Buzz
Throughout history, particularly among women, the obsession with the latest fashion trends—ranging from clothing and cosmetics to shoes, hairstyles, bags, and overall style—has been evident. While we continue to face issues with fashion items today, such as lipstick containing lead, high heels that harm bones and muscles, and skin-whitening creams that pose cancer risks, the fashion dangers of today are nothing compared to what our ancestors faced. Our grandparents often took fashion to fatal extremes.
10. Bloodletting and Ceruse
During the Elizabethan era, having pale skin was considered the height of fashion. It symbolized wealth, as only a wealthy woman who didn’t have to toil under the sun could achieve such a complexion. This led women of the time to go to great lengths to achieve a pale appearance. Some resorted to ceruse, a deadly concoction of lead and vinegar. Despite warnings about its dangers, people were advised to use safer alternatives such as egg whites, alum, or tin ash. Others even turned to chalk or experimented with human and animal urine.
The mixtures women applied to their faces created a thick layer, making their skin so pale that they would often draw veins on their faces. They were careful to avoid smiling too much, as it could cause the pale layer to crack. Some women, opting for more extreme methods, used leeches to drain their blood in the pursuit of a lighter complexion.
9. The Hoop Skirt
The caged crinoline, also known as the hoop skirt, was a fashion trend featuring wide internal frames made from materials like whalebone, cane, steel, or iron, worn by women seeking an hourglass figure. In some cases, inflated rubber tires even replaced the metal cages. The crinoline became so popular it sparked ‘crinolinemania,’ a term describing the craze. Women wearing crinolines, which could span nearly 2 meters (6 feet) wide at the base, often found it difficult to navigate through doors or carriages. Cartoons even humorously depicted women having to transport their crinolines in carriages.
In addition to the many inconveniences, the crinoline was also a major fire risk. Its oversized base often came into contact with fire without the wearer realizing. The highly flammable materials like silk and cotton, combined with the wide base between the wearer's legs, made it easy for flames to catch. The New York Times reported that—within just two months—19 women lost their lives when their crinolines ignited. Beyond fires, women in crinolines were also swept up by strong winds, caught in factory machinery, wedged between restaurant chairs, and even snagged by carriage wheels.
8. Hazardous Shoe Polish
Nitrobenzene, a toxic substance used in shoe polishes, helped bind the ingredients together. Unfortunately, this chemical could enter the body through the skin of anyone wearing shoes polished with it. Despite being aware of the dangers, our grandparents continued to use it. When manufacturers introduced a safer, non-toxic alternative, it was rejected because it lacked the distinct smell of the original polish. People assumed it was a counterfeit and not the real deal.
Nitrobenzene didn’t affect everyone the same way; its impact varied between individuals. Some people experienced uncontrollable shaking, while others slipped into a coma or even passed away. One college student needed two blood transfusions after being exposed to it.
The individuals most affected were those who drank alcohol after coming into contact with nitrobenzene. One factory worker who handled the chemical at his workplace collapsed after consuming alcohol. Another salesperson, who had applied nitrobenzene-based shoe polish, passed away four and a half hours after drinking alcohol, as the chemical reacted with the alcohol in his body.
7. X-Ray Hair Removal
Before X-rays were invented, our grandmothers relied on electrolysis, a method that, although slow, painful, costly, and ineffective, was safe for removing facial hair. In contrast, X-ray hair removal was the opposite: quick, effective, painless, inexpensive, and extremely hazardous. Many professionals warned that X-rays caused harmful side effects like thickened skin, scaling, wrinkles, cuts, and even cancer, which often manifested 21 years after exposure. However, other practitioners rejected these claims, attributing the effects to improper use.
Albert Geyser, initially opposed to the use of X-rays for hair removal, later developed the Cornell X-ray, which he claimed was safe and free from the harmful side effects of previous machines. He founded a company to produce this patented device and distributed it to 'trained' non-medical operators to use in beauty salons. Years later, women began suing Geyser (who eventually went out of business) as they experienced the negative side effects of his X-rays, including wrinkled and thick skin. Several other companies that produced X-ray machines for hair removal faced similar lawsuits, but they simply relocated, rebranded, and continued their operations.
X-rays became fatal for many of our grandmothers in the 1940s, about 20 years after their initial exposure. By then, many had developed cancer and died as a result. Two Canadian doctors even coined the term 'North American Hiroshima Maiden syndrome' to describe the women suffering from the long-term consequences of X-ray exposure.
6. Chopines
The chopine was an eccentric type of footwear worn by women in 16th-century Venice, Italy. This shoe, which served as a status symbol to display wealth and nobility, originated in the Near East and was likely inspired by Turkish women’s clogs worn in bathhouses or by Greek actors' shoes worn on stage performances.
In the 1600s, chopines were also worn in China as a replacement for foot binding. These shoes had wooden or cork soles that were about 15 centimeters (6 inches) high, but in extreme cases, they could reach 75 centimeters (30 inches). The towering shoes made women appear so tall and unusual that they were called 'half human and half wood.' Many women struggled with walking and had to rely on a maid or cane for support and balance.
Surprisingly, the church endorsed the use of chopines, believing that the difficulty in movement they caused would discourage women from dancing, which the church deemed sinful. Eventually, chopines were banned and made illegal in Venice after women began suffering miscarriages from falling while wearing them.
5. Arsenic Dresses
In the Victorian era, Carl Wilhelm Scheele created a green dye known as 'Scheele’s green,' which quickly became popular. Before this invention, obtaining green hues for clothing, wallpaper, and artwork involved a complicated process of mixing blue and yellow dyes. However, Scheele’s green—composed of copper and arsenic—was toxic and hazardous. The arsenic could penetrate the skin of the person wearing the dyed fabric, causing nasal, gastric, and eye irritation. Arsenic-infused socks led to poisoning, irritation, and even death in children. Furthermore, rooms painted with arsenic-based paints were suspected of causing the deaths of children who inhaled the toxic fumes. (The dye has even been linked to the death of Napoleon.)
Our grandmothers didn’t just use Scheele’s green for their dresses; they also used it to paint their homes and dye their shoes. Despite the discovery of its deadly dangers, people continued using it. They even created a newer, more vibrant, and even more toxic version known as 'emerald green,' which was made from copper acetoarsenite. This shade was so perilous that it was popular for less than a century, before people decided to prioritize their health. However, the use of arsenic-laden items didn’t disappear easily. While people stopped wearing arsenic-dyed clothing, they repurposed them to decorate their walls, tables, and even cover their food.
4. Mismanaging Tuberculosis And Emulating Tuberculosis Victims
In the 19th and 20th centuries, tuberculosis was a deadly epidemic, compounded by a lack of understanding about sanitation. By 1915, one in four people in England succumbed to tuberculosis, and by 1918, one in six people in France died from it. The disease’s symptoms included a high fever, drastic weight loss, bloody coughs, and, ultimately, death.
In an ironic twist, our grandparents once thought that dying from tuberculosis—referred to as 'consumption' due to how it seemed to 'consume' the body—was a mark of style. Women admired the victims of tuberculosis for their gaunt figures, pale complexions, bright eyes, and rosy cheeks, features that were admired by fashion icons of the time. Death from tuberculosis was considered a romantic, slow, affectionate demise, and even the famous poet Lord Byron expressed a desire to succumb to the disease so that women would admire him.
To join this morbid trend, those suffering from tuberculosis began neglecting their health, while healthy individuals went to extreme lengths—including ingesting dangerous arsenic—to achieve the pale look that tuberculosis victims had. In short, to look fashionable, our ill grandparents ignored their health, leading to their deaths, while healthy grandmothers did everything to appear sick, which also contributed to their demise.
3. Celluloid Hair Combs
Celluloid hair combs became popular with lower-class women between the 1870s and 1920s as a way to imitate the crown-like hairstyles of the upper class. Marketed as 'improved tortoise shell,' these combs were nothing more than an early form of plastic called celluloid. They were cheaper, lighter, and far more dangerous than the actual crowns they mimicked.
The problem was that the celluloid plastic would often melt into the wearer’s hair when exposed to sunlight, and if near fire, the combs could catch fire and explode. There were numerous reports of women being injured or killed by these combs. In one case, three women in different towns suffered severe burns after their combs exploded on the same day. Another woman from Santa Barbara was injured when her comb exploded. Yet, these incidents were still less severe than the one in which a comb sparked a fire so intense that firefighters had to be called to contain it.
2. Fontange
The fontange hairstyle was first seen in the 1680s when one of King Louis XIV's mistresses quickly created it after her original hairstyle was ruined during a hunt. The king took a liking to the new look, and before long, the fontange became a trend, inspiring women to take extreme measures in order to achieve it.
While the fontange started as a modest style, women of the time began making it progressively taller. Eventually, keeping the towering hairstyles upright became a challenge, as they would often tilt to one side. In response, women began using egg whites to stiffen their hair for several weeks. The result was an unpleasant odor, which they covered up with excessive amounts of perfume. Others used flour and starch, attracting lice, insects, and even mice. The upkeep of the fontange was laborious, and many women left the style in place for weeks at a time, resulting in hot, itchy, and smelly hair.
The fontanges reached even greater heights, with some women sporting hairdos as tall as 120 centimeters (47 inches). To manage the weight and height, a servant would follow behind holding the hair in place with a stick. The towering styles also meant these women had to sleep sitting up, as lying down would ruin the hairstyle. Aside from the animals that made a meal of the hair, the height of the fontange made it highly flammable, often catching fire from nearby candles hanging from chandeliers.
1. Tooth Decay
Tooth decay was a widespread issue for our grandparents, who attributed it to worms in the teeth. It wasn't until 1890 that Willoughby D. Miller uncovered the real culprit: bacteria. When teeth became decayed, extracting them was a painful and often gruesome procedure.
The arrival of sugar in Europe led to a rise in tooth decay, primarily affecting the wealthy who could afford it. Queen Elizabeth I, whose teeth suffered from decay and turned black, had most of them extracted. To prevent her cheeks from collapsing, she resorted to stuffing rags into her mouth.
Rather than seeking a long-term solution for their decayed and darkened teeth, our grandparents transformed the condition into a trend, viewing it as a symbol of wealth from their sugar consumption. Some who didn’t have decayed teeth even went so far as to paint their teeth black to imitate those who did.
