EYELINER YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW: HOW HAS ITS LINE CHANGED IN TIME?

Time goes by, trends change and likewise does style. Has it ever happened to you to look at old pictures and smile in noticing how esthetic taste changes from one decade to the other? The typical reaction in seeing old pictures is “What was I thinking??” but, back then you felt very smart because the trend of the moment was asking for that particular style: padded shoulders, pointed toes, mini skirts, bomber jackets… the truth is that what is absolutely à la page in a certain period of time looks outdated even just a few years later.

The turnover of trends obviously doesn’t regard only wardrobes, but make-up as well. Eyeliner for example is a cosmetic product that has always been present in our beauty cases. It can emphasize the gaze, making the eyes look magnetic, and just like an accessory it has gone through the different trends of each period of time.

Khol is its historical ancestor, and its origins trace back to ancient Egypt. Thinking about the Pharaohs’ times, everybody surely remembers Cleopatra’s endless line, and also, at the time of ancient Rome a black khol line was used to emphasize the gaze as a symbol of femininity. But it is actually since the ‘20s and ‘30s that women just can’t do without this precious ally and always use it even if in different styles.

At the time of silent films smokey black eyes with showy false lashes were a must, then came the diva style, an Old Hollywood line that started out thin and got thicker following the eye contour, with no tail… every woman wanted to look like Greta Garbo. Not to forget the pin-up line that ended with an arch traced with a precise trait that went upwards towards the temple and was emphasized by false lashes. But, later on, the line that really conquers every woman is the thin and stretched outwards one, inspired by Audrey Hepburn, an evergreen style icon, a synonym of class and bon ton style.

But the real heyday period for eyeliner were the ‘70s, when it becomes the true star of the most transgressive and revolutionary decade. Eyeliner could enhance the beauty of those women who were proud of their femininity and flaunted it with no restrain.

In the ‘80s dramatic eye make-up is back, eyeliner becomes thicker and layered, while in the ‘90s the trend calls for more sobriety in application.

Today with or without tail, in the style of Amy Winehouse or chic just like Angelina Jolie, eyeliner does not really follow specific trends, let’s say it rather tells about the style of the person who wears it. Season after season, on fashion show runways it gets reinvetend, it takes a step back into the past to get inspiration from yesterday’s icons, it becomes either graphic or dramatic or minimal, mixing inspirations and moods. It is the proof of how for make-up just as for fashion, the only rule is that there are “no rules”.

L'articolo EYELINER YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW: HOW HAS ITS LINE CHANGED IN TIME? sembra essere il primo su Pupa Style, PUPA Milano's blog.