DeGalan, Aimée Marcereau. The beauty standard of the time said they should be at least somewhat white, the whiter the better, and of equal proportions, but even the most beautiful ladies had ruins in their mouths. The standards of beauty were very specific. Few characteristics seem more subjective and less amenable to scientific study than beauty. “Cosmetic Differences: The Changing Faces of England and France.” Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 34 2005: 25-54. Subtle and delicate cosmetics became popular in the 19th century. “Lead White or Dead White? Cosmetics of various sorts have been in use since very early in human history, but they became significantly more common during the 1800s. Many of the rules against colored people were based on curbing the “white male gaze”, which threatened the myth of white female beauty/western standards of beauty. Alan W. Bates London, United Kingdom . Marie Duplessis, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 23 in 1847, in a 19th century portrait by Édouard Viénot. We tend to think of the 19th century as a primitive time, when the main form of entertainment was sitting around and waiting for the internet to be invented. In the early 17th century France, during the time Louis XIV made his first love-conquests, blonde hair or light brow shades were all the rage. Festa, Lynn. When you walk down the streets of Milan, London, Paris, or New York City, you see billboards featuring the typical tall, slender, Caucasian model. Festa, Lynn. Unluckily for the women of the day, affliction with consumption allowed the sufferer to display all the beauty hallmarks of the day without violating the period’s strict hygiene standards. Nutritional deficits, disease and accidents all resulted in sometimes horrific alterations to the human form. Defining Beauty in the Regency Era The Shape of Georgian Beauty Life in early modern societies was rife with bodily threats often resulting in bodily deformities. Well, that and rampant racism, of course. The plumper people didn’t have to work psychically and they had plenty to eat. Again this was a sign of wealth. However, due to events like the widespread colonialism of the 1800s, the European societal norms have lingered in other societies and have taken away from different cultures’ own values of beauty. Skin conditions, tumors, both benign and cancerous, and conditions like gout marked individuals in … Continue reading As the philosopher David Hume wrote in 1741, “Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.” But Victorian-era folks were just like you and I; they too enjoyed the finer things in life, like looking at pretty women being pretty. The Regency ideal was a good deal plumper than today’s standard of beauty. January 23, 2017. In the late 1800s, Lillian Russell, a famous actress and singer, came to represent a woman of ultimate beauty. Russell, who appeared to be rather big-boned and heavyset, was known for her stylish hats and outfits, and was wildly popular among men. The beauty patch took off at a time when French men and women alike wore extensive makeup, including white powder in their hair and white paint on their faces, accented with rouge on the cheeks and bright vermillion lipstick. Dangerous Beauty Practices of Eighteenth-Century England.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 76(1/2) 2002: 38-49. Paintings and poetry from the day show an affection for plumper backsides and dimpled thighs. The anatomy of beauty in nineteenth-century England. Hair should be blond and fine like gold wire, and if nature didn't provide the proper color, it could be produced by dyes imported from the East. 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