The Impressionist painter Renoir once said, “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” Ahhh the French. I’ll bet Marie Antoinette echoed those exact sentiments while she was strapped into her corset every morning.
Throughout the history of women in every culture there seems to be a common theme: the painful lengths that we will go to for the sake of being beautiful. The Chinese bound their feet to make them smaller. Ethiopian women pierce their lips and implant metal objects inside their mouths to change the shapes of their faces. Brazilians wax, well… everything. And at least a million Americans have their plastic surgeons on their Christmas lists.
Granted that all of those examples can be chalked up to extremism, but in an age where diet pills, hair extensions, facial peels (not to mention Botox), and lip gloss that purposely stings your lips to make them more Angelina Jolie-esque are the norm, it is hard to imagine a time when we can evolve beyond this beauty obsession.
My friend, a loyal fake and baker once told me, “I don’t care if I’m a shriveled up old prune when I’m fifty, at least I look hot now.” But it goes even further than that; our fashion choices these days are a little cause for concern as well. In London women are wearing their shoes so tall and their high-waisted jeans so tight they can hardly walk. They even have a cute little name for it over there: DFS (Debilitating Fashion Syndrome).
Obviously, being thought of as beautiful or fashionable is a great feeling, possibly an addicting one. But as I sit and count the blister scars on my feet (one for every pair of high-heeled stiletto pumps that I own), I still have to wonder, is it worth it?
Let Us Know: What is the craziest thing you have ever done for fashion?
***************************
Stop the insanity — get yourself a pair of comfortable yet fashionable shoes. Shop our picks and check-out Oprah's favorite wear-all-day heels.
See All Of The Week’s Sample Sales
Check Out Lady Gaga and Cate Blanchett In Vogue
Avoid Winter Doldrums with Franco Sarto Boots
I wore a tiny black rubber dress that I had to put on with baby powder, as rubber doesn’t exactly glide over the skin. Went to a club, danced, got sweaty, the baby powder turned to paste, gave me a horrible rash, and I had to cut the dress off when I got home. Try not to judge, it was an awkward goth phase that I’m trying to forget. I’ve been stricly natural fibers from that day forward.
In my misguided efforts to be “skinny”, I wrapped my healthy, muscular, attractive body (hindsight is 20/20 here) in saran wrap. I had read in one of the many horrific women’s magazines that doing this would melt off the weight. I wore saran wrap for 24 hours, lost several inches on my thighs and tummy, developed a terrible rash, and gained it all back with a couple of glasses of water. I haven’t bought a “woman’s” magazine since then…about 15 years!
As a former fake and bake girl, I can say that the “beauty is pain” mantra is not always worth it. In college I was surrounded by pretty, yet generically thin and tan girls. Trying to fit in with that crowd was tough, for I am curvy, petite and fair skinned. I have sworn off the UVA rays since and am now the unofficial Jergens Natural Glow spokesgirl. So maybe beauty is all about concessions to what is healthy in the long run.
Now precariously high heels on the other hand, those are worth it.