18 Weird Beauty Standards That Were Popular in the Old World

High forehead, bald head is beautiful

Renaissance women revered the beauty of a high forehead. They often tied their hair up to show off their foreheads. Some even shaved off their hair to make their foreheads look higher.

No Eyelashes Fashion

European women during the Renaissance even plucked out their eyelashes before going out because they believed eyelashes were a symbol of immorality.

Paint on legs for tan skin

This trend was very popular during World War II. During this time, there was a shortage of nylon, leading to a lack of production of pantyhose for women, so to have attractive honey-colored legs, girls painted their legs.

Skull correction for... beauty

The ancient Maya believed that misshapen skulls were beautiful, so from a young age, they used many shaping tools to deform their skulls. This standard had nothing to do with social status, but simply for... beauty.

The smaller the legs, the more beautiful.

This was the beauty standard of Chinese women in the 13th century. When a girl was 5 or 7 years old, her growing feet were bound tightly, the bones of her feet were broken, and the heel was bent so that it touched her toes. People at that time believed that the smaller the foot, the more attractive it was both sexually and aesthetically. Many girls endured great pain and suffering to have these tiny feet.

Super long nails

During the Qing Dynasty, both men and women kept their fingernails very long, ranging from 20 to 25 centimeters. Long nails showed that they were wealthy enough to not have to do manual labor, and even had servants to change their clothes and serve them food.

Black teeth

Nineteenth-century Japanese women maintained the custom of blackening their teeth after marriage as a pledge of marital fidelity.

Mole on face

Women in the 18th century began to favor makeup. They not only applied powder, but also added fake moles to their faces. Moles came in different shapes and sizes, each with a different meaning. A mole near the mouth symbolized womanizing, while a mole on the right cheek meant that the woman was married.

Pale skin

17th century English women preferred pale skin because it symbolized the wealth of the upper class, distinguishing them from the hard-working class. Ladies applied a lot of powder to their faces and painted blue veins on their chests to enhance the fragile appearance of their skin.

Piercing in private parts

Rich Victorian women liked to pierce their breasts and men their penises. Prince Albert was a big fan of this style.

Pubic hair removal

Native Americans considered body hair to be an unsightly thing, so they removed it quickly by plucking.

Wear a split bra

From the 16th to the 19th century, women wore tight corsets and tried every possible way to make their breasts look fuller. However, after the 19th century, they preferred the split bra, making the breasts as far apart as possible.

Multi-colored eyebrow drawing

Ancient Chinese women did not only use black to draw their eyebrows, but often changed the color, one day green, the next blue, and constantly changed the shape. At one time, they favored short eyebrows drawn high in the middle of the forehead, called "sad eyebrows".

Conjoined eyebrows

Greek women liked to paint their eyebrows together to show intelligence and purity.

Short teeth

During the Renaissance, short teeth were considered beautiful. Both women and men filed their teeth down as short as possible.

Round face, chubby cheeks are beautiful

The standard of beauty for women during the Tang Dynasty in China was a round face and chubby cheeks.

Hourglass figure

During the Edwardian era, women went crazy for corsets to achieve tiny waists and hourglass figures. However, some corsets were so tight that they made it difficult for the wearer to breathe, and even compressed internal organs, causing internal bleeding. The wearer had difficulty walking naturally, and even suffered long-term consequences.

Men must have big calves

Men in the Middle Ages and throughout the 18th century loved to wear stockings to show off their toned calves. They even padded their calves to make them look bigger. King Henry VIII was famous for his enviable legs.