Taking Cues : Movies Actually Borrow More Than They Contribute to Beauty Trends

ONE OF THE BEST ways to get a feel for the styles of a time is to look to the movies. The artists who create looks for stars don’t set trends in hair and makeup. Rather, they reflect what’s happening around them.

Sometimes this approach can undermine the authenticity of period pictures.

Consider Kevin Costner in “The Untouchables.” To some, his hair looked moussed--definitely an anachronism in a Prohibition drama. And Barbra Streisand, recently criticized for looking too healthy in “Nuts,” wore long nails and heavy eye makeup--hallmarks of the 1960s--in “Hello, Dolly!”--which was set in the 1890s.

The recent TV movie “Elvis and Me” showed an interpretation of Priscilla Presley’s harsh makeup and extreme beehive that, to many viewers, seemed subdued contrasted with the Priscilla they remember.

“Peggy Sue Got Married” and “Back to the Future,” however, successfully captured the period look. A new series, “The Wonder Years,” nostalgically--and, for the most part, accurately--reflects the late ‘60s.

At a time when the public seems to crave films set in recent history, Hollywood’s challenge is to re-create looks that many remember firsthand.

Alicia Annas, San Diego State University drama department chairman and a film makeup and hair specialist, says that modernized hair and makeup styles can make period pieces “somehow more tolerable to the audience. But for people who recognize the styles of an era, it can be very irritating.” She cites the punkish wigs in “Amadeus”: “This was an attempt to make the film appear contemporary.”

In his new book, “Hollywood and History,” Edward Maeder of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art discusses three cinema Cleopatras: Theda Bara (1917), Claudette Colbert (1934) and Elizabeth Taylor (1963). None had the henna lips, shaved head and tightly curled wig that Maeder says Cleopatra probably wore in 48 BC. Bara’s straight eyebrows and bee-stung lips contrast with Colbert’s pencil-thin, arched brows and heart-shaped mouth. Both faces differ greatly from Taylor’s Cleopatra, who had full eyebrows, extended eyeliner and frosted pale lipstick.

If “Cleopatra” were remade today, starring, say, Meryl Streep, the character would probably look more like her historical description. Until recently, leading ladies were required to look glamorous all the time, according to Academy Award-winning makeup artist Michael Westmore. “Today’s stars are more interested in being true to their roles,” he says.

It’s been decades since major trends for new hair and makeup have come from movies. Now videos inspire imitation. Perhaps film faces have become too serious to emulate. But more likely, it is because younger audiences--the ones most apt to copy their idols--are too busy watching MTV to even notice Streep’s new lip color.