All for Beauty

Makeup and Hairdressing in Hollywood's Studio Era

By Adrienne L. McLean

SERIES: Techniques of the Moving Image

Rutgers University Press

Ever wonder why so many stars and featured players, male or female, in movies of Hollywood’s “Golden Age” look like they just stepped out of a beauty parlor even if the story places them in a jungle, a hospital bed, or the ancient past? All for Beauty examines how and why makeup and hairdressing evolved as crafts designed partly to maintain the white flawlessness of men and women as a value in the studio era. The book pays particular attention to the labor force, exploring the power and influence of cosmetics inventor and manufacturer Max Factor and the Westmore dynasty of makeup artists but also the contributions of others, many of them women, whose names are far less known. At the end of the complex, exciting, and at times dismaying chronicle, it is likely that readers will never again watch Hollywood films without thinking about the roles of makeup and hairdressing in creating both fictional characters and stars as emblems of an idealized and undeniably mesmerizing visual perfection.

Adrienne McLean’s engaging All for Beauty gives us a peek under the powder, lipstick, beard, and toupee, to examine the craft and labor politics of makeup and hairdressing in the studio era. This impeccably researched and argued book is a must read for anyone interested in the Hollywood studio system, film acting, stardom, or beauty culture! Mary Desjardins, author of Recycled Stars: Female Film Stardom in the Age of Television and Video

McLean combines extensive research, keen insight, detailed analysis of stars and films, and an enjoyable way with words to give readers an important overview of the history, politics, and aesthetics of 'beauty makeup' during the glory days of Hollywood cinema. I devoured it, and so will you. Sean Griffin, editor of What Dreams Were Made Of: Movie Stars of the 1940s

All for Beauty reveals a treasure trove of research in this absorbing history of how beauty makeup and hairdressing became essential to Hollywood filmmaking and its construction of stardom. Adrienne McLean's tangible passion for her project makes this a gift to Hollywood historians. Karen McNally, author of The Stardom Film: Creating the Hollywood Fairy Tale

Adrienne McLean’s engaging All for Beauty gives us a peek under the powder, lipstick, beard, and toupee, to examine the craft and labor politics of makeup and hairdressing in the studio era. This impeccably researched and argued book is a must read for anyone interested in the Hollywood studio system, film acting, stardom, or beauty culture! Mary Desjardins, author of Recycled Stars: Female Film Stardom in the Age of Television and Video

McLean combines extensive research, keen insight, detailed analysis of stars and films, and an enjoyable way with words to give readers an important overview of the history, politics, and aesthetics of 'beauty makeup' during the glory days of Hollywood cinema. I devoured it, and so will you. Sean Griffin, editor of What Dreams Were Made Of: Movie Stars of the 1940s

All for Beauty reveals a treasure trove of research in this absorbing history of how beauty makeup and hairdressing became essential to Hollywood filmmaking and its construction of stardom. Adrienne McLean's tangible passion for her project makes this a gift to Hollywood historians. Karen McNally, author of The Stardom Film: Creating the Hollywood Fairy Tale

ADRIENNE L. McLEAN is a professor of film studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and the author or editor of multiple books including Dying Swans and Madmen: Ballet, the Body, and Narrative Cinema and Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom (both Rutgers University Press).

Introduction: Art and Science in the Service of Loveliness
1. Makeup and Hairdressing as Studio Crafts: The Silent Period
2. The Classical Period: Craft Identity and the Labor Force
3. The Classical Period: Department Practices and the Commerce of Expertise
4. Cosmetics, Coiffures, and Characterization
Epilogue: Trophy Faces
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

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