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Tuesday 26 April 2011

Makeup Through Time

Some words of wisdom stick with us forever. They help us take risks ("only regret the things you don't do"), help us make wise decisions (do unto others....) and others just simply make it impossible for me to browse Vogue ads without scrutinising the styling to pinpoint the era of influence.

Last year, Sam (from Pixiwoo) pointed out during a lesson on makeup history, that almost any print ad will have drawn on a time in style history for it's inspiration. At the time, I casually flicked through a couple of magazines and thought 'hmmmm'. Now, it's become almost an obsession. I buy Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire et al and spend about 80% of my reading time scrutinising the ads, trying to work out which is the prominent era. Look below, you'll see she was right too...

Please excuse the shoddy quality of the pics, I took them all on my iPhone. All of these pics are from May 2011 Vogue (UK).


Louis Vuitton
A supremely modern take on the 20's. Check out those blacker than black lips & owl shaped eyes.
Still not convinced? How about that straight, downward facing eyebrow...


Marc Jacobs
The bright bold prints, the flares & the massive hats scream 1970's. But that's a dupe. Check out that makeup & you go straight back into the flapper 20's!

Dior
Some all-american 40's post-war babe?

Dolce & Gabbana
A red lip can sometimes be hard to pin-point. Tell tale signs of the period include tone of red, shape of the lips & the styling of the rest of the makeup. This one is verging on a sort of neutral modern basic red lip look, but the sexy sleepy eyes & strong arched brows are just a little too reminiscent of Monroe. I'm going with 50's.

Michael Kors
This could easily be dismissed as a pretty, glowing modern makeup, but the beachy hair & slightly brown lipstick kicks out 1990's to me.

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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 April 2011 at 20:18

    I like the Dolce&Gabbana one the most :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hannah26 April 2011 at 20:34

    Thats such a cool idea! Definitely something I will be looking out for :o) x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous27 April 2011 at 15:08

    Inspiring. I love make-up and fashion of the past!

    Amy x

    http://thevirtualstylist.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. EmmeFatale27 April 2011 at 23:13

    The Dior advert makes me want to buy a fun, flirty dress and curl my hair.

    ReplyDelete
  5. xxShivvyxx28 April 2011 at 20:54

    I loved this post! I liked looking at the photos and trying to work out what eras were the inspiration and then looking to see what you said :)

    I talked about you on my blog and started a tag :) http://xxshivvyxx.blogspot.com/2011/04/7-things-and-7-blogs-tag.html

    xxShivvyxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1 May 2011 at 16:29

    I loved this. It was so interesting. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete