December 17, 2022

"Cat eyes, like leopard print and red lipstick, always seem to cycle in and out of fashion. But, this year, the cat eye—a sinuous black line..."

"... drawn across the top of the lid which flicks up at the corner—left the confines of a makeup trend and became ubiquitous, boomeranging from runways in Paris to red carpets in Venice and across the cultural landscape... on television and in film, trending on TikTok and Instagram.... Usually, a cat eye feels nostalgic, even a bit cliché, evoking... Edie Sedgwick, or... Sophia Loren.... In the past year, though, the style evolved into something much more dynamic and confrontational. Suddenly, there were spiky cat eyes, reverse cat eyes, double-winged cat eyes, bejewelled cat eyes, smoky cat eyes, and more—the bolder the line, the better... Why this year? Our body is a battleground, as Barbara Kruger famously warned us, thirty-three years ago. The cat eye might be an attempt, however superficial, to draw a line...."

Writes Thessaly La Force in "The Year in Cat Eyes How a retro beauty trend left its mark on 2022’s TV shows, TikTok videos, and Taylor Swift lyrics" (The New Yorker). 

We're told the 2022 "cat eyes" — the  "much more dynamic and confrontational" kind — are "Less Jean Patchett on the cover of Vogue in 1950, more Dua Lipa in bustier minidress, fishnets, and rhinestones." There a lot of photos at the link, but not of that particular contrast. So, here, I've dug out the 2 images:

Try to understand the difference. To me, the 1950 woman seems mysterious, sophisticated, and haughty, and the 2022 woman looks looks weary and about to barf.

32 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

buck the trends. Do what you want.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Vogue 1950 = eliminate your nose.

Big Mike said...

It’s the eye shadow. The woman on the right appears to be recovering from two black eyes. Did she date a rapper?

gilbar said...

i LIKE that you found the shittyist, crappist example you could Posibly Find to so today's style.
It shows that you are a shitty, crappy person.

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

"This year ... the cat eye ... left the confines of a makeup trend ..."

I don't see any support given in the excerpt that this is true. Even taking everything at face value, it's still just a makeup trend. But they want it to be so much more.

Is it lost on these people that spending their time publicly indulging in navel gazing over the superiority of this year's version of cat eye is not exactly advancing their desperate need to be taken seriously?

Birches said...

Amy Winehouse died in 2011. That style of cat eye has been around for awhile.

Heartless Aztec said...

Well, 1950's women were, if not mysterious, certainly cypher valorant. 2020 women seem to have little of that allure.

Ice Nine said...

I thought Halloween was over.

RideSpaceMountain said...

I do understand the difference. The cover on the left is showcasing feminine mystique. The person on the right is probably a man.

70 years. Helluva ride.

MOfarmer said...

we will know that this is a trend "in vogue" when Fetterman starts doing it.

Gusty Winds said...

Althouse wrote "To me, the 1950 woman seems mysterious, sophisticated, and haughty, and the 2022 woman looks weary and about to barf."

Perhaps this says something about differences in what it means to be a woman in 1950 vs 2022. I know 1950 seems patriarchal and antiquated...but in which time were women actually happier?

Btw...best cat eyes ever, 1960s and early 1970s...Natalie Wood.

Mark said...

"Cat eyes" - is that what they call make-up to create the ancient Egyptian or modern East Asian almond eye appearance?

Kate said...

I thought they were referring to cat eye plastic surgery. A retro makeup trend seems, well, boomer.

Owen said...

Ann: “…To me, the 1950 woman seems mysterious, sophisticated, and haughty, and the 2022 woman looks looks weary and about to barf.”

Totally agree! For the 1950 femme fatale, I would throw my cloak across the puddle in her path. For the other dame, nah. It’s closing time, she can find her own way home.

robother said...

"She used to look good to me, now she looks...simply indigestible!"

Laslo Spatula said...

Dua certainly has that Hungover Party Girl vibe going strong.

The look that says I party all night, and when the party is over I get ready for the next party.

My clothes smell of Dior and OVAL Swarovski Crystal Vodka.

Now excuse me while I have some orange juice and a cigarette.

I am Laslo.

Ann Althouse said...

“ Amy Winehouse died in 2011. That style of cat eye has been around for awhile.”

As discussed in the article, Winehouse was deliberately evoking the 60s. So that fell within “Usually, a cat eye feels nostalgic.”

Enigma said...

I thought we were going for CAT EYED people, as in genetic conditions and body modification:

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/329916-obama-judge-wi-to-pay-for-reassignment-surg/page/2/#comment-6811657

https://www.science20.com/science_motherhood/coloboma_humans_cat_eyes

https://empirenews.net/woman-to-receive-worlds-first-cat-eye-transplant/

walter said...

"the 2022 woman looks looks weary and about to barf."
She just caught a glimpse of Dick Levine.

alanc709 said...

That fashion has always looked stupid to me. Makeup should enhance, not create.

Godot said...

Althouse said:

"The 2022 woman looks looks weary and about to barf"

Catfight! 50's woman vs 2022 whatever!
They both moan like a bitch when I hop on.

Cuz I'm hung like a baby's arm holding a taller fatter baby's arm,
holding Elon Musks' arm holding a $44 billion check for Twitter and
a peppermint Frappuccino. With sprinkles!

Did I say hop? I meant plop. This thing's killing my back.

n.n said...

Do what you can, when you can, within reason. Generally, everything in moderation. Are women driving the feminine model? Are men?

Howard said...

I'm the kind of guy who prefers no makeup, artificial grooming nor superlative adornment. Of course, Julie Newmar is the ultimate exception to the rule.

Mark said...

There is nothing "cat eyes" about that look.

Sorry to break it to you all, but Simone Simon did not have eyes like that.

B. said...

Why bother? No one sees anyone in meat space anyway.

ALP said...

"...the 2022 woman looks weary and about to barf."

Reading r/TwoXchromosomes on Reddit is the reason why I totally agree. Really sums of up the attitude of many young women using social media. ANY slight, ANY unpleasant interaction with the opposite sex, ANY conflict at work or in public is a reason to run to social media to play victim and complain. The bar is incredibly low - so very low, for unpleasant interactions. With this attitude, of course a woman is weary and ready to barf by their early 20's.

Jupiter said...

Is that why all the new models are so ugly this year? I keep seeing pictures of these women, and thinking, nice tits, but lose the tattoos. And what's wrong with her eyes?

Ampersand said...

When I see people who have spent an inordinate amount of effort to strategize their self presentation, I try to think in stereo. The bass speaker is my mental image of what the person really looks like. The treble is my best guess of what is the most likely goal of the elaborate deception being deployed.

KellyM said...

It's the eyebrows. Now with the trend of caterpillar eyebrows you can't get the same effect. Plus, you need to go with a neutral lid color to emphasize the eyeliner. It gets complicated.

madAsHell said...

I think Laslo, and I look at the same Czech orgy porn.

Biff said...

I expected to see more discussion of race, ethnicity, or urban music culture in the article. My sense traveling around the country over the last 18 months or so is that the exaggerated "cat eye" phenomenon is much more commonly found outside of the fashion pages among Latinas (can I still use that word?), Black women, and fans of urban music than it is found among other groups. Obviously, I'm painting with a broad brush; I have no data to support my purely anecdotal observation.

MadisonMan said...

Neighbor has a kid in college out west. She's had cat eyes for makeup for about a year now.