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People will do almost anything to look and feel young and attractive which is why the beauty industry is thriving. And it doesn’t matter if the trends are incredibly strange, as long as others are following them—you’re likely to jump on the bandwagon. However, when you look back in history, there have been some very weird beauty practices in the past that have left us puzzled. Suntan vending machines and using a literal iron to iron hair are just the tip of the beauty iceberg.

Bored Panda has collected some of the best vintage photos of women doing very peculiar things, all in the name of beauty. So scroll on down, upvote your fave photos, and let us know which of these activities you personally thought were the most bizarre, dear Pandas. Oh, and be sure to let us know which modern beauty practices you think are objectively weird! According to Forbes, the global beauty industry is worth 532 billion dollars. The US is the world’s largest beauty market with around a fifth of the share. While China is in second place and Japan is in third place.

To learn more about the history of beauty and the beauty industry, Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Jane Nicholas from St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo. According to Dr. Nicholas, the global beauty industry has grown “substantially” over the 20th century. “Its expansion reveals the importance of beauty in people’s lives as it shapes their identities, especially in regard to gender.”

#1

A Full-Faced Swimming Mask Helped Protect Women’s Skin From The Sun, 1920s

A Full-Faced Swimming Mask Helped Protect Women’s Skin From The Sun, 1920s

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#2

A Woman Having A Seam Painted Onto Her Leg, To Make It Appear That She Is Wearing Stockings, 1926

A Woman Having A Seam Painted Onto Her Leg, To Make It Appear That She Is Wearing Stockings, 1926

Fox Photos Report

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lsoo avatar
Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back when hosiery was probably rather expensive, women of more modest means, did they best they could to appear chic.

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#3

Rita Perchetti And Gloria Rossi Try Out Their New Portable Bathhouse So They Can Change Their Clothes After Sunbathing On Coney Island Beach, 1938

Rita Perchetti And Gloria Rossi Try Out Their New Portable Bathhouse So They Can Change Their Clothes After Sunbathing On Coney Island Beach, 1938

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Dr. Nicholas explained to Bored Panda that modern culture is a visual culture. Meanwhile, modern living meant finding yourself in an increasingly-dense but anonymous city. And that means that appearance becomes more important than ever. After all, when you’re a stranger to someone, they judge you by your appearance.

“So how one appears is often presumed to be who one is. Historically, the rise of the modern city was seen as the place of quick judgments on appearances in places that were crowded but also built for observation. Evaluation by one’s appearance, then, took on new importance. This has only intensified,” the history expert explained.

#4

10th Century Chinese Tradition - Foot Binding

10th Century Chinese Tradition - Foot Binding

Jo Farrell / Living History Project Report

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Desiré Yen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm Chinese and my late gran did this to her feet. The pain she must have endured just to have "pretty" small feet. 😔

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Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the craziest type of foot fetish. A golden lotus foot of three inches, was the optimal size for bound feet. It was supposed to be sexually arousing. I don't understand the penchant for deformed feet, but whatever. A four inch foot was acceptable. Women could not walk or even balance themselves. The pain was excruciating. And, mainly, the wealthy were the ones who could afford to partake in this beauty practice because they were the ones who could hire help to prop them up or carry them around. They also did not have to work. Years ago, I went to an exhibit at The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. I saw embroidered silk shoes that were about the length of the palm of my hand. Imagine toddler sized shoes for grown women.

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Marcia Cash
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Women still wear crippling shoes, pointy toe high heels make ugly feet. Liberated women walk freely and can RUN.

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ravn
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thank you, I was looking for someone to mention this before I did. We're so much more progressive with our point toed high heels...

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H Edwards
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the book Wild Swans (which I highly recommend) there is a passage that very graphically describes the foot binding process. Literal torture.

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banana
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who don't know, this was a terrible and very painful thing called foot binding. Women were forced into it by men who wanted their wives to have unreasonably small feet. Feet were also bound so a woman couldn't run away from her husband if she wanted to.

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Melody Walker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's disgusting that they have posted this as something women chose to do in the name of beauty.

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Peg Prather
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was done to SMALL GIRLS! They had no choice. The extensive breakage took years. It was done fir MEN, who wouldn’t marry a woman with “big” (normal) feet. Barbaric. Cruel.

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Elaine Mattingly
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's as stupid as cutting off little baby boy body parts because it was too hard to keep clean, that's what the told me when I forbid them to do such an un Godly thing. Research it, see it done! They don't bind feet anymore, don't keep doing wicked things JUST BECAUSE .

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Leslye Joseph
Community Member
3 years ago

This was done when to the when they were children, often causing death 😣. When it was finally banned many older women unbound their feet to show the younger women the horror, deformation and pain inflicted to discourage it because to so many it was still perceived as a sign of status.

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Robyn Denton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe that this was seen as a sign of high status, a woman with bound feet couldn't walk properly, and this showed that she didn't need to work like a poor person.

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Adam C
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it says they have to be carried around because it was hard to even stand on such small feel. And I guess the pain must be crazy.

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jo_shortland
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sure I read somewhere that the joints in the toes had to be broken to achieve this!

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Pamda Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They were repeatedly broken. Break, wrap, repeat, until the feet were small enough. Many young girls died from infection during the process.

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BusLady
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ask a podiatrist what wearing extremely high heels on a daily basis does to the feet. Not this severe, of course, but still causes permanent damage.

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H Edwards
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From Wild Swans: ' My grandmother’s feet had been bound when she was two years old. Her mother, who herself had bound feet, first wound a piece of white cloth about twenty feet long round her feet, bending all the toes except the big toe inward and under the sole. Then she placed a large stone on top to crush the arch. My grandmother screamed in agony and begged her to stop. Her mother had to stick a cloth into her mouth to gag her. My grandmother passed out repeatedly from the pain. The process lasted several years. Even after the bones had been broken, the feet had to be bound day and night in thick cloth because the moment they were released they would try to recover. For years my grandmother lived in relentless, excruciating pain. When she pleaded with her mother to untie the bindings, her mother would weep and tell her that unbound feet would ruin her entire life, and that she was doing it for her own future happiness.' Not comparable to any kind of footwear, even high heels

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Jo Farrell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am the photographer of these photographs - you can see more of my work on my website or FB page

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My O My
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How can you do this to your daughter? I know the moms had to but it must have broken their hearts

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Samantha Tej
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn’t even as extreme as I’ve seen. They did this to make women’s feet smaller. In China, a woman having small feet is a symbol of beauty.

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Cori
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They didn't do this to themselves. They had it done TO them. I cannot not fathom doing something this horrific to my child.

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Peg Prather
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These were done to small children, they had no choice! Men would not marry a woman with “big” feet. Barbaric. Crippling.

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Lorraine R
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And for men it was underscored by the myth that sex was better with a "bound-foot" woman. But he was advised not to remove her shoes, because the sight of her feet could break the mood.

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James F. Wilson Jr.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

iT WAS NOT THE GIRLS CHOICE BUT RUTHLESS WEALTHY cHINESE MEN. iT WENT ON FOR 2,000 YEARS.

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Pseudo Puppy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was done TO female children... it was not done "by women" voluntarily.... >:(

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Martha Meyer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was started on little girls. So women didn't have a choice. By the time they were adults their feet were so terribly crippled and broken that NOT binding them would have caused worse pain.

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zelen plav
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Foot binding was for upper class women, sold to them as a mark of distinction but in reality they could not walk very far at all.

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Susan Williams
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only women wealthy families had this done. It was a confirmation of their family being so rich that their women did not have to walk. They were carried everywhere by servants. The binding began at birth. The little feet were folded over and forced into this unnatural position. Then strips of cloth were bound over the little feet. It was quite painful. They had little 'shoes' made that were the size of babies booties. These feet as shown, are not as small as some I've seen. The circulation was blocked and some toes died. The picture on the right has the fourth toe missing. The Chinese thought small feet were more attractive. I believe the name for these disfigured feet was "Lotus Blossoms". This is all from my recollections of living in China so my old brain may not be that good at remembering as it once was.

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Amy Gannon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’ve always found this to be barbaric & grotesque. It looks so painful.😖

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Torchicachu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yes chinese did this as little children to make their feet more "petite" and they grew all warped and broken like this for the rest of their life.

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Edie Hart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was a form of torture that was inflicted on little girls.

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Celtic Pirate Queen
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Chinese culture it was called a "Lotus foot". The ideal woman's foot should only be about 4 inches long. They actually folded the toes under the foot and then bound them, tightly, with cotton strips. Many times this caused the toes to die. Many women who had suffered this barbaric practice died from sepsis or gangrene. Yeah - this was a man's idea of beauty.

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JD Lee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except this wasn’t her choice. Her parents started crippling their daughters around 5 years old. A females value was based on youth, beauty, & wealth. Sadly this value system hasn’t changed in thousands of years.

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Pat Wooster
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Horrible! There was a movie with Ingrid Bergman, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, where she was a missionary in China and she was running all over to the remote villages trying to get them to stop doing this. Awful.

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Elaine Mattingly
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And to this day, here in America baby boys scream in agony as a person cuts off a part of their body with a sharp instrument with nothing to ease the pain. They will try to bully you into doing it if you say NO.

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Louise Stange-Wahl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG--I have read about this before. How some women's feet can be warped like this is horrendous. This is nightmare material!

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Coco
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They did NOT did this to themselves. They were forced to do this

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JustSomebody
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've read about this online. They stopped doing it now, but they would break their feet at, like, age 4

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Katie Peter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really wish it how to description at the bottom telling us why the woman did this

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Elaine Mattingly
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same reason for botox injections, breast implants, butt augmentation, face lifts, six inche heels and forskin removal, follow the leader mind set, too lazy to think for yourself.

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CatWoman312
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some still practice this. Having small feet is considered beautiful in oriental culture. Imagine being a podiatrist and one of these ladies was your patient!

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Tiny Dynamine
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has always bewildered me. So they did this to have 'pretty' feet (they make me sick) yet are depriving themselves of the ability to walk?! (I've seen worse cases of this where it would not be possible to walk on the destroyed feet.)

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Naima Ivansdóttir
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it wasn't like they had a choice. their feet were bandaged when they were toddlers first, as to make sure that the process could never be reversed. it's an induced permanent deformity.

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My Name Is Mars
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happened in my mom's side of the family. Apparently the thinking was if you were wealthy, you would have someone to wait on you at all times, therefore you wouldn't need to walk and also having tiny feet was very desirable.

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Liz-ard
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The stocking line and the beach dressing room I find completely ok. THIS is definitely not!!!

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Kat Machowski
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is called the lotus foot a long time ago in china people would break their daughters feet when they were very young to consider them ¨ true women¨

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LotusWolff
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was not their choice actually, the government made them do this. I really hate when people misjudge Chinese cultures.

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Kat Hi
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow. Why would they do that!?!? Also, they must have had problems to walk and pain for their whole life. They made themselves to cripples. That's really.... I don't know... Don't don't have words for that

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Kristi Lin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one bothers me. I am so sorry they went through this.

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Hannah Evans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That was brutal but they thought tiny feet were beautiful. They don't do it anymore

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*sigh*, The Yellow Teletubby
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is not good for the eyes of someone who just just their ingrown toenails fixed. Lmao

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Diana Murtaugh
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is beyond sad. I can't imagine the pain...all to obtain a "beauty" astetic.

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Toni Ferchak
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What was the point ??? some countries traditions are barbaric !!

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May Be
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I suspect this was not a woman's idea, though the went along with it because the cultural norm was that men admired small feet in a woman. Also, apparently, women who couldn't walk. In that sense it's an example of conspicuous consumption--probably for the men who acquired these ladies.

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Jaybird3939
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Supposedly they did this to show that a woman was so rich, she could afford to pay others to carry her around.

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Carole Strawn
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was incredibly painful. Cannot imagine having to walk on those feet.

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Teresa Groth
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was one of the most hideous things that I have ever seen done to women!

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Carol Sundahl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw an elderly Chinese woman with bound feet around 1955 in San Francisco. Her feet looked like small black boxes and she hobbled with difficulty.

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WhatEvenIsLife
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once read a graphic description of how they accomplish this and it was horrifying.

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Vicki Perizzolo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

those poor women - so much pain for tiny feet...and they were so proud of them too....the things men have made women do for so many generations.

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Kanga9ine
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How come we can’t be happy straight out of the box, like Barbi. The barbarian torture to control women and put them in so much pain they won’t get to use their brains for threatening his intelligence, strategy, sexually equal (if not way better) than the boys who lock their women up in these horrific ways because they are always worried about ‘da D**k. And who’s is bigger, longer, thicker. Uh oh. Time to lock up the. She might run away. Nah, those feet ain’t running. And how far she gonna get. Who came up with the idea for creating monstrosities. She can’t do her chores and she’s always tired. We should ask for a retrial on the whole punishment phase of long ago. Adam got off too lightly. Eve got jacked me. It’s taken forever to get where we are today. And somebody goes and votes for Trump. Not exactly a poster child for his love of women. The “grab em by the Pussy” kind. Imagine how different a world we would be living in if women were truly equals. Not the prisoner.

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Quazmodic
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The men who forced them to do that had no need to do it to themselves because they already had small feet ... Small d**k/small feet.

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Onion rings like to make your breath smelly
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yea, my mom told me about that. She said that it happened like if i had a great grandmother, she would have to do that. People thought that small feet "looked good". And no, people didnt want to do it themselves, others made them.

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Steve Cruz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was done only to females, and was later replaced by platform clogs bound onto the bottoms of the feet so they looked like geishas were tip-toeing along like ballerinas.

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Denise Mclean
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Poor Souls. No Pun Intended. I really feel their pain. You would think they would go back to normal not binding them later.

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Barbara Vandewalle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was nothing beautiful about this. This was deforming the foot and had to be painful.

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Kim Bush
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People with severe peripheral neuropathy may be able to empathize with this one. I often feel like my feet are in shoes five sizes too small despite being barefoot, or are being crushed in a vise.... I've looked at my feet when they feel that way and I'm amazed that they don't look like this... Knowing it was done deliberately is heartbreaking.

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MsBungle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Golden lotus feet - horrible tradition from old China...

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Patty Leaton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

so stupid shoes smaller than your feet ,so you bind them .Beauty for pain ,women wearing heels

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Claire Armstrong
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The one on the left kinda reminds me of when my auntie broke her heel! Her foot was all swollen and actually looked deformed! It was awful!

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Ani Archeron
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’ve read about this but I’ve never SEEN it and never realised how horrific it must be

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gracefullikeagazelle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They had very advanced technology for the 10th century. The photographs look fairly modern ;)

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Downunderdude
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just awful. I believe that this is still practised in more rural areas. Didn't the japanese also do it?

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ML
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

And imagine that, they had cameras in 10th century :D

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Naima Ivansdóttir
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the last lotus feet women are now in their '90s, no need to go back in time to take pictures of them

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#6

"Ironing" Hair, 1964

"Ironing" Hair, 1964

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Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Women are still doing it today. Those with frizzy hair flatten it with a hair-straightening appliance.

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She pointed out that beauty is (at the same time) deeply personal, as well as culturally driven. That means that the beauty industry is relational to the consumer.

“It provides products and images for consumption and how consumers take those up largely determine its success. Beauty products and practices have to resonate with consumers, who are not simply dupes but often thoughtful and measured in what they want and can consume,” Dr. Nicholas said.

“Gaps in services and products lead to further innovation. Throughout the twentieth century, for example, women of color struggled to be appropriately represented and struggled to find appropriate products. In multiple ways, the industry was forced to grow and expand to respond properly to their needs. Black entrepreneurs often led the way,” she said.

#7

Before The Invention Of Sun-Screen In The Mid 1940s, Bathers Wore Garments Like This Freckleproof Cape To Protect Themselves From The Sun. The Cape Also Features Built-In Sunglasses

Before The Invention Of Sun-Screen In The Mid 1940s, Bathers Wore Garments Like This Freckleproof Cape To Protect Themselves From The Sun. The Cape Also Features Built-In Sunglasses

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#9

Portable Hair Dryer, 1940s

Portable Hair Dryer, 1940s

Easyart/PA Report

It’s no surprise that some vintage beauty procedures, treatments, and practices seem strange to us now. “When dislocated from their context, what was typical in one time period seems strange in another. Today, we see the highly filtered, fully made up selfie as quite ordinary. When you pause to consider it though, it is interesting to think about how those reflect changes in technology (both digital and in cosmetics), as well as in dominant presumptions of what is considered beautiful. It can also be reflective of the democratization of techniques in lighting and makeup application that were historically reserved for insiders within modeling. Now, anyone can use them.”

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Dr. Nicholas said that beauty is deeply interwoven with the wider social and cultural context. That means that it reflects more than just beauty itself. “Using X-rays for hair removal, for example, also reflects the fact that technology emerges before the full impact of its use is known,” she gave an example.

The history expert also told Bored Panda that we can expect some of the practices that we take for granted today to seem outdated and peculiar in the decades to come. “It’s quite ordinary today to inject a form of botulism into your face or to dress in the skin of another animal. Over time, though, as our collective beliefs and values change, these ordinary acts might come to be seen as extraordinary.”

#10

Tape Worm Diet, 1900s

Tape Worm Diet, 1900s

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Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will say that this is worse than having leeches suck your blood in the hopes of improving blood flow. Tape worms can attach themselves to other internal organs and other parts of the body. If they want to leave a body, they will exit where they please. It is not a pretty sight. The damage can also be quite extensive.

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#11

Freckle Removal. A Complicated Apparatus Is Employed. Eyes Are Covered With A Special, Air-Tight Piece, And The Nostrils Filled In. Breathing Is Done Through A Special Tube. Sensitive Parts Of The Face Must Be Treated Separately, 1930

Freckle Removal. A Complicated Apparatus Is Employed. Eyes Are Covered With A Special, Air-Tight Piece, And The Nostrils Filled In. Breathing Is Done Through A Special Tube. Sensitive Parts Of The Face Must Be Treated Separately, 1930

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#12

A Perm In Germany In 1929

A Perm In Germany In 1929

Everett Collection Report

What I find the weirdest, personally, is the size of the hairdryers in the past. They’re absolutely humongous and they look like something straight out of a sci-fi flick.

The very first hairdryer was invented in 1890 by French stylist Alexander Godefroy. His seated version had a bonnet that attached to none other than the chimney pipe of a gas stove. You read that right, dear Pandas! Imagine going to a beauty salon and being told to put one of those stove-connected bonnets on your head.

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We got the very first handheld hairdryers around 1920 due to technological innovations at the time. However, these were nothing like our modern-day equivalent: they weighed around 2 pounds (that’s 0.9 kilograms) and were very difficult to use. They were also prone to overheating and electrocuted people from time to time.

#13

A Policeman Judges An Ankle Competition At Hounslow, London, 1930

A Policeman Judges An Ankle Competition At Hounslow, London, 1930

Prismatic Pictures Report

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edougherty582_1 avatar
Capelli rosa e patate
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Yes these are the winning pair of ankles; congrats little lady. NOW COVER THOSE YOU LOOK LIKE A WHORE”

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#14

Max Factor's 1931 Ice Mask

Max Factor's 1931 Ice Mask

International News Soundphoto Report

#15

Woman Tans Using A Suntan Vending Machine, 1949

Woman Tans Using A Suntan Vending Machine, 1949

ahtisham-ahmed Report

Before you rush to poke fun at these vintage beauty practices, keep in mind two things. First of all, even if something is trendy, far from every person follows the newly-minted flavor of the month beauty techniques.

Second of all, if you think that we’ve ‘advanced’ much beyond silliness, turn on the TV and flip to an infomercial channel! The things you’ll see there are just as weird (and maybe even weirder).

#16

Contestants In The Miss Lovely Eyes Beauty Pageant In Florida Wearing Masks To Obscure The Rest Of Their Faces, 1930

Contestants In The Miss Lovely Eyes Beauty Pageant In Florida Wearing Masks To Obscure The Rest Of Their Faces, 1930

FPG Report

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martti avatar
ML
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This would be applicable today also with this Covid hanging around

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#17

Customers Have Their Legs Painted At A Store In Croydon, London, 1941

Customers Have Their Legs Painted At A Store In Croydon, London, 1941

G W HALES Report

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Downunderdude
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was during the war. At that time, nylon had only just been invented. Both silk and nylon were needed to make parachutes and were either just about impossible to get or were prohibitively expensive.

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#18

A Traditional Japanese Sign Of Beauty- Black Teeth, 17th – 19th Centuries

A Traditional Japanese Sign Of Beauty- Black Teeth, 17th – 19th Centuries

Pierre Dieulefils Report

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Laugh or not
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Women used to put a white powder on their faces (made with rice, not lead) and that would make the teeth look yellow. So they dyed them black instead.

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#19

X-Ray Of Female Torso With Corset (Left) And Female Torso Without A Corset (Right), 1908

X-Ray Of Female Torso With Corset (Left) And Female Torso Without A Corset (Right), 1908

nyamcenterforhistory.org Report

#20

Hair Dryer, 1920s

Hair Dryer, 1920s

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#21

Wooden Swimsuits, 1929

Wooden Swimsuits, 1929

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Ray Martin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If Rose had worn one of those on the Titanic, Jack could could have had the door and the film would have had a happy ending.

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#22

Rubber Beauty Masks Used To Get Rid Of Wrinkles In The 1920s

Rubber Beauty Masks Used To Get Rid Of Wrinkles In The 1920s

Wellcome Collection Report

#23

A Fruit Mask From The 1930s

A Fruit Mask From The 1930s

vintage.everyday Report

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Jayne Kyra
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And even today some people or articles will recommend using straight up lemons and lemon juice to "even out skin-tone" or better yet, "to lighten the skin".

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#24

The Bra Claimed To Develop And Strengthen The Bust And Was Designed To Vibrate While The Person Wearing It Was At Work. Brussel, 1971

The Bra Claimed To Develop And Strengthen The Bust And Was Designed To Vibrate While The Person Wearing It Was At Work. Brussel, 1971

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#25

You Have A Beautiful Face But Your Nose?

You Have A Beautiful Face But Your Nose?

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#26

Dimple Machine In 1936

Dimple Machine In 1936

Unknown Report

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Downunderdude
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OK, I've got an idea... So, you attach wire to the inside of your cheeks (oh, I don't know. Superglue, maybe. Details. I'll work it out later). Then you wrap the wire around your teeth. Brilliant, huh? I'm going to be SO rich!

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#27

Women Who Had Just Given Birth To A Baby Weren't Prohibited To Smoke In The Hospital. 1940s Ad

Women Who Had Just Given Birth To A Baby Weren't Prohibited To Smoke In The Hospital. 1940s Ad

Unknown Report

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#29

A Young Woman Holds Her Arms And Legs In Four Water Bathes With Electric Current, To Improve Blood Circulation, Circa 1938

A Young Woman Holds Her Arms And Legs In Four Water Bathes With Electric Current, To Improve Blood Circulation, Circa 1938

vintage.everyday Report

#30

Taking Precise Measurements Of A Beautiful Young Woman's Head And Face With A Contraption Like An Instrument Of Torture, 1933

Taking Precise Measurements Of A Beautiful Young Woman's Head And Face With A Contraption Like An Instrument Of Torture, 1933

Hulton Archive Report

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ADHORTATOR
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1933? He may be looking for the measurements of the master race....

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Note: this post originally had 43 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.