18 Weirdest Beauty Trends From The Past That You Never Knew About! (3 of 4)

Sway backed look of the Edwardian women

The Edwardian era was considered by many as the period that celebrated the mature female body. This led to corset use by women. However, since the corsets were tight, they affected women’s breathing and also put immense pressure on the internal organs.

To get around this issue, a special type of s-bend corsets came into vogue that greatly reduced the stress on and around the waists. Instead, the new corset was designed in such a way that it created an impression of bustle without using any extra layers! However, the design shaped the women’s spines into a weird position, which made them walk with a sway, and at many times even caused permanent damage to their spines!

Pubic hair was plucked in native American tribes

When colonists reached the shores of the Americas, they were in for a surprise when they found out about a painful beauty trend that was followed by the native American women – plucking of the pubic hair. Jefferson, once remarked that the native women considered it a disgrace to have hair on their bodies, and would remove it as fast it grew in order to stay beautiful.

Japanese women loved black teeth

If you are not happy with the color of your teeth, then this is probably for you. In Japan, women blackened their teeth after marriage, and this ritual continued for more than a thousand years! Apparently, it was considered beautiful and was a statement of marital commitment by the women.

Long fingernails were a rage in China

Having long nails has always been a thing in China, for both men and women. In fact, nobles and high officials in the Qing Dynasty had nails that were as long as ten inches! In fact, some wore gold nail-guards so that their nails stayed safe and didn’t break. Growing long nails was considered a sign of wealth, as it indicated that they were rich enough not to do anything with their hands and had servants to take care of things such as dressing or feeding them!

Incredibly small feet were considered beautiful in China

Foot binding is quite rightly the most infamous style of body modification, the fact that it spread from China wasn’t really clear until recently. Historians revealed that in the 13th century China, this practice was a rage amongst the wives and daughters of the ruling nobles, and it gradually found its way to other parts of the world from there.

Foot binding was a process that began early in the childhood, when the feet were bandaged during the growth years in order to break the foot bones, making the sole to meet the toes after bending down, while the toes bend beneath the foot. This cruel practice was in vogue because people felt that small feet were more beautiful.