Backstage

REPRESENTATION in the 50s most of the world, and the United States in particular, a period of flourishing economic: the boom of the recovery after the second world war pervades all sectors. In music we say new rhythms, Rock'n'Roll was born that turns out to be not just a musical phenomenon, but also of manners: thousands of teenagers imitate the look and attitudes emerging rock stars. The TV sees the advent of color (USA, 1954) adjustment that will also shoot in film, creating a definitive break with the black and white of the past.

The make-up sees succession various styles and interpretations, born pin-up style that remains popular to this day, but also the delicate trick to Doris Day as opposed to the more sensual and languid Jayne Mansfield or Marilyn Monroe. The latter is the one actress who always populated the collective imagination, in her charming style and sensual, as a classic icon of recent years and, for this reason, is chosen as an example of makeup to recreate the look of the 50s.

(Jayne Mansfield)

(Marilyn Monroe)

The trick there.. and it shows! E’ precisely with the beginning of the year 50 fact that the trick starts to become a tool for corrective accessory charm. The woman is sensual, charmer, seductive, and how many more weapons has to exercise its charm, it uses many.

The color television, now within reach of many, helps make the image more vivid, spreads almost instantaneously new fashions and new looks from the spectators, where the shades of makeup will move naturally towards the red hot pink lips and cheeks of intense.

The false eyelashes, wigs and toupees are new tools of seduction available to all women, especially in the U.S. if it sees an increasing use starting from this period.

(50s Makeup)

(Make up anni ’50)

The realization of the make up 50s

As always, the base is made with funds based fat long-lasting, typical of the trick photography and film. Using a pinkish hue of the same shade of skin, I choose a color a few shades lighter for the area around the eyes and central part of the face, thus realizing immediately highlights and corrections (chiaroscuro). Hydrated and powdered her and beginning to lay the colors.

Drawing the eyebrows hair by hair, trying to give a shape that enhances the eyes, and at the same time remember the gull-wing design, just typical of the 50s. This design is characterized by an initial thickness rather high, which goes to taper in an almost uniform until the end of the eyebrows. The stretch is linear up to the point of maximum height, which makes an angle very noticeable, and linear descendant of the eye to the tail.

Marco then the eyeliner with a black drawing 'pagoda’ removal on the eyelid, Drawing the thin part and reaches the maximum thickness of approximately 1/3 and then go inside and stretch a few millimeters thinner than the tail of the eye.
The shading on the eyes is very important: The eyelid crease is marked with a dark color, gradient and a very light color further up the point of maximum height of the eyebrows.

Finally, drawing the full lips and round, a beautiful deep red color. A newly designed with a black pencil between his nose and guacia is the finishing touch for this look.

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Hair characteristics:

The Second World War (1939-1945), protagonist of the first five years of this decade, only moderately affected the film industry in Hollywood, who saw in these years the emergence of big players (come Cary Grant, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda , Humphrey Bogart e Ingrid Bergman) and the creation of memorable film productions (Casablanca, Kane).

Despite the current technology already ventilasse the possibility to realize color film (Techincolor), most of the films were still in black and white, because of technical difficulties and high costs of production (3:1 compared to white and black). It has in fact, that 1947 the production of color films represented only 12% of the total.

For this reason, the make-up was not particularly upset over prior to the '30s, but it represented a natural evolution.

(Rita Hayworth, 1946)

(Katharine Hepburn,1940)

The trick is natural, Portable, eyebrows have returned to their proper volume, frame the eye in a rounded design 'wing swallow'. Born the use of false eyelashes make-up of the great Hollywood actresses: long hair mink were glued to the end of the eyelid creating a completely natural and invisible to the eye of the beholder.

In these years is the mouth to dominate the scene: The design on the upper lip is rounded, As in the '30s, but until you zoom out often from his natural design (Judy Garland's pensi a, Veronica Lake, Katharine Hepburn o Rita Hayworth) while the lower lip will copy the volume, but assumes a drawing squared, wide and low to near the edge of the mouth.

Red (or auburn) is the dominant color in the colors of the hair of the hottest actresses in recent years.. because it was noticed that these shades were better defined and more readable by the film in shades of black and white.

(40s Makeup)

(40s Makeup)

The realization of the make up 40s

Starting from the base, I have stretched a fund fat pink tint and color not too distant dall'incarnato Model, on which I subsequently realized the light and shade, light on the nose, a little’ higher for the definition of the outline of the face and upper eyelid.

On the upper eyelid also have better defined the lash line with black pencil, then vanished in the direction of the eyebrow, thus creating a shadow which reaches up to approximately half the height of the eyelid.

On the lower eyelid I then spread a very light eye shadow color brown, Slightly faded to white below the height of the eyebrows.

The eyebrows were combed and filled with a light watercolor eyeliner color light brown (suitable for blonde hair)

Even cheekbones were dug by chiaroscuro, and cheeks rosy colors in a gradient.

I did not zoom operations on the mouth because it was already visible on the face, but I limited myself to redraw the boundary and inner edges blend it in with a darker color to give depth.

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Hair characteristics:

Despite the decade 1930-1939 devastated by the beginnings of the collapse on Wall Street (October 1929) and the Great Depression, sees the female protagonist of notable events, awards such as Jane Addams with a woman's first Nobel Peace, the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean alone by Amelia Earhart, the first participation in the U.S. government of a female presence (Frances Perkins); while cinema sees the birth of the first great female protagonists of talking pictures, femme fatale 'unreachable’ whose memory has come down to our days (think of Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich)

(Greta Garbo, 1932)

(Jean Harlow, 1934)

The make-up is partly inherited from previous year '20, in part reworked. The films that are used become more sensitive and are able to read well the light and shade, which in turn become important and studied ad hoc on the faces of actresses: ground and blush are no longer randomly applied on the cheeks, but find their technical function. During these years, unlike the previous decade, you can imagine the usefulness of chiaroscuro in the implementation of corrective makeup; and at the same time begins to spread to the sale of pancakes to the public (Max Factor, 1930) to become commonly used as a cosmetic.
The eyes, important, are framed with thin eyebrows and very high, in which the eyelid, sometimes slightly blurred, but always clear, takes up the domain.
The design maintains the round shape of the lips on the upper lip but the design is extended, covering from side to side throughout the mouth.

(30s Makeup)

(30s Makeup)

The realization of the '30s makeup

Starting from the base, I laid a fat bottom shades of ivory and light pink all over your face, on which I made all the gray, light on the nose, a little’ higher for the definition of the outline of the face and upper eyelid.

In the eye makeup I used a light color in the whole eyebrow, to make it look taller and round, and I decided on the line close to the lashes with a gradient line of eyeliner.

Even cheekbones were dug by chiaroscuro, and cheeks rosy colors in a gradient.

The mouth was drawn thin, with a rounded design on the upper lip, a dark red.

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Hair characteristics:

The '20s (1920-1929) are also known as' The Roaring Twenties’ (Roaring Twenties) o 'Jazz Age',and witnesses, Europe in the early post-war, economic recovery (from which also the name of 'Golden Twenties') and other important events, including greater independence of women.

The cinema of the time, confirming in this decade, its widespread, is still silent, and the film insensitive, best suited to bring whites and blacks rather than shades.

The trick in cinema in recent years, even clear imprint theater, application is located on the characters of those men and women who not only serves as embellishment, but also to give a clear positive or negative connotation, that the characterization and state aid to the viewer.

(Gustav Fröhlich in 'Metropolis', 1927)

(bandits in 'The Kid', 1921)

It is therefore a trick whose dominant color is very clear (the basis) opposed to dark colors (eyebrows, eyes and mouth) and that they are still not using blush and chiaroscuro.

An example of this type of makeup you can find in Louise Brooks and Clara Bow, famous American actresses of silent cinema, that helped popularize with the theme of Olive Thomas ‘flapper’, uninhibited young girls who are critical of the generations before smoking, flaunting their youth, in opposition to past generations, bringing short hair straight or curly, short dresses (and sometimes with fringes fluttering, suited to do the Charleston) or to exhibit the arms and legs from the knee down, and making extensive use of makeup in public.

(Louise Brooks, 1928)

(Clara Bow, 1926)

This look is spreading faster among girls and fashion, enough to become a characteristic feature of the time.

It is identified by a short haircut, smooth or corrugated iron, a very clear makeup base that removes all the imperfections, eyebrows quite thin and rounded towards the corner of my eye, eyes rimmed in black above and below to confer expression and a thin mouth, designed 'to heart', with a double arch on the upper lip and a rather dark red.

Here's how I enjoyed making up Betty for her distinctive look here these years:

(Betty al naturale)

(Make-up the 20s -1)

(Make-up the 20s – 2)

The realization of the make-up 20s

Having laid the foundation of the fat makeup of a color rather than clear, shaded on the neck to get to the skin tone, I made a fading light and dark brown on the sides of the nose, in the contour of the face to 'detach’ the neck and oblique shadows on the cheeks, under the cheekbones.
The eye makeup, instead, obtained by marking the line between the upper eyelid and eyelid fixed, the line above the lashes on the eyelid just below the upper and lower lashes, was initially defined with a black pencil, gradient and then with a brush. This type of makeup is very similar to 'smokey eyes’ very timely in this period, but has a more rounded, not going to define the corner of my eye.
I then powdered with a transparent and neutral face powder all over her face, pulling the trick well in areas where usually tends to accumulate (crease between the eyelid and eyelid fixed, sides of the nose near the nostrils). The powder was determined by vaporizing water all over your face dry with a tissue and buffered.
Once in this way the base, I focused on the eye, going to weigh down the design just released with a black eye shadow, more pronounced on the upper and lower eyelid line and fold eyelid, maintaining a very nuanced eye round.
Followed by, I gave a little’ more strength to the eyebrows (already quite thin) using a black pencil, stretched to excess on the edge, to give the queues round the drawing very typical of these years.
On the lips, dark red with a pencil, I made the drawing 'at heart', characterized by narrow, fleshy upper lip, semicurve defined in two at the top and a semicurve to close in the lower.
Finally, to give a little’ of life on this face so full of light and dark contrasts I applied a subtle brush of blush on the cheeks. The hair, previously collected to make the make-up, were covered by a black wig, typical of the period with a cut.

Giorgia, 20s make-up

Giorgia, 20s make-up

Giorgia, make up anni’20

(Make Up in collaboration with Messrs. Bobbins and Mario Manlio Michisanti)
 

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