Vintage eyebrow shapes

[swinggal]

I shape mine in 40s style. The really thin brows of the 20s and 30s don't suit my face but the arched, angular more natural style of the 40s does.

I think the 40's brow is the most flattering of all period brow styles as they really frame the face and set off your best features. They are also very feminine.

 

[MissQueenie]

You know, I think part of the reason I don't do the super-thin brows for 20s and 30s stuff (which I like best) is mostly because I don't wear vintage or repro 24/7. The real vintage brows would really complete the look as jitterbugdoll says, but it's going to look really awful on my face when I'm kicking around in jeans or at the office. As much as I treasure my vintage pieces, and look forward to making more reproduction stuff, I really don't wear it all that often and I need to be realistic about my lifestyle. That's probably more of a factor for me than even shaping to suit my face.

Of course, this is a matter of individual suitability -- while it would most likely look horrid on me, some people do look quite lovely with thin, period brows.

 

[Shimmy Sally]

I do the thin "vintage" brows because I like the look. Thick brows look sloppy and childish to me. I don't pencil mine too dark though. I like to use a coloring that suits me: http://justforredheads.com/mase.html

 

[mysterygal]

I used to have thin brows, now thier in-between. Their not thick, not thin...happy medium

 

[Paul]

1950 Eyebrow shape

Two questions:-
Is over plucking where the brow has been reduced in thickness too much?. Secondly has any got a photo of a 50's lady which they think has a nice period 50's style eyebrows if possible with a high forehead long face!
thanks Paul..

 

[Shimmy Sally]

50s brows were much thicker than the decades before. I know the besame make-up site has examples. You'll have to sign up here to view them: http://www.besamecosmetics.com/english/vintageLooks/index.php

 

[jitterbugdoll]

1950s brows were quite thick and well-arched, and the arch usually had a slight point to it. Think of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe--that's the brow look of the 50s!

I pluck my brows quite a bit (you'd never know it though, because they are so light you can hardly see them before I pencil them in), reducing their natural thickness, and increasing their natural arch. Even if you don’t reduce the thickness of your brows, it is important to pluck the strays to give the shape a clean line. This is especially important if you have darker brows, as the strays become quite obvious.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I just had my eyebrows re-shaped yesterday by a lovely Tweezerman (they make tweezing implements) representative at a Makeup Artists show.

I asked for something still -me- and my shape, but a little closer to fitting in with vintage clothes.

I will take pictures of my eye tonight, so you can see.....

They also took before and after images of me...not sure whether to grimace that they thought mine were horrid before...or what...

 

[fortworthgal]

1950s brows were quite thick and well-arched, and the arch usually had a slight point to it. Think of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe--that's the brow look of the 50s!

Actress Sherilyn Fenn has a good example of a 1950s brow.

 

[Viola]

50s brows were much thicker than the decades before. I know the besame make-up site has examples. You'll have to sign up here to view them: http://www.besamecosmetics.com/english/vintageLooks/index.php

Ooh, thanks. Nice clear-talking link for a newb like me. :eusa_clap

Apparently what I've got on my face are '50s brows, and what I'd like are '40s brows. Now I at least have some idea what I'm going for.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

This Web site has a good description of 1920s-40s brows as well, with more pictures that show the different variations in each decade: http://www.return2style.de/amimakup.htm

My brows look like this:

 

[Paul]

Thanks

Thanks your are all so helpfully. just Google Elizabeth Taylor and got some good shots so I know what to aim for, also besamecosmetics has a clear one too.
p.s looking for Sherilyn Fenn Now!

Sherilyn Fenn
woo Sherilyn Fenn:- now she has really a high arch little to much for me LOL.
Elizabeth Taylor:- a little more possible!!!!!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think the 40's brow is the most flattering of all period brow styles ...

Think Ava Gardner. The '40s brow suited her very well.

Conversely, the '30s brow (or lack thereof) did not suit Jean Harlow.


.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's also important to keep in mind that not all women of any given era went for the most extreme sort of brow style. When you look at a Harlow, for example, with the ultra-thin pencilled-brow look, you're seeing stylized high-fashion glamour, not necessarily what the average gal around town was wearing. The same would be true of any era.

One good idea I've heard for researching this type of question is to simply go back and look thru one's own family photos -- see what your mom or grandmother or aunts were wearing in the thirties or forties or fifties, and try to emulate that. Glamour is glamour, but a real world look is generally a lot easier to manage!

 

[Paul]

Another great idea

That's so true with the 20's/30's photos they were not affordable for every one some ladies in vogue are disproportional photographed and especially with the 20's you do get some more images which were to make a social statement at the time. A good idea

It's also important to keep in mind that not all women of any given era went for the most extreme sort of brow style. When you look at a Harlow, for example, with the ultra-thin pencilled-brow look, you're seeing stylized high-fashion glamour, not necessarily what the average gal around town was wearing. The same would be true of any era.

One good idea I've heard for researching this type of question is to simply go back and look thru one's own family photos -- see what your mom or grandmother or aunts were wearing in the thirties or forties or fifties, and try to emulate that. Glamour is glamour, but a real world look is generally a lot easier to manage!

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Conversely, the '30s brow (or lack thereof) did not suit Jean Harlow.

Jean's brows were styled in a very extreme way in an attempt to open up her deep set eyes as much as possible; she was extremely difficult to light/film due to her coloring and features.

I actually like her brows here (though this is a later look):

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I think it was Lucille Ball who did that in the 30's for a role and they never grew back.

Lana Turner also had this happen to her.

I used to work with a woman who had her brows tattooed on; they weren't super flattering, as they were a rather harsh shade of black (she did have black hair, but her new brows were rather obvious.) She told me that she over plucked her brows in the 1970s, and they never grew back.

I work with another woman who also has her brows tattooed on, and I was shocked when she told me this, as her brows looked very natural!

 

[Caledonia]

While I can see the point about lighting, I still think Jean is over severe for her features. I don't think it's the thickness, but the arch that's the problem. For me, many of the 30s actresses, who are absolutely gorgeous women, are spoilt by the thinness and the arch combined. Some should have arched but with a more natural shape, and vice versa. But then I'm for what suits, not what is fashion - if the two converge, excellent!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

This looks much better on her. As you correctly guessed, I was thinking of Harlow's earlier look. (Not much earlier!)

 

[Caledonia]

Still disagree, but an inch off of the pencilled brow end would make this a much more becoming look and more eye opening.