Research and designs – The 1950’s

Task 1 – Research and designs.

For this task I have been asked to conduct research into a chosen era, to help me create an accurate male and female period makeup design.

I have also been asked to choose a film or tv series set in my chosen  era, in order to conduct a script and character breakdown.

The era I have chosen to study is the 1950’s. I love how simple yet elegant their glamor is, and I thought The kray twins would be the perfect study for my male design.

Makeup in the 1950’s:

In the 50’s, film stars took over the influence on makeup and fashion trends. Hollywood movie stars such as Grace Kelly, Marilin Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor, took lead in this.

War time rations made many cosmetics unavailable to women, for many years. Now war was over, cosmetic markets bloomed, meaning products of better quality, in a wider range of colors, became available.

In the 50’s, the luxury makeup market was established, and brands like Elizabeth Arden, and Helena Rubenstein took over the cosmetic industry. These brands created cosmetics and skincare products, containing expensive ingredients, aiming for a luxury customer market.

Max factor, a brand that is still highly used today, was the leading brand in terms of new inventions. They successfully created the first all in one base, known as ‘creme puff’, as well as launching the commonly used concealer stick.

Boots also relaunched their brand, No7, after it was almost forgotten during the war.

Teenagers:

The 50’s was the first era that makeup companies aimed brand launches and advertisements at a teenage market.

Products such as skin care, lipsticks and nail polish were largely aimed at the new teenage market. Before now, a teenage girl wearing makeup was frowned upon. However, post war Britain introduced a safe space for young women to embrace themselves. This made younger women feel more comfortable exploring their creativity using makeup.

Young women used eyeliner and mascara, along with one shade of eye shadow, to create elegant eye looks, defining the eyes while retaining a natural glamour. Eyebrows would be drawn with pencil, at a slight arch, to further help add definition in the eye area.

Rouge would be applied sparingly, to add a soft warmth to the face. Light lipstick colors would be worn, and matched with a nail polish.

As the makeup market grew, women began to create glamorous, yet natural looks. They used makeup to  help enhance their features but maintain a natural elegance.

Foundation – 

Foundations would be color matched to the skin tone, as best possible with the shades available.

Warm tones with a peachy/pink base were preferred, to add a slight warmth to the complexion.

Foundations were available in liquid, cream and cake form. Max factor led the market for foundations, with their staple pan-cake product, that was easy for on the go application.

Powders-

Powders were being used to set foundations, and prevent shine on the face.

The powders would be applied with powder puffs, and the excess product would be wiped away with a brush.

Eyeshadows-

Eyeshdows became available in a larger range of matte colors, including gray, brown, blue, green and violet.

In the late 50’s, shimmers made from fish scales and guano could be applied to add a subtle glow.

Shadows would be applied in minimal layers, with one color being used on the upper eyelid. These colors would be applied with the finger and then blended upwards, and outwards, to create a winged effect.

Eyeliner-

In the 50’s, it was extremely popular to use black liner along the upper outline, to create a simple flick.

In the early 50’s Doe eyes were popular, this is where liner was applied around the whole eye.

Eye liner pencils also expanded in the 50’s, becoming available in black, brown, gray, blue, green and purple.

Mascara-

Mascara was very popular in the 50’s as the product was quick and easy to use, and added drama to the eyes.

Mascara was available in :

Block mascara – activated with warm water and applied with a small brush

Creme mascara – Available in a tube, applied with a brush. An internal brush appears for the first time in history, introduced by Helena Rubinstein and Max factor.

Eyebrows-

Eyebrows were arched and defined, filled with pencil to extend their length.

Eyebrows had a strong arch, and tapered at the ends.

Womens brows varied in thickness, but thin shapes were no longer fashionable.

Lipstick-

Lipstick was used to help define the lips, and highlight the main feature of the face.

Red shades were the most popular, however pink and coral tones would also be worn.

Lips would not be over or underlined, women would follow their natural lip shapes in order to create a more natural glam look.

Matte lip products were extremely popular, so women started to use products such as vaseline to add a sheen finish to their lips.

The first smudge proof lipstick was introduced in this era, by Hazel Bishop.

Rouge-

Rouge was used sparingly, to ensure the focus was not taken away from the lips. A soft pink, or coral tone would be added to warm up the face, and add a soft and subtle glow. An oval face shape was desired, so rouge was applied on the cheeks and along the temples – similar to how we used bronzer today.

Rouge was available in cream and liquid forms that would be applied after foundation, but before powdering.

Nailpolish- 

Nail polish became popular in the 50’s, and women would coordinate their lip and nail colors.

Therefore, reds, pinks and corals were the popular colour choices.

Hair-

New hair care products made it easy for women to do their own hair at home.

Celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Dorothy Dandridge , Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly, had a huge influence on the latest styles.

Whereas Marilyn Monroe, and Jayne Mansfield had their own staple looks.

Short curled styles, straight flicks, ponytails and headbands were extremely popular in this time.

Male influences:

The 50’s was a prime time for elegance and glam in women’s fashion, for males however the story was very different.

The rise of the infamous Kray twins, opened up a whole new world for men and women alike.

Although the Kray twins are known for their gangster reputation, at the time many women swooned for the twins. Not only did fear of the twins lead to widespread respect, but the twins were known to be true gentlemen.

Ronnie and Reggie Kray were also known for their respect towards women and children. At the beginning of their street carrer the Kray twins were idolized for only preying on predators. Many people felt safe and protected with the twins around, however this changed towards the end of their reign.

Ronnie and Reggie had huge influences on the style of men throughout the country. Their Slick back hair and sharp suits gave them a look that everyone aimed for. Men across the country tried to recreate their sharp, yet intimidating look, in a bid to impress the ladies.

Many men would also involve themselves in gangs, or even just bar fights, where they could – to help gain themselves a celebrity type status, like the Krays.

Men thought gaining this type of reputation would leave them untouchable, and make them a magnet for young, beautiful women – the reality however, was much more sinister.

Script breakdown:

Below are photos of a script breakdown I conducted, of the film Legend- by Brian Helgeland.

Synopsis – ‘Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard “Nipper” Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.’

Here are photos from the script breakdown I produced :

Character breakdown – Reggie Kray

Reggie (Reginald) Kray – Born 24th October 1993, was an English gangster, at the forefront of London’s organised crime network, along with his twin brother Ronnie (Ronald) , at their prime between 1950 and 1960.

Reggie was a gangster, meaning cuts, bruises and scars would be an obvious starting point when portraying his character on screen. These aspects would help build the idea of violence and control within his character.

However, even though Reggie was part of the lead on this establishment, he was known to be of a much calmer nature than his brother

Ronnie.

Ronnie was known for being extremely violent, using touture techniques against his victims wherever he could. Ronnie was known as a one man mob. His actions were ‘evil’ and ‘bloodthirsty’, and Ronnie never feared getting a job done himself, without his brother knowing.

Therefore, Ronnie would need a much darker, heavier and more sinister screen appearance then Reggie, to help visually show the contrast between the personalities of the twins.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, Reggie Kray was known to be much more of a true gentleman than Ronnie. Reggie had high respect for women and children, and was much more interested in leading a family life, than Ronnie was. Reggie fought to keep his brother Ronnie sane, and keep their operations legit, but soon lost himself to the life of brutal crime.

This led to the fall of the Kray’s empire, landing both Ronnie and Reggie in the hands of the law for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, when creating a character based upon Reggie Kray, it would also be important to include aspects to help show the more positive side of his character.

For example, a bright, young complexion would be a great place to start.Ronnie was a well respected member of society, who was known to be very chatty and have a great sense of humor. It would be crucial to show this side of his character, in order to help the difference in the twins’ ideals be very clear from the very first introduction.

Slight bags under the eyes, and sunken cheekbones could be added to build the appearance of stress or guilt from the work that the twins carry out in their daily lives. Furthermore, scars and aged bruising could be added to support the gangster lifestyle, but contradict Ronnie’s fresh cuts and bruises, to further support the difference between the twins characters.

Here, in this photo taken from a scene in the movie legend, you can see a clear difference in the characters appearances. Reggie (left) looks young and cheerful, while Ronnie looks much older, and more menacing.

Character breakdown – Frances Shea

Frances Shea – Born September 23rd, 1943, was the wife of the infamous gangster, Reggie Kray.

The pair married on April 19th 1965, at St James Church, and had a short lived marriage of only 8 months before Frances left Reggie. Although Frances ended their relationship, the marriage was never formally dissolved, but after Frances’ suicide Reggie was officially a single man again.

However, after losing his beloved wife Reggie joined his brother Ronnie on a downward spiral into violent crimes that ultimately lead to the downfall of the Kray empire.

Frances was a well respected woman, who worked as hard as she could to lead Reggie away from his life of crime. She married him once she believed  he was willing to change his ways, however shortly ended the relationship after finding out he hadn’t really changed at all.

Francess was patient with Ronnie, and it took a lot for her to finally lose hope. In a time that young women would almost always obey their parents wishes, Francess did all she could to defend Reggie and win over her parents approval for their marriage- this eventually backfired, but luckily Frances’ family were there by their side.

Frances was married to one of the men in charge of everything that went on in London, making her a well respected woman with an almost celebrity status.

Francess took inspiration from huge London movie stars such as, Joan Collins and Barbara Windsor, in order to follow and set trends in women’s fashions.

Francess would wear simple, yet elegant glamor makeup, with attention drawn to the eyes, with the use of eyeliner and false lashes.

As previously stated, Frances would take inspiration from celebrities, in order to build her own signature look – setting new standards for the women of East End, London.

Makeup designs:

Below are photos of the makeup design face charts I created, to represent the lower and upper class male and female of 1950’s Britain.

The East End Gangster

Here is a look I created, based on the traditional East End Gangster. In this time, organised crime groups were at their prime, and many of London’s well respected, upper class gentlemen had some sort of involvement with the criminal world. I have chosen to create an ‘East End Gangster’ look, to represent the men of the upper class, inspired by the kings of the London’s organised crime ring in the 50’s, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

The working class man

Many men of the lower, working class in the 1950’s, worked long, hard days outside in dirty, dusty environments. These men would commonly work as farmers, blacksmiths and builders. This would mean that they would often come home covered in dirt and dust from their working conditions. These men were also likely to have very tanned skin, caused by the long hours they spent in the sun.

Evening makeup

Here, I have created a simple, yet elegant evening look, to represent the women of the upper class, in 1950’s Britain. Many women would create looks similar to this when attending any evening or special events, but it was more common to see the women of the upper class, and celebrity status wearing these looks all through the day. This would be to ensure they always looked their best.

Natural Day Makeup

In the 1950’s, it was fashionable for women to match their eye shadow to their outfit. Many women of the working class would be seen with natural makeup, that matched their outfits and manicures. The lower class women may wear makeup like this for a special occasion, but as they usually worked in factories, as cooks or cleaners, it was unusual for them to wear makeup on a daily basis.