A great lipstick ‘listen’ – and a deep-dive into make-up history
Lipstick is more than just make-up. And if you’re in any doubt, we’d love to point you in the direction of a pair of riveting podcasts from the super-smart (in every way) team at Dressed: A History of Fashion (which we’ve raved about here before).
The podcast recently re-aired this couple of episodes – and we were so happy to catch them, this time round. The interviewee over these two podcasts – The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History – was beauty historian Ilise S. Carter, who reveals how a single swipe of lipstick was more than mere glamour, down the years, fuelling protest, embodying patriotism and more. The focus is America, but many of the stories played out on this side of the pond, too, and Ilise traces lipstick’s tale, leading us from suffragettes to wartime morale and Hollywood myth-making..
Altogether, it’s fascinating stuff (and if anyone ever dares to suggest to you that make-up is frivolous, point them in the direction of these two episodes, which are brainy, witty just so impressively well-researched.
If you’re not a ‘podcast person’ (we so are!), the book in question is available in the UK. Find The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History (at the slightly strange price of £21.06) at Amazon, where you can also download it for your Kindle.
We promise it will make you think differently, when next you swipe on a bold red lip. (And if it takes you down a rabbit hole into the incredible Dressed: A History of Fashion archive, we couldn’t be more pleased.)
Listen here
Buy the book here
