FIT FOR A QUEEN: How celebs jumped on bleached eyebrow trend that began with Elizabeth I in 16th century!
With Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, and Bella Hadid joining the new 'invisible eyebrows' trend, fashion enthusiasts are wondering about its origin. While we have had the odd look here and there surfacing from the likes of Lady Gaga to Jaden Smith in the past, it has taken off again as we saw models and celebrity guests sporting bleached eyebrows at New York, Paris, and Milan Fashion Weeks.
We have currently popular models like Kendall Jenner, Amelia Gray, and Bella Hadid walking the ramp and joining this trend, making bleached eyebrows the latest Y2K fashion that is making a comeback. In fact, on October 2, the internet was raving as we had Kylie Jenner channel her inner 90s supermodel with thin and bleached eyebrows. And while it seems that we are going back to the 90s, the origin of this particular eyebrows trend goes way back.
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The origin of bleached eyebrows goes before the 90s
While we had club kids and 90s supermodels like Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss bleaching their eyebrows, this fashion trend goes way back. Historian Rachel Gibson traced back this particular look as far as the 16th century. With Queen Elizabeth I powdering her face, it is no surprise that bleached eyebrows could have begun in the Elizabethan era. Gibson shares that the idea behind this style came with the concept that a wide and bare forehead was considered beautiful. And so, the European royalty would either bleach or pluck off their eyebrows to get this look.
While the 70s and 80s were all about bushy and brushed eyebrows, thin and bleached brows made a comeback in the 90s as avant-garde fashion took off. But it reached the general public when we had the youth of New York like club kids bleaching their eyebrows to experiment with fashion. Madonna stirred a whole debate as she did away with her signature bushy eyebrows in favor of the bleached look. Celebrity makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin is often credited for leading this trend as he wanted his models to make a bold statement on the ramp.
We did have some celebrities continuing with the bleached look in the early 2000s like Chloe Sevigny and Paris Hilton, but it was time to say goodbye to this eyebrow trend as pencil-thin dark eyebrows took over. While we have had the likes of Kristen Stewart, Jared Leto, Maisie Williams and Katy Perry bleaching their eyebrows for particular red carpet looks in the past few years, this trend has now come back in force in 2022. From Julia Fox to Lizzo, models, as well as other celebrities, are debuting their bleached eyebrows look at the latest fashion weeks.