Brow-Beating The Mean Reds

            As someone who is prone to melodramatic mood swings resulting from changes in the weather, I’ve contracted a slight case of what Holly Golightly so eloquently described as, the mean reds, a condition more commonly known as a case of the winter blues. When this time of year inevitably comes along (post-holidays, but too soon to seriously consider Spring), I find myself itching try new things as a way of adding some excitement to my seemingly mundane routines. Past years have seen me with dramatic hair cuts, blackened eyebrows, and one time even dyeing my locks blue. This year, inspiration for my remedy comes from the catwalk of Rodarte SS15.

            Thanks in part to the likes of Lily Collins and Cara Delevingne, the beauty industry has begun to place a newfound focus on the importance of eyebrows in recent years. Bleach them, dye them, or stop plucking them altogether… there are endless ways to edit them.  The whole thing has ostensibly run its course. Or so you would think.

            Kate and Laura Mulleavy, along with their go-to makeup guy, James Kaliardos (working this season with NARS) took brows to the next level by resurrecting the brow ring trend of the mid  ‘90s. Rooted in the grunge-era street style movement, the look is clearly a scene-stealer and a surprisingly low-maintenance one. With these above your eyes, there is minimal need for more makeup.

            Having first noticed the adornments during fashion week, I was intrigued, but not enough to make the plunge. While struggling to come up with a less-basic Halloween costume, I pulled up some backstage images of the perforated models. Using these pictures as a visual aid to describe the look I was going for, reactions were mostly concerned-looks from attendants at various drugstores and hardware stores around the city. Short of actually piercing my brows (a very expensive proposition), no one could help me. Eventually I gave up and settled for a very unoriginal Brigitte Bardot in ‘…. And God Created Woman.’

A few weeks spent people watching in London however has inspired me to try my lucky at recreating the style once again. Here, people think nothing of offbeat facial piercings or other eccentric extremities for the sake of achieving a certain look. Generally I would consider New York to be a more ‘modern’ city, but in the case of fashion I would agree with the stereotype of London being the creative innovations hub of the world. Possessing this unorthodox appearance for the next few months- accepted in this foreign city, but enough to shock some people back home, might be just the thing to rid me of my winter blues.