History
Fashions of the past and famous faces. 90 face guides on EveryFaceShape so far.
Face fashions of the past show how much ideals change: the kohl-lined eyes of ancient Egypt, the shaved and repainted brows of Heian Japan, the white lead ceruse and silk beauty patches of Renaissance and eighteenth-century Europe, the whiskers of the Victorians, and the monocle and pince-nez. Each was once ordinary, and each says something about its time.
Old ideals
Egyptian men and women lined their eyes with kohl more than 5,000 years ago. Heian court women in Japan removed their brows and painted new ones high on the forehead, and blackened their teeth. In Europe, Elizabeth I is pictured with a face whitened by ceruse, which contained lead. In eighteenth-century France, silk mouches imitated beauty marks.
Whiskers and frames
In the nineteenth century sideburns, mutton chops and full beards became the norm for European and American men, and armies required moustaches. Pince-nez and monocles were the fashionable eyewear. The clean-shaven face spread in the twentieth century with safety razors and the First World War. The toothbrush moustache, popular early in the century, became rare after the Second World War.
Famous history face guides
Still to be written: Venetian ceruse.
Further reading
WorldHorn-rimmed glasses
Thick-framed eyewear imitating horn or tortoiseshell.Frame · Most faces · 1917
🇺🇸 United StatesGI glasses
Government-issued eyewear for US military recruits, known by dysphemisms like BCGs.Frame · Most faces
🇫🇷 France and 1 morePince-nez
Eyeglasses that clip onto the nose bridge without earpieces, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centurieFrame · Most faces · 1840
WorldCat eye glasses
Eyewear with an upsweep at the outer corners of the frame.Frame · Most faces · 1931
🇺🇸 United StatesAviator sunglasses
Teardrop-lensed eyewear designed for pilots and adapted for fashion.Frame · Most faces · 1937
WorldGlasses
Vision eyewear with lenses in a frame for correction, protection, or fashion.Frame · Most faces
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePanto glasses
Rounded-oval frames with a flat top edge.Frame · Most faces · 1932
WorldBug-eye glasses
Large-lensed eyewear from the late twentieth centuryFrame · Most faces · 1975
🇬🇧 United KingdomWindsor glasses
Round metal frames with a saddle bridge.Frame · Most faces · 1840
WorldInuit snow goggles
Traditional Arctic eyewear with narrow slits to prevent snow blindnessFrame · Most faces
🇺🇸 United StatesBrowline glasses
Eyeglass frames with a bold upper rim resembling eyebrows.Frame · Most faces · 1947
🇩🇪 GermanyMonocle
A single corrective lens held in the eye socket by one eye.Frame · Most faces · 1830
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Aviator sunglasses: Paul Evans, CC BY 2.0, source
- Beauty mark: Ian Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ohaguro: Utagawa Kunisada, Public domain, source
- Hikimayu: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- GI glasses: Villarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pince-nez: Łeba, CC BY 3.0, source
- Cat eye glasses: Smithsonian Institution, No restrictions, source
- Monocle: Sobebunny, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Glasses: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panto glasses: Kelmaa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bug-eye glasses: Nicki Varkevisser, CC BY 2.0, source
- Windsor glasses: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Inuit snow goggles: McLeod, Public domain, source
- Browline glasses: Piercetheorganist at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Horn-rimmed glasses: User:Robin Clement, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Toothbrush moustache: Trailer screenshot, Public domain, source