Women’s roles were greatly changed in the 1950s, with the men coming back
from war and taking their jobs back. Women had, during World War II, taken
men’s jobs while they had been away at war. After the war, many women wanted to
keep their jobs. Many of them became wives and mothers as the men came back
from the war. In 1957, 70% of working
women held clerical positions, assembly lines or service jobs. 12 % held a
profession and 6% held management positions.
http://1950s.weebly.com/womens-roles.html
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| Maryln Monroe http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2009/specials/archive35/beauties/marilyn-monroe.jpg |
Following from the 1940s wartime austerity , the 1950s was a time of growth and prosperity. Many economies around the world blossomed and grew. Consumers had more spending money available and the end of rationing opened up the way for new products. New colours and makeup products appeared, and the luxury cosmetics market took off.
After the losses during the war, there was a shortage
of men – possibly encouraging women to “make the most of themselves” in order
to snag a husband. Thanks to more labour-saving devices on the market, women
had more time to themselves and wearing makeup was simply part of a woman’s
routine and an essential part of being feminine
Television broadcasts had resumed in the UK after total suspension during WWII, and by the early 1950s most
of the country could now pick up a TV signal, thanks to a post-war effort to
increase signal coverage. This, along with Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in
1953, resulted in a sharp increase in TV ownership during the 1950s. Movie stars continued with their strong influence on the
masses. Leading ladies like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor had
an enormous impact on styles, as did Betty Grable and
swimmer Esther Williams – two of the
biggest box office draws of the 1950s.
The age of makeup entered its golden age in the
1950’s. For the first time, unknown models began to rival the big Hollywood
names in becoming the ‘face’ of makeup brands. In 1949-50 Hazel Bishop
unveiled to much excitement the first non-smear lipstick. Revlon followed this with
their own by own non-smear lipstick’ in 1953. The ruling shades were pastels in
the 1950s and pink lipstick replaced the reds for a time as the lip color of
choice – especially amongst younger women. Audrey Hepburn once declared that
she” believed in pink!”
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Lip colours |
A really glamorous decade for women’s makeup. Creams
were the in thing in foundations and shadows. A much heavier makeup look for
the face was in order with liquid foundations and loose powder appearing on
dressing tables again. It was the era of the ‘mask effect’. The eyeshadow look of this decade was much
more minimal than in previous decades, eye-shadows now containing shimmer and a
huge palette of colors. Revlon produced ‘eye-shadow palettes’ with two or three
shades to create a specific look. A soft but definite eye line and eyebrows a
slightly darker shade than the natural.
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Max Factor was still the leader in invention and made products women wanted to
use, inspired by the actresses who also wore Max Factor off screen. In 1953,
the first all-in-one base and powder, Creme Puff, is
introduced by Max Factor. In 1954, they launch the first retail concealer, a
flesh-coloured stick called Erace.
In
1952, Boots relaunched its No. 7
range, which had almost disappeared during the war. The black and gold
packaging was influenced by Hollywood. Avon came calling
for the first time after cosmetic reps were introduced to call round at
people’s homes to demonstrate and sell the makeup.
The 1950s saw the emergence of
tube mascara with a wand – Helena Rubinstein and Max Factor
both lay claim to being the creator of the new wand. Either way, mascara
was every woman’s favourite. Block mascara and cream mascara in a tube were still used and applied with a
little brush. Block mascara needed activating with water, but most women would
simply spit onto the block, mix to create a liquid paste and apply. Mascara was
mainly applied to the top lashes only. It came in various
colours, from the standard
black, to brown, navy blue, emerald green and purple.
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| Moodboard |
1950’s look – 28/9/15
Products used:
o
Moisturiser
o
Concealer
o
Foundation
o
Powder
o
Highlighter
o
Eyeshadow
o
Eyeliner
o
Lip liner
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Lipstick
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Eyebrow filler
o
Eye pencil
o
mascara
Today we picked a decade from the 1900’s onwards and created a design
that was relevant to that period. I decided to pick the 1950’s for this look
because I love the makeup, its classy and very feminine. I also chose this
because of the inspirational and iconic people such as Marilyn Monroe who was a
symbolic figure of the 50’s.
To start, I cleansed and moisturised my models skin, prepping it for
the application of the makeup. I began by concealing the imperfections and dark
areas on the face to get the flawless complexion that was so memorialised in
the 50’s. I then applied foundation all over the face matching the natural skin
colour and set it with powder so it wouldn’t wear off. I added a small hint of
contour very lightly on the cheeks as it wasn’t a big thing in the 50’s but I
felt it suited my look well.
I then began with the eye makeup. I didn’t want to do the ‘Marilyn’
look with the white eyeshadow as I wanted a modern twist on the look so I
decided to do a smokey brown look. Using a dark brown in the crease I blended
it out to give it the smokey look, then I used a lighter shade on the lid. I
then used a black eyeliner marker to give the eye the iconic flicks of the 50’s
that was symbolic to this era. I then finished the eyes with mascara on the
eyelashes.
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| Face chart-1950s |
Another trait that
was very recognizable for the 50’s was the beauty mark. Marilyn started off the
trend with her beauty spot, and it was forever remembered as being one of the
main makeup traits for the 50’s. So of course, I used a brown eye pencil to recreate
the beauty mark.
I feel like my
1950’s look was very successful and I am very pleased with how it turned out.
If I were to do this look again however, I would like to give the white eye
shadow a try, like the traditional Marilyn look instead of recreating it with a
modern twist. I loved this look and I thought it looked lovely on the model.
Overall I am very pleased with the look I created. If I were to do this for tv, I would make sure to have full coverage with foundation as the cameras would pick up any blemishes or imperfections.
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| 1950's look |
19/10/15- 1950’s
hair roll
Today in lesson,
we learnt how to complete a 1950’s victory roll look. To carry out this look, I
used a comb and hair pins. I began by sectioning the hair into three sections,
from the middle to behind the ears on both sides, then the back section. I had
to think of the shape I wanted the rolls to be in and decided to have two on
either side of the head, others in the class choose to do a side parting and
have one big roll across the front which looked very nice and fitted the era,
however I did prefer the two rolls on either side.
I firstly
backcombed the hair getting it some volume so it wasn’t flat to the head, then I
used a brush to flatted on the top so it didn’t look messy or untidy. I then
used my comb and my fingers to get the shape of the roll, then rolled the hair
into a tight loop and pinned it with grips. I had to be careful on where I put
the grips because I had to make sure they weren’t on show, so they must be
placed discreetly in the hair. To set the hair I used hairspray so it wouldn’t
become loose. I then repeated this for the other side.
For the back section
of the hair, I rolled it underneath and pinned it so it created a short bob
look. I loved this look and thought it was perfect for the era, if I where to
work on a TV show like ‘The Hour’ that was based in the 50’s, I would definitely
use this style, with lots of pins and grips and set it with hairspray to keep
it in place for longer.
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| 1950's roll |
