The Absolute Best And Worst Eyebrow Trends In History

One thing most stars of the early 20th century had in common? Their remarkably thin, long, drawn-on eyebrows. Thankfully, all that was done away with by the 1940s. When, according to fashion historian Lydia Edwards in The Conversation, women began embracing their natural brows. Undoubtedly, stars like Lauren Bacall, who tossed aside the tweezers and allowed their natural shape to take over, influenced the trend of the decade. However, Edwards posited another theory for the sudden change. In the World War II-era, women took on more and more work outside the home, likely leaving them with little to no time to fuss about with their eyebrows. So, instead, they let them grow, perhaps realizing their brows looked better more natural anyway.

The eyebrows of the 1940s stand out as one of history's best eyebrow trends because they exemplified a no-fuss, carefree, natural beauty routine that is somehow still difficult to pull off. It is so easy to tip the scale from effortlessly chic to "I haven't looked at a mirror in decades" when going the 1940s route, but somehow the women of that era seemed to always get it right.