Strange Fashion Facts Unveiled

Makeup, to me, is still an anomaly. While IÂ’ve managed to pick two relatively decent shades of mineral foundation (no one has a single-tone skin color) and can reasonably apply eye shadow, there are still a few skills that evade me. Eyeliner must have been designed as a cruel trick. I canÂ’t apply it with a pencil, liquid pen, or even the nice brush and pallet picked up a few months ago.

Of course, it wasnÂ’t until recently that I realized that the average women didnÂ’t even have the luxuries we have now until very recently. Makeup and fashion have certainly evolved over the years, and the industry has taken some incredibly odd twists and turns.

Did you know, for example, that fake eyelashes were invented for a Hollywood movie? A producer by the name of D.W. Griffith had false eyelashes made out of human hair to enhance the look of actress Seena OwenÂ’s eyes.

Back in the day (meaning, a few hundred years ago), women used berries and natural colorings found in their environments to color their cheeks and face. Today we apply lipstick and very few of us realize that the gooey stuff weÂ’re putting on our lips is full of fish scales.

Women from royal bloodlines changed their clothes several times per day. And while we would hang our clothes up for another day they would never see them again – instead giving them away to their slaves or those beneath them. One wear – my father would have killed me had I done that with a dress he paid good money for while I was growing up!

Oh yea, and slacks? Women never wore them before the 1930s. Actress Marlene Dietrich wore a pair during the filming of a movie called “Morocco.”

After that women who wanted slacks had to purchase them in the menÂ’s department because womenÂ’s clothing manufacturers hadnÂ’t yet figured out how to cater the design of pants for women!

We have, of course, been graced with dozens of other odd fashion trends over the years – from Madonna’s bullet bra to dying our hair a multitude of colors. No matter what happens, though, fashion will continue to grow and evolve. Some trends will be classy, some will be average, and some will be downright strange. It’ll be up to you to decide which you like best!

Image credits:  nutmeg/Flickr, ourchart.com