Keep On The Sunny Side

What would summer be without a dark, rich sun tan? For many cultures, few things come close to the popularity of tanning on the beach, and once warm weather hits, beachgoers everywhere hit the sandy slopes to work on their own tan.

"Maybe it's just this highly saturated photo, but your tan looks great!" Corbis.com.

With "build-a-tan" lotions of every shade and tanning booths open in the dead of winter, it seems impossible to imagine a time when sunbathing wasn't the norm. But would you believe that it was only a little over 60 years ago?

The story of Coco Chanel's accidental burn while on vacation that caused a sudden sensation in the 1920s is a famously told tale, and, while very true, this crispy trend didn't make its full appearance until the mid 1940s.

Combining 1946's controversial bikini with the look of bronzed skin, fashion magazines and Hollywood stars promoted the trend to its fullest extent, and fashionistas quickly took notice. With the help of the recently introduced tanning oil and their new skimpy bathing suits, a creamy tan was suddenly very easy to achieve.

In this Gucci advertisement, the intense tan takes center stage. HerFamedGoodLooks.com.

By the 1960s, when groups like The Beach Boys performed in their perfect California tans and crooned of sunny weather, tanning had surpassed being a mere fad and had become a way of life for many.

And even now, despite frequent warnings of the effects from too much sun exposure, flaunting an even tan is still just as chic as it was in the 1940s. Just don't forget your cat eye sunglasses! Read more...

A Trend That Raised Some Brows

Women in the roaring 1920s were no strangers to pain. Their meticulous beauty methods - which included using vacuum cleaners as hair dryers, and makeup made from messy wax - for achieving the perfect curls and picturesque makeup involved tactics most would now consider forms of torture.

"You don't get it, this is my serious face!" ViewImages.com.

With all the trouble they endured to get the popular flapper look, it should come as no surprise that women decided to fashion their eyebrows into the famous thin, clownlike shape. Perhaps they were making an attempt to express their true, remorseful feelings over how much effort they placed into creating the perfect face.

Or, more likely the case, they were simply following in the footsteps of celebrities like Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks.

In typical 1920s manner, the desired look wasn't easy to mimic. Women had no choice but to go to town with tweezers, often plucking until no trace of natural brows were left. Tweezers were then replaced with a stick of potentially lead-contaminated kohl eyeliner, which helped complete the illusion of dramatically high eyebrows.

The finished look, though leaving a permanent look of surprise on the wearer's face, was a welcomed change for those tired of the full, simple eyebrows that had reigned supreme for years.

The makeup for John Galliano's Fall 2007 collection was inspired by the 1920s. TheFashionSpot.com.

Painfully thin eyebrows proved to be all the rage well into the 1930s, but by the next decade fell out of fashion for full, well maintained arches. In the current era, some daring individuals have taken a note from flappers by shaving or plucking their eyebrows off completely, but this has yet to resonate with the fashion world as it did in the early 20th century.

And, considering the lengthy grow-out period for eyebrows, perhaps this is for the better. Read more...