Victorian and Edwardian Research

 

Victorian and Edwardian Research:

 

The Victorian era was a “time of industrial, societal and cultural development with Britain as one of the leading countries” (The Fashion Folks, 2016) and the middle class became the most influential class rather than the upper class like in pervious eras. The classic belief that men should be educated and work whereas women would take care of the home was still extremely valid, Queen Victoria didn’t like makeup and preferred an ‘undone look’ and she believed women should look as natural as possible.










Victoria, 1890 (Britannica)

Visible makeup was frowned upon and women wouldn’t apply makeup in public, a pale face was desired as it was a sign of nobility, it showed a woman was ‘protected from the sun’ as she didn’t have to work. Rosy cheeks and lips were also desired, and the eyebrows should be well defined and well plucked (The Fashion Folks, 2016), to achieve this, women would apply a layer of zinc oxide powder and they would use fruits, flowers or beets on the lips and cheeks, carmine could also be used or women would pinch their cheeks and bite they lips to give a rosy look. Doe eyes was desirable which meant that women would also put lemon or orange juice in their eyes to achieve this look (The Fashion Folks, 2016).

According to society unmade up skin and luxuriant hair meant that you were ladylike and obvious makeup meant that you had low morals, society decided how a woman should look rather than women themselves and prostitutes often wore strong makeup.











Hairdressers became popular during this time as women wanted their hair done professionally, middle parts were desired as the British reflected the French. Women would often wear flowers in their hair and hairstyles reflected a persons status in life, this meant that upper class women rarely wore their hair down as it was thought to be a woman’s most valuable asset and the hair was kept long. Upper class women would have their hair intricately braided or in a twisted updo whereas long waves were mostly kept for models and actresses. However, no matter the hairstyle, the most important thing was that it was neat, and the hair had to be kept shiny and clean. Hairstyles were also used to make the body appear balanced as the focus was on the “silhouette of the human body” (MSC, 2018).

Jack the Ripper was an active murderer in Whitechapel in 1888 and he is still unidentified today, he is one of the most famous serial killers and his other nicknames include ‘The Whitechapel Murderer’ and ‘Leather Apron.’ He had 5 known victims, all of which were prostitutes, his first victim was Mary Ann Nichols, her body was found on 31st of August 1888, she was found with a slit throat and abdominal injuries.







The second victim was Annie Chapman whose body was found on 8th September 1888 and she was also found with a slit throat and abdominal injuries.








His third victim was Elizabeth Stride whose body was found on 30th September with a slit throat, it was believed he was disturbed and didn’t have time to mutilate the body which frustrated him, this then led to his fourth victim.










His fourth victim was Catherine Eddowes whose body was found less than an hour after Elizabeth Stride’s on 30th September with a slit throat, disfigured face, cut ear and her intestines had been pulled out and placed over her shoulder.










The fifth victim was Mary Jane Kelly whose body was found 9th November 1888 with flesh from the legs, abdomen and neck had been removed, the abdomen was emptied and the breasts had been removed and placed under the head and foot. Also, the arms were mutilated, and the face had been hacked off (Britannica, 2007).








Books such as Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, and books by Charles Dickens such as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations describe life in Victorian Britain.

The Edwardian era began 1901 and lasted until 1910 and King Edward’s style was influenced by the art and fashion of Continental Europe. The Gibson Girl is also a popular look which helps describe Edwardian makeup and the film ‘Mary Poppins’ is set in 1910 Edwardian England.

From this we can determine that Edwardian makeup consisted of pale skin, dark, defined eyebrows, subtle rouge, and orange/red lips.

Also, in the 19th Century, Geishas were the equivalent to supermodels.


Bibliography:

The Fashion Folks (2016) Victorian Era Makeup Available at: https://www.thefashionfolks.com/blog/victorian-era-makeup/#:~:text=Ideals%20of%20Victorian%20Era%20Makeup&text=The%20face%20should%20be%20pale,%2Ddefined%20and%20well%2Dplucked (Accessed: 5th October 2020)

Britannica (2007) Victoria Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Victoria-queen-of-United-Kingdom#/media/1/627603/76076 (Accessed: 5th October 2020)

Minnesota School of Cosmetology (2018) Historical Hairstyles: From Victorian Times to Today Available at: https://www.msccollege.edu/blogs/hair/historical-hairstyles/#:~:text=The%20most%20important%20aspect%20of,made%20the%20body%20appear%20balanced (Accessed: 5th October 2020)

Britannica (2007) Jack the Ripper Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-the-Ripper (Accessed: 5th October 2020)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1990s Research

Image
1990s Research: Makeup in the 1990s was very varied and contained lots of different subcultures including heroin chic, grunge, indie, raves were still popular, and the Ibiza theme became very popular which meant that festivals were very popular. Heroin chic was a look that consisted of pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and looking unhealthily skinny and almost emaciated. Some people described the models as looking skeletal and there was a public outcry as it glamourized drug use and eating disorders. Heroin became popular against middle classes and could be snorted rather than injected which removed some of the previous stigma, it was shown in fashion through unhealthily skinny models but also in films such as ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Trainspotting’ (The Recovery Village, 2019). Some models that are famously known for this are Kate Moss, Jaime King, and Jodie Kidd and Calvin Klein were one of the most famous brands using heroin chic in their campaigns and many famous models posed f...
Read more

Prosthetics Making and Experimentation

Image
  Prosthetics Making and Experimentation: 15 th February 2021: Today I used my sculptures to create the rest of my prosthetics. These are my right ear prosthetics: These are my face and chin prosthetics: They will be separated before being put on the face. These are my eyebrow prosthetics: These are my nose prosthetics:  17 th February 2021: Today I began experimenting with my prosthetics and loosely applied them to the face to get a vague idea of how they will look on the face. I applied an earpiece, cheek and nose piece to the face and practiced painting them. This is the earpiece: This ear prosthetic fit really well, however, the paint could be slightly more blended to prevent the colours appearing blocky. This is the cheek piece: The paint could have been slightly more blended, and I could use a smaller brush to shade the grooves as the lines are too thick. This is the nose: The nose fits really well but I could use cotton underneath to prevent ...
Read more

1970s Research

Image
  1970s Research: The 1970s was extremely diverse and makeup ranged from very natural to very intense with different subcultures including disco and punk. Natural makeup was also popular. Blush was quite natural in terms of both colour and application and creams, powders and gel formulas were used. From the mid-1970s, blush became more intense and was in stripes across the cheeks sometimes even from the temples down. A tanned look was desired which means that bronzer was used to create a sun-kissed glow (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). Eyebrows ranged from very skinny and over-plucked to slightly thicker, skinny eyebrows were curved similar to how they were in the 1920s and thicker eyebrows were slightly shaped with an arch, these were similar to the eyebrows in the 1950s (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). Eyeliner varied depending on the subculture you were part of people who wore more natural makeup often wouldn’t wear eyeliner, but others would wear it on t...
Read more