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We asked Cassie what makes her feel empowered.
Learning to care less about what people think. I’m not there yet, but it’s very liberating to feel comfortable in your own skin without approval from others.
1915 saw the birth of the first pre-packed mascara, a new category of makeup, but it was still an inordinately messy affair and eye makeup was almost exclusively worn by film stars and musicians. “It took until the 1920s, when film really took off, for a shift to occur. Eyes had to be extra expressive to convey emotion on the silent screen – and women sought to emulate their on-screen heroes,” says Besame. From then on, eye makeup has vacillated with each decade. The ‘hello party’ smoky eyes of the 20s made way for the war-rationed pencil-thin brows and near-bare eyes of the 30s and 40s. In the 50s and 60s, as youth culture exploded, eye makeup took centre stage with maximal mascara, XXL eyeliner and lashings of lashes. Mass market makeup was born. But soon, so too was the Women's Liberation Movement which, in the 70s, implored everyone to reject beauty stereotypes and go au naturel, only for the pendulum to swing back with pure, unadulterated 80s excess – resulting in a kaleidoscope of eyeshadows and bolshy brows. “But that changed in the 90s,” says Besame, “as women wanted to be taken seriously in the boardroom. Suddenly everything is brown – emulating power and playing down overt femininity by way of neutrals.” Only with the rise of reality TV and more makeup artists joining the fray in the form of YouTube tutorials in the 2010s, she adds, did the mode for exaggeration in makeup return.
“The rise of men doing tutorials, with their roots in drag makeup helped spark this very contoured, exaggerated idea of femininity.”
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old Queen Vic made a public declaration that makeup was vulgar and improper, thanks to its associations with prostitutes.
Eyes Go Viral
Today, like never before, eyes are in the spotlight. There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to prompt us to reassess the little things in life; namely, our relationship with our makeup and its emotional facility to lend a sense of control in times of uncertainty, as well as boost confidence. But it’s the advent of the compulsory mask that has had the most marked impact; “In a society where only the eyes are on display, using them to radiate our internal world could be what keeps us more socially connected. Wearing a pretty liner or playing up the eyes with colour can add a new playful element to experimenting with makeup and will help people to continue expressing their individuality,” says Pycroft. Without sounding too frivolous, eyes are back in style. And while these highly developed sensory organs serve to make sense of a world in flux, they also happen to look rather fabulous with a slick of mascara and a fierce eyeliner flick. So sharpen those eyeliner pencils, dust off your eyeshadow brushes and arm yourselves with your favourite mascara, now, more than ever, is time for a little rock ‘n’ kohl.
AW2020 | ISSUE 1 | GLOW | 89