Historical Beauty?

[3113]

I'd like to do a little informal survey here. I picked the following ladies to represent their time periods (20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's). Obviously, there were many beauties of different types that I might have picked from each decade, but I wanted a good large shot, and I wanted to keep to black-and-white. Also glamour shots. Trying to ignore any thoughts or feelings you might have for these women as actresses, just looking them as representatives of a time period and what was viewed as glamorous/beautiful in that period (for whatever reason)....what do you think?

What positives can you give for each? What negatives? Which is your favorite, and why? Which women do you think will always be viewed as beautiful no matter how tastes in beauty change--meaning which ones transcend, and why? And do you think any are really not beautiful any longer, or do you feel they can all still be called beautiful?

I'd also like to know which elements of femininity from these decades have, in your opinion, kept and will keep their potency decade after decade whether or not they're in stye, which features were a beautiful then, but not now (like, say, crimped hair), and which features (in your opinion) were never really appealing or sexy even when they were in vogue.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tRAzNFs7m0E/TMYsmYGNnjI/AAAAAAAAAx4/gFSR-aIZRGs/s1600/Clara-Bow-in-1920s.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/2qicvig.jpg

http://blog.visitguernsey.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Rita_Hayworth_intro.jpg

http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/nomination/marilyn_monroe.jpg

http://www.born-today.com/btpix/bardot_brigitte1.jpg

 

[sr71plt]

I'd put Elizabeth Taylor in the 60s and Lena Horne in the "ageless" era.

 

[Liar]

I have a theory, based on my very unscientific impression and hunch, that one thing that varies through the decades is ideal age, as in the age or precieved age of the women that men try to look at and women try to look like.

Young and girlish in the 30's and 40's, older in the 50's and 60's, a bit younger in the 70's, really young in the 80's and 90's, and I have a feeling the ideal age is slightly higher now than it was a decade ago.

Then again I could be imagining things.

 

[Weird Harold]

Two points:

1: All of your examples have very similar face shapes and proportions.

2: Progressing from top to bottom, the Eyes are emphasized and the mouth demphasized; the emphasis on the eyes decreases and the emphasis on the mouth increases; finally both are emphasized about equally, but the main focu has slipped off the face entirely.

I think the first point is especially important and has some scientific backing in studies of proportions and attraction and how they're related. All of these women would, according to the studies, be considered attractive in any time or age, because they have faces that have the right proportions.

 

[sr71plt]

Two points:

1: All of your examples have very similar face shapes and proportions.

2: Progressing from top to bottom, the Eyes are emphasized and the mouth demphasized; the emphasis on the eyes decreases and the emphasis on the mouth increases; finally both are emphasized about equally, but the main focu has slipped off the face entirely.

I think the first point is especially important and has some scientific backing in studies of proportions and attraction and how they're related. All of these women would, according to the studies, be considered attractive in any time or age, because they have faces that have the right proportions.

Or, perhaps, these are the characteristics that float 3113's boat.

 

[The_Fool]

The eyes have it.

 

[Weird Harold]

Or, perhaps, these are the characteristics that float 3113's boat.

Well, DuH! Obviously they're her ideas of beauty, but they're also a good many men's idea's of beauty as well -- which was a point explored by the studies I mentioned. Women with the scientifically determined perfect proportions were considered attractive by men and women in roughly equal proportions.

I don't know how valid those studies are scientifically, but anecdotally, they seem to hold true.

 

[sr71plt]

I thought that most men's idea of beauty was a tub of Rocky Road ice cream.

 

[TxRad]

Well, DuH! Obviously they're her ideas of beauty, but they're also a good many men's idea's of beauty as well -- which was a point explored by the studies I mentioned. Women with the scientifically determined perfect proportions were considered attractive by men and women in roughly equal proportions.

I don't know how valid those studies are scientifically, but anecdotally, they seem to hold true.

What most of these people and the so call beautiful people have in common is symmetry. The right side of the face is a mirror image of the left. Believe it or not most people faces aren't that way.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

What most of these people and the so call beautiful people have in common is symmetry. The right side of the face is a mirror image of the left. Believe it or not most people faces aren't that way.

In fact, to my best understanding the only really symmetrical face around is Denzel Washington's. But most of these ladies come close.

 

[TE999]

The first example, I think it's Clara Bow, is definitely the most sexy of all IMO. The over the bare shoulder shot, the partially lidded eyes focused right on you and the wild fluff of hair combine to say "Let's be naughty together."

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

What most of these people and the so call beautiful people have in common is symmetry. The right side of the face is a mirror image of the left. Believe it or not most people faces aren't that way.

Yep.

Form is also a must. Earlier I looked at several WAVES from the 1940s. Every last one of them had old lady legs and had bodies that looked like sacks of flour. Frumpy.

 

[3113]

I'd put Elizabeth Taylor in the 60s and Lena Horne in the "ageless" era.

As I said, there were a lot of choices. Taylor was one such choice, but, as a child star, she actually spans from 40's-60's. I wasn't quite sure where to place her, so I decided not to include her. I also had a decisions regarding women like Lena Horne. I decided to deliberately pick women who looked a little alike (down to race) in order to make the differences more about time period than coloring or eye-shape, etc.

I have a theory, based on my very unscientific impression and hunch, that one thing that varies through the decades is ideal age, as in the age or precieved age of the women that men try to look at and women try to look like.

I like your theory, and I think you're right. Certainly, the boyish-figure and such of the 20's suggests youth while the more woman-ish figures (going to the 50's very womanly figure) suggest adult and then back to the 60's where Twiggy figures were back to girlish.

1: All of your examples have very similar face shapes and proportions.

That was deliberate. I could have picked radically different faces, but I wanted to focus on the little differences that indicated time period rather than difference in types of women.

2: Progressing from top to bottom, the Eyes are emphasized and the mouth demphasized; the emphasis on the eyes decreases and the emphasis on the mouth increases; finally both are emphasized about equally, but the main focu has slipped off the face entirely.

Good observation.

 

[3113]

Or, perhaps, these are the characteristics that float 3113's boat.

We seem to be getting hung up on the type I picked. Allow me to offer more ladies of a different type--also considered beauties of their times 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6sta32RSB1qzh3cjo1_500.png

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1299/658149330_7f49ddeb6c.jpg?v=0

http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/lauren_bacall.jpg

http://empoweringmomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/audrey.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JDTykF9_rVY/TJo33iKdILI/AAAAAAAAA5w/POZGo-h7D2g/s1600/sophia+loren.jpg

 

[Weird Harold]

That set is all about the Eyes.

Also, these even more than the first set would be just about interchangeable -- any of them could trade with any other and both would still be considered "a beauty of her age."

 

[Sunndance07]

The 3rd link down wins it for me...classic lush hair!

 

[3113]

The 3rd link down wins it for me...classic lush hair!

Rita Hayworth, huh?

That was one of the things I was wondering. How many would vote for the lush hair styles of certain decades over the short and sassy ones of others.

 

[JackLuis]

They all attract me, but I'm 'that way' about women.

Sofia gets my vote as the most complete woman.

 

[JackLuis]

Here is some background music.

I got a e-mail that gave me this. You can pick can a decade and get the music of the era. Just the thing for selecting your most * fill in * woman.

Juke Box

 

[voluptuary_manque]

They all attract me, but I'm 'that way' about women.

Sofia gets my vote as the most complete woman.

And the most beautiful in history!

 

[sr71plt]

They all attract me, but I'm 'that way' about women.

Sofia gets my vote as the most complete woman.

I think she's a candidate. What I find interesting is that I think she has the strongest-featured face (and not the perfect nose) of all of the women shown here so far.

 

[ishtat]

Being picky

In the first post you said beautiful/glamorous. I think that whilst all of these photographs are of beautiful women, glamorous is a more accurate description.

All these pictures are beautifully taken but the subjects are also very self conscious. The very best pictures of beautiful people are in my opinion never posed shots.

PS My favourite picture of a celebrity is of the Tennis player Gabriella Sabatini about to serve, and sweating... hot in every sense

 

[3113]

All these pictures are beautifully taken but the subjects are also very self conscious. The very best pictures of beautiful people are in my opinion never posed shots.

Though this may be true, my aim was to compare beauty "standards" and or fads from decade to decade. To do this so I had to find pictures that were relatively the same. Otherwise the action and emotion of the person in the picture would come into play.

I did consider posting average type pictures of average type women, but it got to be too hard to find comparable images from all the different decades. So I went for the glamour photos. I think they do what I want them to do whether or not they are self-conscious and, thus, not as beautiful as they might be if they weren't

 

[JackLuis]

I think she's a candidate. What I find interesting is that I think she has the strongest-featured face (and not the perfect nose) of all of the women shown here so far.

Nose! You're looking at her NOSE! You're missing the good parts!

 

[Weird Harold]

Actually, I was somewhat surprised youdidn't start a discussion of historical beauty with this example:

(Huge picture)

This one is a forensic reconstruction of what might have been Neferititi' mummy, not Angelina Jolie in makeup:

http://www.drdee.dsc.rmit.edu.au/news/nefertiti.jpg


I see a lot of facial similarity in the images of Nefertitit and all six of your examples.