False eyelashes

Fashion Synopsis

“Now…for Twiggy eyes”

Twiggy’s doe-eyed innocence wasn’t just because of her pre-pubescent body style, or her short boyish hair. Her large, soulful eyes beamed a certain naiveté, and every girl was desperate to look like that hottest mod model of the decade.

False eyelashes were already a common accessory for women, but when Twiggy’s long and lush lashes made her famous, girls wanted the fringed frames for their face. Bold, bright eyes were made even stronger with heavy black eyeliner and massive false eyelashes. Eyes were exaggerated with the addition of long, black stick-on eyelashes that guaranteed wide-eyed wonder for even the beadiest of eyes.

False eyelashes weren't as easy as they looked, but they were worth the effort. The strip of black fringe needed a steady hand to line it with glue, then carefully place it at the exact position above the natural eyelashes. One mistake, and you might have to do your eye makeup all over again because the glue smeared your psychedelic artwork.

For those who never quite got the hang of it, you could fake it. Twiggy highlighted her wide-eyed expression by painting on additional lower eyelashes with mascara. This trend became the look for the bold clothes of the swinging 60’s, and Yardley even produced ‘Twiggy Makeup,’ guaranteed to give you the look of the ‘most famous face of 1966.’

The 60’s were excessive in life, drugs, clothes, hair and especially makeup. Natural was unheard-of (until the end of the decade, when hippies took everyone on a nature trip), and a pale face would have been lost amongst the psychedelic patterns of mod clothing. False eyelashes and layers of mascara gave hope to the less than blessed in the eyelash department.

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