Ways Our Ancestors Killed Themselves In The Name of Fashion
- Thread starter SeaBreeze
- Start date
jujube
SF VIP
Belladonna eye drops were used by the Victorians to dilate the pupils and make the eyes look darker and more gleaming. It had the side effect of distorting vision and increasing heartrate.
Pregnant women didn't appear in public after they starting showing, so they laced themselves into tighter and tighter corsets so that they could go out in society longer. This led to maternity problems, obviously.
Women generally did not leave their boudoirs without wearing their tightly-laced corsets. If a lady had a cold and/or cough, lacing herself into a tight corset and constricting their lungs lead to pneumonia, which usually lead to death.
In Napoleonic times, lampblack was used as mascara. Can you image lampblack in your eyes?
In more modern times, people actually ingested tapeworm eggs to lose weight and models/starlets had their back teeth pulled to give them the fashionable hollow-cheek look.
Pregnant women didn't appear in public after they starting showing, so they laced themselves into tighter and tighter corsets so that they could go out in society longer. This led to maternity problems, obviously.
Women generally did not leave their boudoirs without wearing their tightly-laced corsets. If a lady had a cold and/or cough, lacing herself into a tight corset and constricting their lungs lead to pneumonia, which usually lead to death.
In Napoleonic times, lampblack was used as mascara. Can you image lampblack in your eyes?
In more modern times, people actually ingested tapeworm eggs to lose weight and models/starlets had their back teeth pulled to give them the fashionable hollow-cheek look.
SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
They should bring some of those back - it would thin the herd, so to speak.
I particularly liked the nitrobenzene shoe polish. Oddly, it is still used to this day in the production of acetaminophen.
I particularly liked the nitrobenzene shoe polish. Oddly, it is still used to this day in the production of acetaminophen.
fureverywhere
beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
- Location
- Northern NJ, USA
Reminds me of something interesting I read about. One of the occupational hazards of being a stage performer back in the day was being burned. I suppose your stage makeup might have been poisoning you as well...but it was the stage lights. Before electricity you had open flame. There were some noted ballet stars who became crispy critters.
jujube
SF VIP
The phrase "mad hatter" or "mad as a hatter" comes from the fact that mercury was used during the production of the felt used for making hats. The hat makers absorbed the mercury through their hands and voila....went mad.