I would start the era much earlier, like 2005-2006. I was scouted for AA modeling in LA in 2006 and one of the criteria was a hyper-natural look, “Dov likes imperfect skin and eye bags” (within the subset of “models” and not in general). Of course he fetishized and took body appreciation to a dark place, but I think part of the current revival is partly due to backlash against the perfected, Facetuned Instagram aesthetic. We’ve seen makeup trends shift from perfected extreme makeup looks to natural faces, wild brows, no eye makeup, and the rise of elaborate skincare - esp since Covid, with so many staying home and letting their faces/hair “go natural” for that period of time. AA used to represent a kind of very casual glamour - “I woke up like this” - and earthy sexiness/viscerality that seem contrasted to the sterility of most curated online existence. Thanks for this post, it was really thought-provoking!
A few thoughts I wanted to add:
I would start the era much earlier, like 2005-2006. I was scouted for AA modeling in LA in 2006 and one of the criteria was a hyper-natural look, “Dov likes imperfect skin and eye bags” (within the subset of “models” and not in general). Of course he fetishized and took body appreciation to a dark place, but I think part of the current revival is partly due to backlash against the perfected, Facetuned Instagram aesthetic. We’ve seen makeup trends shift from perfected extreme makeup looks to natural faces, wild brows, no eye makeup, and the rise of elaborate skincare - esp since Covid, with so many staying home and letting their faces/hair “go natural” for that period of time. AA used to represent a kind of very casual glamour - “I woke up like this” - and earthy sexiness/viscerality that seem contrasted to the sterility of most curated online existence. Thanks for this post, it was really thought-provoking!
Not sure who any of these people are, but as a fan of American Apparel,