Beauty is pain. We all know we’ve worn outfits that are too tight or uncomfortable just because we wanted to fit in and try this new trend. It’s definitley a struggle that has occured over a long period of time over different cultures, for different reasons and various reasons. Here are a few times through the history of fashion where beauty really was defined by pain.
1. The Corset Corsets have been around for years. They tighten the waist and if worn long enough, it can lead to long-term physically changes which can affect your internal health without even realizing. It can affect breathing, it can change the position of organs, and even digestive problems.
2. Foot Binding In East Asian countries, this was an important trend of fashion in which the women’s feet are bound to make the shape of them smaller. Being “petite” was idealized, so they did what they had to do to make them as tiny as possible. The process itself is antagonizing because it can lead to infections and broken bones.
3. Lead Face Paint During the time of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, face paint was a form of beauty and a projection of wealth. The paint used made them paler and whiter, but this came at a cost. It was toxic and it eventually started to lead to headaches and hair loss.
4. Muslin Dress Disease In the 18th and 19th centuries, women liked wearing light, breezy dresses because it was an evolution from the heavier, large dresses. However, this led to pneumonias or severe colds because there was no internal heating invented and this dresses just weren’t protective enough.
5. Neck Rings Women used to wear this to protect themselves from tigers and avoid being kidnapped from other tribes. However, this wasn’t healthy because it caused muscle problems and discolored skin and many other underlying issues.
It’s interesting to see what we’ve done over the years because of religion or what was in trend of that time. Culturally, there are various painful trends and depending on the time period, that evolved too.