My fair lady

As we come around to the ‘20s once again, let’s make the latest beauty trend a celebration of what makes us unique

Have you ever fretted your feet weren’t small enough, as the foot-bound ladies of ancient China must once have done? Or bandaged your chest to meet the boyish figure your 1920s sisters admired? Probably not, and yet you may have, at least once, thought it might be nice to sport an on-trend thigh gap – even though your Victorian ancestors might have worried you’d descended into abject poverty and starvation. ‘People have always wanted women to look a certain way, right back to antiquity,’ says UK historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes. An expert in ancient history who has featured on several BBC documentaries and written books on the subject, Bettany uses Cleopatra – the last Pharaoh of Egypt – as an example of how our perception of beauty not only changes, but can be skewed over time. ‘Cleopatra is famous for being one of the most beautiful women who ever lived, but we know from coins minted at the time that she was probably quite jowly, with a hooked nose and a low forehead,’ she says. In other words, Cleopatra may not have fit the bill for what we’d call a “classic” beauty, let alone beauty of mythological proportions. So what was it about this ancient Egyptian ruler that caught history’s imagination? ‘We think when people were talking about Cleopatra’s beauty, they were actually talking about her power,

100 years of beauty

Fashion trends – and the definition of what is beautiful – have changed with almost every decade of the 20th century

1900s

Most women would have squeezed into restrictive whale bone corsets that lifted and accentuated busts and cinched waists to a tiny 20 inches or less (ouch!).

World War II

For the first time, women in the Western world started wearing ‘slacks’ or trousers as mainstream fashion – inspired by their changing roles as they entered the workforce and were often required to wear masculine uniforms.

Roaring ’20s

The 1920s saw the rise of youth culture and a golden age of travel, sport and leisure. Girls defied their mothers by opting for a youthful, boyish silhouette and shorter hemlines – enabling them to Charleston the night away.

1950s

With men back from war, there was a push back to more traditional feminine roles and looks. This was also the baby boom era, so a wholesome, child-bearing look was coveted.

which gave her a magnetic charisma.’ says Bettany. In a similar sense, Helen of Troy was described as having “the beauty of a Goddess” and “the face that launched a thousand ships” – but again this is more likely to relate to her power, particularly over men, according to Bettany. ‘There was a kind of trembling respect for these women. They didn’t necessarily have nice lips or fluttery eyelashes, but they had an attractiveness from being in control,’ she says. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with expressing yourself through fashion, and staying fit and healthy, but taking a look through how wildly different concepts of beauty have been throughout history – even the 20th century alone (see below) – can act as a reminder of why these looks are so often unrealistic and unattainable; from corsets accentuating full hips and tiny waists to sporting shoulder pads that put your male boss’s A-frame silhouette to shame … What if, instead of society establishing beauty trends and all of us trying to adjust to them, we instead celebrated our differences? As we come around to the ’20s once again (the 2020s, that is), let’s make this the latest beauty “trend” – and one that lasts! That is, by defining beauty by what makes you, you – which means choosing clothing and cosmetics that help make you the best version of who you are – including the years of wisdom and experience you’ve accumulated. As the saying goes, ‘I’m not beautiful like you. I’m beautiful like me’.

‘They didn’t necessarily have nice lips or fluttery eyelashes, but they had an attractiveness from being in control’

Swinging ‘60s–70s

A strong counter-culture movement characterised this era – anti-war, civil rights, free love, flower power – which saw a radical revolution in not only fashion, but society in general. Fashion trends became more individualised and changed among subcultures – from mods and rockers to hippies, and later disco and punk.

1980s

Career women of the ’80s used fashion (think power suits with shoulder pads and big hair) to elevate their status in a male-driven workforce. This period also saw a health and fitness craze, with taut and tanned bodies flaunted in fluorescent leotards.

1990s

From the glamazon supermodels of the ’80s, catwalks became dominated with almost alienthin, androgynous women. But that’s not all that defined beauty in the 90s. Who could forget the “Rachel” haircut?

Noughties to now

While trends come and go (including many with a nostalgic nod to bygone eras), rules and norms are perhaps fewer than ever before. Actresses and catwalk models remain controversially thin, however there is also a push away from this with curvier pop culture icons.