The Evolution of Joan’s Eyebrow – Day 10 (whew!!)

The Evolution of Joan’s Eyebrow – Day 10 (whew!!)

So sprinkled here and there has been my obsession with Joan Crawford.  The reason being is that while I have seen “Mildred Pierce” and other later movies that Joan Crawford was in I had not seen her earlier work or as I like to refer to it BEFORE THE SURPRISE work.  When I stumbled across a “Possessed” (1931) and I had no idea who she was, she was so soft and feminine not the brassy and perpetually surprised looking woman of the late 1940’s.  I could not understand what could cause such a drastic transformation?  Was it the fads of the era?  Was it that she looked too pretty and needed some edge?  Whatever it was it worked for her professionally because while she did dozens of movies before 1949 but she won an Oscar for “Mildred Pierce” and after that was nominated a few more times after the brow revolution.

I have one theory about the ADJUSTED brows. In 1927 young and sweet Joan appeared in the “Unknown” starring none other than Lon Chaney the Wolf Man himself who also sported some magical eyebrows himself. She is said that she learned more from watching Lon Chaney work than anyone else in her career.  Maybe this experience also made her emulate his eyebrows and yearn to have something a little more playful and fun than nice pretty eyebrows.

*on a side note if you ever want to be seriously creeped out “The Unknown” a story of love and amputation will do the job.

So here is the revolution of Joan’s eyebrows a truly astounding lesson on placement of one’s brows totally transforming your face.

Joan as a small child, eyebrows unmolested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan as a young girl of 12, eyebrows still looking natural.

 

 

 

 

Joan Crawford looking unearthly picturesque the brows have been plucked and shaped low on the brow but following her eye shape.

 

 

 

Now the brows are not quite so low or long

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are starting to see the beginning of a slight arch.

 

 

 

That slight arch from the side

The arch is still present but they are much thinner

 

 

          The color of the brows are lighter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Barely there but back to the arch

 

 

 

 

To Super Blonde

 

 

 

 

 

Starting to darken again and the arch is present but follows the shape of her eye

 

 

                  Pencil thin and rainbow shaped 

 

 

 

 

Rainbow shape still present but thicker

 

 

 

                      

Rainbow fading

 

 

 

 

The arch is BACK!

 

 

 

        And getting more pronounced

 

 

 

The arch softens

 But just for a bit      

 

Arched and a little creepy

 

             

   

                                                                               Arched and Full

 

The birth of the Uber Brow

 

 

 

 

 

 

That keeps going up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   And UP

 

 

Changing her face

 

 

 

 

 

Into someone totally different than it started out being.  A whole new Joan Crawford.

A little more surprised, a little more masculine, and mite intimidating with those new high brows

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until they seemed to get a little out of control and frighten small children.

                     

              

                                                          

 

 

 

 

                        

 

And seemed to be creatures of their own living right abover her eyes (I imagine what those brows and Martin Scorseses brows would look like if they had babies!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end there were more brows than face.  And by now adults were also a little frightened by Joan’s brows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a woman of a thousand faces all on account of the shape and fullness of her eyebrows. 

 The alterations that took place on her face were pretty remarkable.  So in my book Joan Crawford wins the ribbon and blows the rest away in the search for the most fun, striking, disturbing, entertaining, dramatic, creepy, beautiful, and magical brows to be found. There were none other that came close to what she had above her eyes.  An eyebrow legend unsurpassed she remains. 

Although I would like to remember her like this  safer for ensuring there will not be nightmares of JC’s eyebrows trying to hack me to pieces.

 

 

 

*I also need to mention (because it would be a crime not too) that in 1926 Joan Crawford was in a movie called “The Boob”.