A brief history of the brow

It started with the unibrow.

When I was a teenager I had thick brows that I felt met in the middle, aka the uni-brow,  and I was desperate to pluck them! Now looking back on my photos I realize I had the eyebrow of today’s models, thick and natural, but I was one generation too early.

Flash forward to my modeling days in the early 90’s and my eyebrows were summarily plucked and shaped into the perfect arching caterpillars that were so popular at that time. Strong and womanly and wonderful with matte skin and big shoulder pads. Perfect though they were for the time, I have been wanting to grow them back in for a more natural and softer look, but alas once plucked it is really tough to get them to grow back. (I am not the only one! There are now eyebrow rehab centers!)

One cannot deny our obsession with eyebrows and changing them can drastically alter a person’s appearance. From the thin, drawn on brows from the roaring 20’s to today’s eyebrows “on fleek” Instagram obsession, eyebrows, the tiny strip of facial hair that women have to play with, have had many incarnations.

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Ancient Greek women prized the natural look as a symbol of their purity and the uni-brow was considered beautiful.

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Ancient Roman women had more freedom but still prized the uni-brow as a sign of intelligence. Some women may have darkened them with black incense.

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Medieval women plucked their eyebrows so they were barely visible, accentuating their high foreheads which was very desirable at the time.

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Popularized by Clara Bow, the roaring 20’s were all about the skinny drawn in eyebrow extending past the eye and somewhat downturned, in an almost theatrical manner which was reflective of the new world of cinema.  Since the movies were silent, the facial expressions had to be pronounced to tell the story and eyebrows were key.

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The 30’s saw thin eyebrows continue but with a more pronounced arch. Popularized by actresses such as Great Garbo, the dramatic arch added drama and mystery.

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The 40’s brow was thicker and more natural but still with a prominent arch, mirroring with larger shoulder padded fashion styles of the era.  Women had entered the work force during the war “shouldering” more responsibilities for industry on the home front, and a stronger arched brow made a statement of this new found era of womanhood.

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The 50’s brow was well groomed and arched. Think of Marilyn Monroe and the alluring arch her strong eyebrows added to her sex appeal. The 50’s also saw a straighter and thicker brow like those of Audrey Hepburn giving a more youthful, gamine look.

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The 60’s went back to the drawn in look that framed the face and accentuated the strong eye makeup that the younger woman played with during this era, being influenced by the music scene and wanting to distance themselves from their mothers’ generation.

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The  70’s saw a return of a natural but thin brow, with some women favoring a completely natural look in their makeup to go along with the laid back fashion style of the Beatles generation.

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The 80’s brought in the bushy brow popularized by Brooke Shields and Melanie Griffith in the movie Working Girl.  The all-American girl with a healthy figure and lots of big hair, needed a bigger, fuller brow.

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The 90’s brought back plucking with some women even shaving them off completely! My roommate in NY during my modeling days had the outer half of hers shaved off and wouldn’t allow anyone to see her without them drawn on!

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Today’s thick brows like those of supermodel Cara Delevingne are reminiscent of the 80’s, but Instagram has spawned a whole new brow trend.  Brows #onfleek are very well drawn on and are less filled in on the inner corner, which just happens to look great in “selfies”.

Brow trends tend to be cyclic but are obsession with them never seems to wane.

What’s your brow game?