PAINTED LADIES nd for my next YouTube tutorial… With rosy cheeks and tumbling hair, this season’s models could have been Pre-Raphaelite muses. Stylist investigates the movement’s enduring look WORDS: SHANNON PETER first noticed some organic force rather than cosmetic it at Oscar intervention, which feels very much in keeping de la Renta’s with the pared-back make-up approach many a/w 2019 show, of us prefer today. where wispy, It’s a similar story with hair. “Long hair, frothed-up curls worn with ethereal, wispy natural texture is bounced around probably the most iconic beauty takeaway on top of the from the movement,” says Rachael Gibson, models’ heads founder of @TheHairHistorian. Of course, backstage. in the 19th century there was no such thing It came up again at Halpern, where hairstylist as a Dyson Supersonic, let alone GHDs, Sam McKnight spoke fervently about but it is notable that the reignited obsession 19th-century artworks as he coerced the with the Pre-Raphaelite period feels in tandem models’ nipple-grazing hair into loose with the burgeoning natural hair movement. S-shaped waves. In fact, it cropped up “That hair look is constantly referenced everywhere: in the fluff of the hair at 3.1 Phillip ROMANTIC, ROSY LOCKS AT because it signifies youth and health,” explains OSCAR DE LA RENTA A/W 2019 Lim, in the low-slung raspberry-toned blush Guido Palau, Redken global hair ambassador at Chanel and in the solitary circular curl that sat coyly on temples at Preen. This season’s biggest beauty muses? The women of the “I’ve lost count of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. number of times I’ve For the uninitiated, the Pre-Raphaelites were a society of artists and poets formed in spotted artworks by 1848 with a shared desire to rebel against the Rossetti or Hunt on traditional art establishment and its obsession with Renaissance painters like Raphael. The a make-up artist’s Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, whose most backstage moodboard famous members included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William at fashion week” Holman Hunt, deemed this style ‘artificial’ and the hands behind many Pre-Raphaelite and instead focused on painting directly from recreations. The hair is thick and fluffy: exactly nature to bring the (oh so cheerful) stories as it would have grown from the head. of doomed love and premature death in FANNY EATON WAS ONE OF THE But it isn’t just flowing red hair that’s contemporary poetry and literature to life. MAIN PRE-RAPHAELITE MUSES a signature look of the period. In fact, one of the At the centre of these paintings? The lesser-known models of the time was Fanny Pre-Raphaelite women – the models and GLOWY SKIN AND PAINTERLY Eaton, a Jamaican woman with chin-length muses at the heart of the movement. CURLS AT PREEN A/W 2019 Characterised by their long (often auburn) afro hair who sat for numerous young artists hair that frothed in a halo around their heads in the 1860s. “She never gets much credit and puffed with natural fuzz through the because her life story didn’t intertwine with lengths, these models were commonly those of the painters,” explains Jan Marsh, pictured with flushed, blood-dappled cheeks, curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s bitten lips and skin that straddled the line upcoming exhibition. “There was none of the between matte and glowy – precisely the romanticism or sexualisation between her and motifs that were repeated time and time her painters, but she was modelling for decades again on the a/w 2019 catwalks. and was very much in demand.” Eaton’s And yet. It dawns on me that this theme afro hair and skintone was (questionably) wasn’t exclusive to this season’s shows at considered appropriate to depict numerous all. Leaf through my (extremely dog-eared) roles, from the mother of Moses to a nanny Smythson notebook, the one that has caring for two white British children in accompanied me backstage at hundreds of Rebecca Soloman’s The Young Teacher. shows in all four fashion capitals over the past Rossetti praised Eaton for her unprecedented five years, and you’ll find multiple scribbled beauty – a notable comment considering the references to the Pre-Raphaelite movement. extreme racial prejudice of the era. looks of many celebrities, from Florence Last season, it was the tumbling curls at Welch to Karen Elson. In October, the artistic Rodarte and the long fluffy hair that bounced Breaking the mould movement – and more specifically the women atop ruffled tulle creations at Viktor & Rolf’s who inspired it – is set to be celebrated at the While we might look back on this aesthetic couture show. Back in 2017, it was pink, National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition, with a wistful, poetic admiration, interestingly, passionately kissed lips at Ports 1961. And Pre-Raphaelite Sisters. So why is it, despite it wasn’t necessarily fashionable at the time. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve the thousands of years’ worth of popular “Two of the major models, Jane Morris spotted a Rossetti or a Hunt on a make-up BY JOANNA WELLS, 1861. YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART, ART, BRITISH FOR CENTER YALE 1861. WELLS, JOANNA BY culture we have at our nostalgic disposal, that and Elizabeth Siddal, were not considered BY DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI 1866-68 VIA GETTY IMAGES GETTY VIA 1866-68 ROSSETTI GABRIEL DANTE BY artist’s backstage moodboard. we’re hung up on the Pre-Raphaelites? conventionally beautiful in real life at all,” Some theories suggest that, in the wake explains Marsh. “Siddal had red hair and that Eternal muses of more structured, laboured make-up trends was considered incredibly ugly. Those who LADY LILITH LADY The Pre-Raphaelite beauty revival is well such as contouring and baking, we’re yearning were thought to carry curses were usually underway and it isn’t just the backstage trends for the natural beauty celebrated in the those with red hair.” Other models, such as that say so. On Instagram, accounts such as Pre-Raphaelite paintings. With cheeks that Fanny Cornforth, had strong features and STUDY OF FANNY EATON FANNY OF STUDY @GucciBeauty and @TheHairHistorian look as though they’ve endured a brisk walk angular noses that were far from regularly share Pre-Raphaelite paintings as in the cold and lips that appear more licked the pillowy, button-shaped ideal. part of their virtual beauty moodboards, and than lacquered, there’s a definite suggestion The Pre-Raphaelites presented ART: OPENING PAGE: OPENING PAGE: ART: PAGE: THIS PAUL MELLON FUND, COURTESY OF NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY PORTRAIT NATIONAL OF COURTESY FUND, MELLON PAUL the aesthetic has seemingly inspired the that this fresh-faced glow is the making of a rebuttal of society’s definition of beauty which feels innately connected to the anti-perfection Face painting revolution that’s reaching fever pitch It isn’t a complicated look to recreate. “Keep right now. Just look at the Instagram hashtags the base as matte as possible,” recommends #SkinPositivity, #BirthMarksAreBeautiful Get the make-up artist Georgina Graham. Start with and #SideProfileSelfie (celebrating every a mattifying primer like Illamasqua Matte Veil kind of nose) and you’ll find thousands of look Primer, £34, which will take down shine and images praising the very features we’ve If the Pre-Raphaelite muses grip the make-up on top into place. Next, spent years being urged to hate. were around today, these are apply a matte-finish foundation. Urban Decay Other theories suggest that it’s the the products they’d be using Stay Naked Foundation, £29.50, comes determination of the Pre-Raphaelite models in 50 shades and buffs down to an almost and the women they simulated that makes undetectable finish. “Apply foundation using them particularly relevant muses in 2019. BITTEN a Beautyblender sponge that has been “These models and the goddesses, queens and LIPS drenched in moisturiser,” Graham adds. icons they portrayed were strong, powerful Revlon Kiss “It will give the most flawless matte base women, making for very captivating catwalk Cushion Lip Tint but still make skin look alive.” muses,” explains Gibson. Strength was in Crimson For that signature Pre-Raphaelite flush, a necessity for the models. Not only could the Feels, £7.99 “apply cream blush high over the very front modelling be physically taxing, requiring women of the cheek,” suggests Taylor. Imagine to maintain uncomfortable poses for around where your cheeks would naturally flush 50 minutes without breaking character, but after a strenuous weights session – focus they also had to learn to drive a hard bargain the blush here and it’s guaranteed to look when negotiating their fees. Artist Joanna realistic. As for the shade, look for russet or Mary Boyce once wrote about her disdain for berry tones rather than anything too pink, a model who requested two shillings an hour (the POLISHED to mimic the colour of blood rushing to going rate was one shilling an hour), but when SKIN the capillaries. Jillian Dempsey Cheek the model showed up and stated her demands Urban Decay Tint in Rosy, £26.50, is a true blood red, once more, Boyce paid up. Model Alexa Wilding Stay Naked while Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush was even able to negotiate a retainer so that Foundation, Stick in Dou Dou, £46, has the vividness she would remain exclusive to Rossetti. Far £29.50 required for darker skintones. As for the lips, precise, razor-sharp edges are (thankfully) not required here. As painter “These models and Frederic George Stephens wrote about Alexa the goddesses, queens Wilding, the model in Rossetti’s Monna Vanna: FROTHY “Her lips that have been often kissed are HAIR and icons they portrayed cherry-coloured, ripe and full, yet not warmed Bumble and by inner passion nor exalted by rapture or were strong, powerful Bumble Bb contemplation… still less are they chaste Dryspun Texture women, making and untasted.” In make-up terms, the easiest Spray, £22 for very captivating route to recreation is through a matte lip stain.