By Lori Ferraro
In the eighties, we thought that skinny, over-plucked, penciled eyebrows were, like, totally for bluehairs. We wanted our brows to be luxuriantly full and natural, like chic little caterpillars over our eyes. The poster child of the full brow look was, of course, Brooke Shields.
Here’s some footage of the Pretty Baby herself with her mother, Terri, and Barbara Walters showing just how lovely a natural brow can be:
Not to be outdone by Madonna, shown here in the video for 1986’s “Papa Don’t Preach”:
And Jennifer Connelly, all dolled up in 1986’s “Labyrinth”:
Photo credit: Lord_Henry
And Sean Young, with Harrison Ford in 1982’s “Blade Runner”:
And Kirstie Alley:
Photo credit: trainman74
And . . . you get the picture. Pretty much everybody else who could rock the full brow look in the 80s did. It wasn’t that our brows were entirely ungroomed, mind you. We plucked strays—and we totally didn’t want unibrows. (Like, gag me!) We also used brow brushes and brow gels to hold that perfect look in place. I remember in ninth grade using mascara to groom, thicken, and blacken my already dark brows. Perhaps it was a bit much (and it’s not a method I currently employ) but it illustrates a point: heavy, strong brows were totally awesome.
If, you, like me, now totally have eyebrows on the brain, click over to The Fashion Spot for this bitchin’ slideshow of brows from the 20s through the 00s. And if you’re feeling the urge to go lighter on the tweezers and opt for a fuller, more natural brow, then high-five, sister! The full brow is back into style.
These vogue covers span the 70s through the 00s and I think they illustrate how fabulous, youthful, and feminine a strong brow can be. Plus, it’s fun to look at how top models were styled in the past few decades, right? Enjoy, and have a totally awesome day, LT80s style!