​Beauty and Fashion

Beauty has always been an interesting concept to me, around the world there are so many

different perceptions of it. As well as many components that go into it, such as someone’s

fashion, body image and makeup. These things have changed throughout the decades drastically,

from the waist cinching Victorian era where it was almost taboo to not wear a corset, to the

modern times where all body types are encouraged to be thought as beautiful. Throughout my

life my vision of beauty has been the typical skinny woman who has no facial flaws or bodily

flaws, every single thing about her is perfect. But over the past couple years, that image has

become a mirage to me, and now I truly see what beauty can be. Beauty comes in every form.

Now I could go on and on about how a true image of beauty doesn’t really exist, and how true

beauty is to really love yourself, but I wanted to delve further into the subcomponents of beauty.

As I stated before, fashion and makeup. Those are the most intriguing to me, as they both greatly

differ around the world and between cultures. There are also many controversial issues with

fashion and makeup, dealing with gender, political and economic problems, which I would like

to explore. There’s also a vast history of fashion, it’s said that the idea of what is fashion dates

back to the 1800s. Makeup goes back even further, dating back to ancient Egypt and Greece,

with the ideas of using natural resources to enhance the features of somebody. As you can see,

there’s a vast history to be explored between these two subjects. I've only been limited to what

I’ve seen on the internet, modern trends and personal experiences, so I hope to broaden my

knowledge on them from this research. In conclusion, throughout this project I hope to find an

overall idea of what beauty is around the world and through history. As well as more speculated
side of it, dealing with top fashion brands and controversial problems. And who knows, I may

just find my personal idea of beauty with it as well.

 Firstly, I want to begin with a pretty broad spectrum. Fashion around the world. From Asia to

Europe, fashion has differed vastly throughout centuries. Starting in Europe, which is home to

one of the top fashion capitals of the world, Paris. According to travel blog “Travel Notes and

Beyond”, “in Europe, people are way more concerned about they way they look. They have the

culture of ​chic​. You don’t see many Parisians wearing something ill-fitting or unflattering.” So

clearly, Europeans know how to dress. Some main fashion trends that I’ve observed through my

research is that they tend to wear simple clothes. Women usually choose to put a few simple

pieces on and tie it all together with a bright accessory. They also tend to always have the perfect

shoes for each outfit, mainly high heels. When it comes to makeup and hair, they keep it simple

and light. Long hair that kind of has that rolled out of bed look, and or messy buns and ponytails

are the most popular. As for makeup, they just go with the basics. Some lipstick, blush and

mascara and you’re good to go. This all kind of came as a surprise to me, because I would have

thought in more major European cities, people would dress up more and try to go all out. But it

seems that simplicity does it best. However, throughout the many cities this broad spectrum of

simple fashion is twisted into many sub genres. According to another travel blog, “Travel Perks”,

in Berlin, Germany the style is laid back clothes. In Brussels, Belgium the style is retro and

hipster like. In the more western part of Europe flashy and fun clothes are prominent in Madrid,

Spain. And finally in a city like Florence, Italy many people opt for casual classy looks. So all in

all, Europeans seem to all have a uniform type of “style”, they like to keep in simple and spice it

up with different colors and accessories depending on the region. They have very different ideals

of style than the rest of the world. Especially more eastern counties.
 Fashion in Asia is a very interesting topic, from traditional to modern fashion they’ve always

had very different ideas in fashion than the western part of the world. In China street fashion has

changed drastically in the last decade. There was a rise in the middle class, which ultimately lead

to the rise of “fashionistas”. According to a information website that goes by the name “Modern

Chinese Pop Culture”, “ More now than ever before, Chinese adolescents want to be more

individualized, stand out, and have their own fashion sense rather than blend in with the crowd.

This has given rise to two of many types of Chinese street fashion today. They are called the

"Xiao Qinxin" style and "Zhong Kouwei" style.” The Xiao Qinxin style is considered to be made

up of light colors, cotton and linen, and vintage designs. The Zhong Kouwei style is the complete

opposite of Xiao Qinxin. It consists of darker fashion, that is often associated with violence, it’s

made up of dark bold colors, metal and rivets. But mainly Chinese fashion is considered to be

simple elegance. In more fashion centered countries such as Korea and Japan, style is very

important. In Korea, a lot of fashion inspiration is taken from Kpop stars and celebrities.

According to Sev Halit, a designer, they described the fashion in the major city Seoul as,

“forever evolving and feels developed and exciting with every season that passes. What is most

exciting is the eclectic mix of streetwear, vintage and finely tailored garments all styled together

in fresh new ways.” They don’t seem to focus on buying high end clothes, but more on the

construction of the outfit itself. Finally in Japan, they’re many sub genres of fashion, kind of like

Europe. But comprised into one country and culture. Most people are restricted to their work

uniform and of school uniform most of the time. Side note, one thing that’s interesting to me is

that apparently they hire fashion designers to design school uniforms. That must be why they’re

so cute. But when given the chance, mainly young people are the forefront of fashion. Most
street fashion consists of foreign clothing brands mixed with Japanese brands to create an avant

garde look, that can sometimes resemble outfits seen in European fashion shows. Out of the

many subcultures of fashion in Japan, the most intriguing one is “Lolita” fashion. This style

consists of doll like clothes, which are put together into outfits typically called “cords”. Even in

this genre of style, there are many different types of Lolita. The two most popular ones though

are Gothic Lolita and Sweet Lolita. Gothic Lolita is described as “Lolita with a heavy influence

from the Eastern and Victorian Goth style. Often characterized by dark colors, crosses, bats and

spiders, as well as other popular gothic 'icons'.” This style may seem a bit creepy, but honestly

the amount of time and effort that goes into putting the outfit together, as well as the hair and

makeup… it’s no joke. Now the counterpart, Sweet Lolita is described as, “the most childlike

style, mostly characterized by baby animals, fairy tale themes and innocent, childlike attire.” It is

said that a lot of Sweet Lolita clothing has taken inspiration from stories like “Alice in

Wonderland”. When it comes to hair and makeup for Lolita, the people who take part in this

style put as much work into that as the outfit. Lolita hairstyles mainly consist of intricate

hairstyles, such as braid looped pigtails or double buns. Some also wear wigs as well. As for

makeup, most try to go for a dolly look. Buying circle contact lenses to enlarge your eyes isn’t

uncommon. Even if you don’t do Lolita, most girls in Korea, China and Japan wear these lenses

to make them look cuter. People also use fake lashes for a larger eye effect as well. What’s even

more interesting about this style is that it’s made its way to western countries as well. Although it

isn’t as common as it is in Japan. Western Lolita’s will sometimes have meet ups or even tea

parties to talk about why they love the fashion. In conclusion, Asian fashion is a pretty broad
spectrum, even one country by itself can have the same amount of fashion styles as an entire

continent.
 In the fashion world, there’s also a lot of controversy. This can vary from scandals to politics or

anything. For example, Coco Chanel. When most people think of Coco Chanel, they think of a

famous fashion designer. A woman who created such fashion trends as the little black dress. But

what some people don’t know, is that while Coco was a fantastic designer, she was also a

supporter of the Nazi Party. It all started when a man named Baron Hans Gunther was moved to

the German embassy in Paris. Once moved there, he would then fall in love with Coco Chanel.

The two then proceed to live in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. It was said that Coco was fiercely

anti-semitic and even had the code name “Westminster” as her Nazi spy name. The most

prominent accusation that could be made about her being a Nazi spy is that how she used the

power to grow her company. According to “The Vintage News”, “her path to becoming one of

the richest women in the world was made swifter by Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property

and business enterprises during WWII.” This theory has not been completely confirmed yet. But

with all the information out there that has to do with Nazis with her name on it, it’s very

suspicious. Now one might question why Coco decided to aid the Nazi Party. One assumption is

that she had a preexisting problem with financial support from someone who was jewish. Again,

according to “The Vintage News”, “In 1924, Chanel required some financial support from Pierre

Wertheimer to expand her designer empire. He provided her the needed help but she was left

with less than a 10 percent stake in her own company. Tensions rose as she complained of being

exploited.” This may explain as to why she took part in such acts. One question still remains

though in my mind, why is the brand Chanel still so popular even after this information has been
released? Is it because it’s such an iconic brand that people will look past anti-semitic acts?

Anyways, I guess that question will remain a mystery.

 As I said before, politics can also be a controversial topic in fashion. Gender can also be a huge

factor in it as well. When you think of the top fashion brands in the world, what comes to mind?

Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, the list goes on and on. But the weird thing is that all of the

CEOs of these companies are men. So why are all of these men dictating what women should

wear? Although I do thinks it’s great that men are participating in what is considered to be a

woman’s industry, which ultimately breaks gender stereotypes… I can’t help but see the

inequality in the ratio of men to women in the industry. According to a study by “Business of

Fashion”, out of 371 designers of 313 brands they observed at several fashion weeks, only 40.2%

are female. This amount is personally quite shocking to me. Why is the number of women so

low? Most things are dominated by men anyways, are women not allowed to have major control

over even one industry? Women face a lot of prejudice in this industry, and this is due to several

reasons. Bring a CEO is typically perceived with the traits of power, authority and independence,

which seem to be more associated with men and not with women generally. So what’s stopping

women from rising higher in the ranks? Well, according to Dr. Allyson Stokes, “Increasingly

careers are requiring long work hours and being available almost all of the time… and (these

expectations of commitment) seem to be intensified in cultural industries…” This could mean

that because women are seen to be preoccupied with motherhood or other roles we’re seen for.

So we don’t have the time a man does to dedicate to a job such as being a CEO. They also

alluded to the reason being due to men being more willing to take risks and ask for a raise or

promotion. In order to balance out this inequality, women need to keep being active in the

industry and maintain a strong image. But the good news is, that in the last few years there has
been an increase in the amount of women starting up fashion businesses, so hopefully we will

finally see that gender scale balance out in the years to come.
 In any form of entertainment, whether it’s a movie, a show or a musical, there’s costume

design. So to start off, what exactly is costume design? Well it’s, “the process of creating a

cohesive style and appearance for characters in productions like television shows, movies,

operas, Broadway musicals, ballets, and other kinds of theatrical performances”, according to an

article on the subject at “Study.com”. The history of costume design goes way back, back to

Ancient Greece to be exact. The first costume designer can be credited as Aeschylus, who was a

playwright in 5th century B.C. Costume design then began to pick up steam until the 19th

century where really became an art form. All according to Stephanie Przybylek who is a teacher

of arts history. The process of designing a costume is quite lengthy though. According to

Melanie Blood, who is a professor at SUNY Geneseo. The process is first started out by a text

analysis of the script to see what the character is like and what actions they take. They must also

take into consideration of the director, as they may change the source material. After meetings

are done, they sketch out initial ideas, make color palettes and pick out fabric swatches. Once

they have reached their final design, the designer creates renderings, which are then used to

finally create the final costume or prototype of it. I believe it’s important for a characters

costume design to reflect who they are personality wise. I also think it can be used to twist the

viewers way of how they think about the character. Such as a show could lead them on that a

character is very nice and preppy because they are dressed well, preppy. But the characters true

nature can be hidden behind the clothes. I think many people overlook the importance of

costume design and blow off how it can really impact a show or any kind of media presented to

the world. When you don’t know anything about someone, you base your opinion of them off of
their appearance because that’s all you have to go by. So even a design of the most simple

costume can make a world of difference with characters.

Now costume design dates back along time, but since the dawn of time, mankind has been

wearing clothes and figuring out ways to protect ourselves from our home’s climate. According

to “Encyclopedia of Fashion”, he first known humans to make clothing, Neanderthal man,

survived from about 200,000 B.C.E. to about 30,000 B.C.E. They had adapted to their cold

climate pretty well, but along the way they learned how to use thick animal skins to keep

themselves warm. And thus clothing was truly born. Now you’d think clothing would have been

discovered WAY earlier, but the first few instances of “clothing” in human civilization were

very indirect. According to again “Encyclopedia of Fashion”, “Archaeologists believe that these

early humans cut the hides into shapes they liked, making holes for the head and perhaps the

arms, and draped the furs over their bodies.” This isn’t regard as the first real clothing items

because it wasn’t a complete set necessarily. But the best example of a complete clothing set is

the Otzi the Iceman who was found in the Alps by two hikers in 1991. According to an article

published on the website “History of Clothing”, “His clothing and equipment were made from

hides, bones, antlers and feathers of six different animal species and the leaves, wood and fiber

of 17 different trees.” This shows that “Otzi” had used the resources from nearby to create an

outfit that helped him keep warm against the cold climate of the Alps region. Another interesting

fact is that clothing may of had “other purposes” besides keeping someone alive such as magic,

decoration cult or prestige, again according to “History of Clothing”. Another thing that has

existed since prehistoric times is makeup. Although the makeup back then was nowhere near

what we have today, it's still pretty interesting that something as popular as makeup existed back

then. Bringing it back to Otzi the Iceman, according to Lani Barry who is an expert on the

history of cosmetics, Otzi actually had some of the earliest examples of cosmetics on him as
well. Which happens to be tattoos. People back then would dye their skin using pigments made

from berries and other natural resources. They also used scarification and gave themselves scars

in different shapes and designs. As history progressed makeup became more prominent, another

good example of makeup is the time periods of Ancient Egypt and Greece. According to

“History of Makeup” blog, “Around 2500 B.C., the Babylonians used eye, cheek, and lip

cosmetics. They filled shells with purple, red, yellow, blue, green, and black colored pigments.

The Pigments were lightened with the addition of burnt animal bone. Green eye paint was valued

not only for it's decorative purposes, but also as a sun protectant and as a medicinal ointment for

eye infections.” They compared their makeup to the Greeks as well, “The Greeks were much

more simplistic, their cosmetic toiletries included perfume, hair oil for curling, and the

occasional use of rouge for the lips and cheeks. They groomed like other ancient civilizations,

and used plaster or tweezers to remove hair from the body. However, rows of dots and lines

appear on the faces of women in remaining wall paintings” These quotes show that things such

as eyeliner, lip rouge, perfume and other things we use commonly for makeup in modern times.

Another fun fact is that Egyptians also had rituals for cleanliness, such as brushing their teeth,

facial exfoliators and masks and insect repellent. Which to me resembles a modern day skin care

routine, where we also use exfoliators, masks and cleaners to keep our body and skin in check.

All in all, both makeup and clothing have existed since almost the beginning of time for

humanity. Clothing was originally used for magic and ritual purposes but later gained a purpose

of keeping people warm in cold climates and vice versa for other climates. Makeup has been

used for the same purpose all throughout time though. It’s been used to enhance the beauty of
someone and bring out their features. Beauty products have also been used to keep the body in

good condition, much like how we do in modern times.

 Throughout this research paper, I have researched various aspects of fashion and make up

culture, such as modern fashion, prehistoric fashion, controversies in the fashion industry and

costume design. I feel as though I have learned more about the concept as a whole and I hope

you have as well. Fashion and beauty may seem really boring to some people, but there’s so

much that happens in this one topic that ten pages isn’t even enough to cover the basics of it.

Although fashion and beauty isn’t my forte. I do have a lot of fun applying makeup and putting

together outfits when I go out though. So I had a lot of fun writing this paper. It was interesting

to learn about old clothing and makeup and see how it compares to modern looks, as well as

explore some of the controversies such as Coco Chanel being a Nazi spy allegedly. But to end

off this paper I think I should leave it on this quote, "The joy of dressing is an art." —John

Galliano. I think this quote reflects what I want to convey to the reader, that fashion can be a lot

more than just expensive clothes. It can truly be an art form on its own and help someone reflect

their personality on the outside as well.