So what did Victorian women look like? Or aspire to look like?
From my reading Ive acquired the knowledge that at the turn of the century a decline in the 'extravagance' of clothing continued and influenced the cosmetic look in to the 19th century. 'Large dark eyes added expressive emphasis to a pale-complexioned face'.
Women of Society appeared 'light boned and pretty' to emphasise the masculinity of their escorts and its said that an 'elegant appearance' was most favourable to gentleman. Upon my initial inspection of this period it seems very clear that the look of the time was very down played, natural and emphasised felinity in a subtle manner.
Although the use of cosmetics does seem to play a part in a women's appearance as 'Sparing use of rouge and powder' is said to have enhanced the complexion which outlines to me that elements of colour and cosmetics were used but in a very subtle manner that perhaps accentuated a woman's natural beauty rather dramatising features with bright colours which were considered 'vulgar'.
Cosmetics themselves during the Victorian period encouraged the use of natural ingredients, a new approach that aimed to improve and emphasise the 'natural condition of the skin' instead of camouflaging flaws which was very much the norm in the previous century.
In 1825 'The Art of Beauty' was published anonymously. Having been released just before Victoria's reign this book detailed the new approach to fashionable cosmetics. It dictated that 'subtle rouge' was recommended for the cheeks, but lip colour was deemed 'undesirable'. These rouges were often made from ingredients such as red sandalwood, cochineal and saffron mixed with talc powder which suggest to me that the finish of the victorian face was very matte.
(Fenja Gunn, 'The Artifical Face: A History of Cosmetics' 1973 p. David & Charles)
Visual sources from this era support what I have read of how women of society in the Victorian age presented themselves. Take for example 'The Portrait of Mrs.Walters' painted by George Frederik Watt c.1840s, early victorian reign. It is clear from the fact that women is of ugh standing due to the fact that her portrait has been commissioned and only women of society and money would have been able to afford this luxury. Mrs Walters has a fair complexion which is brightened by the use of subtle yet visible rouge to the cheeks which corroborates my reach so far. Her lips are natural looking, but perhaps more red toned than one would consider natural and perhaps some lip colour, which leads me to what to investigate further whether lip colour was widely used or not despite being considered "undesirable". Other features of this portrait I notice are the eyebrows and the proportion of the lips. I notice that the eyebrows are visible yet not clearly defined, again an emphasis of the idealised natural look of the victorian period. I also notice that the subjects lips appear very small, disproportionate to her eyes which appear very large and dark. It appears to me that not intentional effort has been made to distort or highlight any specific features of the face but to emphasise the subjects natural beauty and features.
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| 'The Portrait of Mrs.Walters' c.1840s Painted by George F Watts http://tinyurl.com/ohf7q2b |
Further in to Fenja Gunn's 'The Artificial Face' the author states that the 'Victorian Image of Beauty' was reminiscent of the 'innocent face of a China doll' with a 'rosebud mouth, dimpled cheeks' and 'small neat features'. The term 'rosebud mouth' further intrigues me as again it seems the women of this age seemed to go for a tone of lip that was an emphasis on the natural hue of the lips rather than a completely bare one. I found some light on this slightly sketchy subject further in to the chapter which states that lip salves 'cunningly concealed a touch of carmine'. Carmine being a bright-red compound derived from insects would have vastly coloured the lips but with the addition of a salve base convinces me that this would have come across very naturally and further emphasised this idea of looking like a china doll, youthful, elegant and pretty.
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| Example of a typical China Doll http://tinyurl.com/mhg3uex |
From this research Ive discovered that the Ideals of Victorian Beauty were as follows;
- A pale complexion
- Minimal use of cosmetics
- Subtle rouge to the cheeks and lips to emphasise youth and femininity
- Small neat features
- Elegance & a look of youth were desirable traits
- Expressive eyes
- Groomed but undefined brows
I personally really love the idea that the typical Victorian woman idealised the look of a china doll, capturing the essence of childhood and youth, almost trying to preserve their own.
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