Chang'an, city of fashion

Fashion is almost a fulltime job for women, both in ancient and modern times. It could not be more stunning to find that fashionable Tang women and today’s trendsetters do share some similarities in cosmetic taste.

Tang women considered it in vogue to tough their cheeks brightly red. This flamboyant color even reached the eyelids and ears. More than aesthetically appealing, it resembled blush and was indicative of femininity.

Chinese singer Wang Fei established herself as the fashion leader years ago with her “suntan” make-up. Is it possible that she got the inspiration from the Tang beauties?

Eyebrows are the last thing to be forgotten when we are doing make-up today. So it was in the Tang Dynasty.

In search of novelty, women went to great lengths to work various shapes put of their eyebrows, ranging from willow-leaf to extremely broad and thick style. No later dynasties in China could match it in its taste of eyebrow designs.

Have you ever seen the pasting of ornaments between eyebrows? It was a fashion trend in the Tang Dynasty, and its legacy is still with us today.

The least intricate was soybean-size dots. Yet, the most notable was plum-blossom patterns. Legend has it that in time before the Tang, a plum blossom fell on the forehead of a princess when she was lying under a tree, leaving an eye-pleasing imprint. It impressed the court ladies so much that they cut pink paper into the shape of plum blossoms to paste on their own foreheads.

Tang women adorned nearly every part of their faces in rich colors. Their temples were no exception: they painted them red in crescent patterns.

It was said that much earlier than the Tang Dynasty, a favorite concubine of an emperor became even more adored after she accidentally injured her head, scarring the left side of her face. Thereafter, red crescent patterns on the side of the face became a standard cosmetic feature, indicating femininity.