What is up with Kim Novak’s eyebrows as Judy in Vertigo? Was this considered an attractive way for a woman to wear her eyebrows? They look like they were painted on to look like Groucho Marx but in a lighter color.
Here is a picture that does not really do them justice:
How about Audrey Hepburn?
Those are definitely some odd-looking eyebrows, but she has a large face, so maybe the makeup guy thought she needed more eyebrows? I dunno.
Audrey’s look pretty natural – they add some strength to her face, I think. Joan Crawford gets the eyebrow booby prize. Liz Taylor’s were gorgeous.
Joan’s were the scariest. She even seems scared to show them in that pic…
Here is how she looked as Madeleine in the same movie:
Eyebrows are one of those things which change according to style. In the '50s, the style was those strong, very defined 'brows.
It looks like there’s a small albatross trying to carry her away.
Crawford adopted The Brows little by little as she went from sexpot to star to diva.
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The styles of the day helped though. In the 1930s it was considered fairly gross for a lady to sport actual hair on her brows instead of drawing them on, whereas in the 40s it was no longer an issue. But Crawford definitely went overboard enhancing whatever she really had.
For hella eyebrows on a gorgeous girl (and a good song, to boot) click here.
I think women used to “pluck” their eyebrows, and then paint them back on in the style of the day. I’ve seen more extreme examples than these in old photos.
Yeah, for women I think it would be hard to top Joan Crawford.
(OK so I just wanted to post to this thread.) 
Yeah, I remember stencils for eyebrows. I have a photo of my mom from the 40’s, and her eyebrows look like they’re all pencil. Did they think it made their eyes look bigger?
My mom told me a story about an actress that plucked all her eyebrows for a role and they never grew back so she always had to draw them on. I don’t remember who that was though.
I also remember those stencils for eyebrows and there were some for lips, too. It made playing dress-up with mom’s make-up so much easier.
Not to mention, on my Aunt Laverne. I have always wondered what she looks like in the morning before she draws them on.
What an excellent post: a series of photos showing a progression of Joan Crawford’s eyebrows. Only on the Dope.
It looks to me as though as she got older and as she learned to bend the studio system to her will, (or perhaps as the system drove her more and more insane :rolleyes: ), the eyebrows got more and more assertive…
You halfway expect to see an aquaduct on her forehead.
If eyebrows were an obstacle, Brooke Shields would have had no career.
Those look like curved wooden hangers sitting on her forehead.
