbors also recorded the use of eye cosmetics among both sexes.
The practice of painting the eyes has drifted in and out of favor over the centuries. In medieval England, antiwitchcraft laws were enacted prohibiting the use of makeup. Under these laws, a marriage could be annulled if it were found that a woman had used facial cosmetics to lure a man to the altar--a sort of early version of today's "truth in packaging" laws.
The Victorians eschewed eye makeup, though the use of toiletries and some cosmetics was revived in this era. Ironically, in the late 1800s, photography became popular, and the lens did not lie about what it saw. Photographs of female British royals were often heavily retouched around the eyes to remove traces of wrinkles and dark undereye circles.
Heavy-lidded Eyes
The twentieth century introduced the emancipated woman, most often typified by the footloose flappers of the Jazz Age and the new motion picture stars. These sophisticated ladies served as pulp magazine and silver screen role models for the
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