Ladies Can Nail It Safer These Days
Nail polish has been around, experts say, for 3,000 years. The original formula contained a base of gum arabic, egg whites, gelatin, and beeswax. Ladies would dip their hands in for hours. The modern concept of nail polish, however, emerged in the 1920s, inspired by the new lacquers that came out in the auto industry, so women started painting their nails instead of staining them.
I shouldn’t say just women. Some punk rockers adopted wearing black nail polish for men on occasion. Then again, the Max Factor corporation probably didn’t have that quite in their vision. Nor did they probably imagine I would use some in the ninth grade to write my initials on the back of my scientific calculator so none of my classmates would accidentally walk away with it. I think it was some sort of color between pink and plum. Plum colored eyeshadow was big then. So was the Clarion computer. Well, that might not have been “big” but it was something that you could turn the dials of at the store if you were bored.
I met a man who was repulsed by the use of nail polish on his lady’s hands and discouraged her from using them. I never understood what the aversion was, unless her nails were so rediculously long and had such ornamentation that it was almost like a handicap, preventing her from tending to her daily life for fear of marring them. However, they weren’t like that. Hmmm….
In the past decade or so, the practice of women wearing nail polish has ebbed and flowed. The new trend has been having makers look for more ways to create nail polish without formaldehyde and other not so appealing ingredients that vintage ladies had to live with. It may be okay at Maaco, but not on the human body. The Olan brand, at left in cosmopolitan red, is one such offering on the Hello Gorgeous! website that lets a gal browse from the comfort of home (or I should also say “person who wants to put their initials on their calculator regardless of gender”). I think Rita Hayworth, the original red nail trendsetter, and Uma Thurman, who influenced women again in the 90s, would have approved of the hue.
fashion history, ladieswear | Comment (0)
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