The 80's

I recently reflected that the eighties teens I remember from when I was a small child are now in their late thirties. How did so much time pass by? They are glowing, their sun-tanned tight thighs in faded ill-fitting cuttoffs, or jeans slashed everywhere around the knees and below the bum. They are natural, careless, edgy, everything about them is made to draw attention, the t-shirts with slogans, the tight tight shiny lycra in bright and fluro colours that the women in their thirties prefer, the punk-inspired hair and the still-new concept of facial and body piercings, and shock is a friendly word. They brim over, they are dressed for sunshine, the couples are physical, walking with their hands in each other’s jean pockets entwined. The ones in my mind are big and bright, from a time when they were very young, and I was very small- now they have a past rather than a future and the course and meaning of their life has pretty much been written, although they still have many years ahead. The eighties Retro fashion now might be the reason why I remember them, but the “revival” barely does it justice, resembling the toned stylish minimalism in the dressing of a dancer on the way to the studio more than anything else. The tights now are cute, but the ones of the eighties were horrendous and tasteless, made of materials that looked vulgar, and worn by crash-dieting bony women past their prime, or the overweight whose silhouettes were outlined dimple by dimple. The sleek headbands made of modern materials, intricate embroidered looks for just a couple of dollars, diamantes and lace artfully arranged, on a thin plastic or stretchy black fabric, don’t really recall the feel of the bulky Alice band plonked on top of a face framed by a clunky fringe or a stressed head of perm. People might have different opinions on this, but I think the ideal of the 80’s was to make an impact and create attention, and that apparently the more unpleasant or extreme the look, the more positive a thing it was considered.

Russian Dress and Fashion

Symmetry, bright colours and solid shapes were used to decorate the bodies of Russians. Composition was very important, with the basic look being symmetrical and balanced. Embroidery and trimming were used, and furs and decorative fabrics with gold and silver. This helped to project a stately, dignified image. A headdress was an important part of a Russian outfit. Bright, bold colours are used, often in impressive contrasting shades, and the Russian word for “beautiful” comes from the word for red, which, “krasny”.

The traditional Russian dress was called a sarafan, and the cap they wore was called a kokoshnik.

Aztec Beauty- born "without a face"

In the Aztec understanding of the world, people would enter the world “without a face”. Only by taking on a role in society and learning from it, could they become beautiful. The face and the heart in mesoAmerica were thought of as indivisible- rostro y corazón.
Records show that Aztecs believed in personal cleanliness and bathed regularly in rivers and lakes, using scented soap, while Montezuma bathed twice daily. Women seem to have generally been discouraged from adorning themselves too ornately, or painting their faces, and they had long hair, with the hairstyles of married women being elaborate and ornate. . On the other hand, concubines painted their faces elaborately, with more of a sculpted, ceremonial look, as opposed to the natural, wholesome look preferred by ordinary women.

Georgian Hairstyles

False hair, created into elaborate curls which defied gravity, were the style in Georgial era in Britain and France. The styling of hair in these elaborate styles took hours, and the styles were expected to last for at least a week. Women went to extraordinary lengths to keep these styles, sleeping sitting up. The natural hair of the women was dressed around horsehair and frames, and finally large volumes of false hair was added, rising as much as half the woman’s own height above her head!

These extraordinary hairstyles were often topped with decorations which were like model scenes of ships or farmyards. Alternatively, lavish Gainsborough hats might top off the hairstyle.The taste for the artificial extended beyond the hairstyle, and Georgian women frequently had false teeth, and dilated their pupils using Belladonna from the Deadly Nightshade plant. They used patches of valvet cut into pretty shapes to cover smallpox scars, and doused their clothes and belongings in toilet waters and perfumes.

Beauty Ideals in Fiji

In Fiji, traditionally the body was seen to reflect the community in which the individual lived, rather than the identity of just the individual themselves. Hence a well-fed body was seen to reflect the wealth of the family or community, and so there was also a sense that the body belonged to or was part of the community. The individual was part of the web of interactions in which he or she existed, and body weight also reflected this. In a nation traditionally affected by famine and food shortage, as in many other parts of the world a robust weight was seen as beautiful.

Traditionally, Fijian women would eat as much as they wanted at a meal, and then lie down afterwards. A lack of appetite and thinness were seen as unhealthy and undesirable.

Modern Popular Beauty Standards

Beauty as typically portrayed in the pop media, womens’ magazines and mens’ magazines, gossip magazines, Hollywood etc.

The emphasis on the superficial is often criticized, although by definition the same could be said of any physical standard of beauty. Should a focus on true beauty be beneath the surface? If so, there is probably no culture which has achieved this idea that it is “what’s inside that counts”.

The current physical ideal can however be described as very sculpted, and, partly because present day women in Western countries have the money and leisure to spend on their looks, the process is more time-consuming and detailed than it was a few generations ago. An increasing number of semi-permanent and permanent transformation procedures are available- for example, plastic surgery, some of the most common being breast implants, liposuction, botox and rhinoplasty, as well as permanent hair removal through electrolysis, various anti-aging and toning procedures on the skin using lazers and other technology, tanning beds and creams, as well as whitening creams, realignment of teeth. There are also other procedures which are partially cosmetic, such as lazer eye surgery. Many of these procedures are about “fixing” perceived flaws which detract from a standard of how a beautiful person is “supposed” to look naturally. In this way, the current procedures are a bit different to some other well-known examples of societies where physical alteration of the women’s body was important, when a particular extraordinary trait was treasured, be it a long neck, tiny feet or a dome-shaped skull. The thinking behind most of these procedures is probably not to stand out in a negative way, rather than to be noticed in a positive way. For example, people are presumably feeling this way when they are taking on orthodontic treatment, teeth whitening, or a nose job on a nose they perceive to be too large or oddly shaped, as well as most efforts relating to reducing body weight. Many beauty products such as makeup also is often used for this function, and ideas of “hiding your flaws” or “imperfections” are influence the cut of clothing that people wear. Fashion is of course also used to “show off your assets”, “be noticed”, and to “express yourself”. All of these ideas do have in common the concept that looks are a part of your identity, and can influence the perception of your identity.