Looking Lovely

Among the songs that Frank Sinatra made famous was one called “The Way You Look Tonight.” I have always thought that such an expression was sickeningly sentimental. Personal attraction, besides being the essence of species perpetuation, is a highly solipsistic matter. Of course it relates to gender. But it also hinges upon all five of our senses, and the degree to which they are developed in each individual.

Nevertheless, to many of us it is extremely important how we look to others. And this is by no means a recent phenomenon. What has changed, and what keeps changing, however, are the rules and standards by which we judge what looks good, beautiful, or attractive. Somewhat strangely, it has been found by the people – or by the machines who analyze these things – that in terms of physical beauty, the best in structure is the average. The nose and ears are not too large or too small, the chin is not too prominent or too receding – and so on.

But to a certain extent, these standards are modified over time by a constantly changing type of judgment known as “Fashion,” for which – as is proverbially said of  “Taste” – there is virtually no accounting. Why was there, historically fairly recently, a time when men wore wigs – and another era when ladies wore bustles? How did it once come about that gentlemen were known for their shapely legs, and ladies wore black spots on their cheeks?

Sometimes a change in fashion can be more clearly accounted for by the behavior of outstanding society leaders, particularly of the “Royals.” One good example goes back to the early years of the last Century, when a British King, Edward VII, was attending a sporting event, where there was a patch of ground which happened to be particularly muddy. At that time, men’s trousers were fashionably long, reaching down to the shoes. Not wishing to get his own pants muddied, the King turned up the bottoms to make “cuffs.” This started an enduring style. For decades, men’s nether garments always featured cuffs (despite the fact that this sartorial ornament created a catch-all for small bits of dirt and debris).

But with the emancipation of women, it was they who, in the cause of “beauty,” became the chief market for all kinds of substances to be applied – particularly to the eyes, lips, nails, hair, and many areas of the skin. “Cosmetics” became a huge industry. “Beauty Parlors” for women became as numerous as “Barber Shops” were for men.

One of the campfire songs I remember had a series of verses about ways you can’t get to Heaven – and one verse says:

“Oh, you can’t get to Heaven In powder and paint,
‘Cause the Lord don’t like You as you ain’t.”

Regardless of the Lord’s alleged preferences, changing your face artificially is big business in many countries around the world – especially the more prosperous ones, and especially among women. One (to me) astonishing example is the black substance called Mascara, which in various forms, and with various types of applicators is used near the eyes, supposedly to improve their appearance.

Then there are all the different kinds of lipsticks and face-powders. There must be a huge profit margin between the cost of producing these substances and the price the consumer pays. Part of the gap is filled by the many, often very creative, forms of packaging. These usually have little or no meaningful relationship to the product they house. (The same might be said about perfumes, but we’re dealing here only with looks, and not with smells.)

And of course, there is that special non-medical form of reshaping mainly facial features, known as cosmetic (or plastic) surgery, which many medical school graduates have found much more lucrative than any form of healing. Those people with time and money can afford to become discontented with the profile of their nose or the natural appearance of their lips. They can be further motivated by the words of such songs as Jerome Kern’s “They Didn’t Believe Me,” which offers a virtual catalog of features to be conscious of:

“And when I told them how beautiful you are…
“Your lips, your eyes, your cheeks, your hair, Are in a class beyond compare…”

Finally we must acknowledge the eternal connection between the food of love and the love of food – as celebrated in that immortal expression:

“Hey, Good-Lookin’,
Watcha got Cookin’?”