The ‘Twiggy Lashes,’ launched by Yardley London in 1967 in collaboration with supermodel Twiggy, were marketed as a way for consumers to recreate her iconic wide-eyed look and became a symbol of Swinging Sixties youth culture and accessible glamour. Decades earlier, however, facial modification took a very different form in the hand-crafted facial prosthetics made during World War I by Francis Derwent Wood and Anna Coleman Ladd at the “Tin Nose Shop” for severely disfigured soldiers. These painted metal masks, often used alongside early plastic surgery, aimed to restore dignity and social acceptance rather than beauty or fashion. Together, these objects show how the face functions as a powerful site of identity, shaped both by commercial ideals and by medical responses to trauma.
Sources
Davies, Dave. “With No Textbooks or Antibiotics, This WWI Surgeon Pioneered Facial Reconstruction.” NPR, July 20, 2022. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/20/1112276638/facemaker-harold-gillies-lindsey-fitzharris.
Fowles, John. “Here Comes Twiggy!!!” Cosmopolitan, April 1967. New York. From The Women’s Magazine Archive. https://library.tcu.edu/PURL/EZproxy_link.asp?url=https://www.proquest.com/wma/magazines/here-comes-twiggy/docview/1855849650/sem-2?accountid=7090.
Imperial War Museums. “Facial Prosthetic.” https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30025992.
McSharry, Deirdre. “Twiggy: The Cockney Kid with the Face to Launch a Thousand Shapes and She’s Only 16!” Daily Express, February 23, 1966, 9. London. From The Daily Express Archive.
National Army Museum. “The Birth of Plastic Surgery.” National Army Museum, 2016. https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/birth-plastic-surgery.
Radio-Guy.com. “WWI’s Tin Nose Shop Facial Prosthetic.” 2024. Accessed October 8, 2024. https://radio-guy.com/product/wwis-tin-noses-shop-facial-prosthetic/.
Seventeen. “A Twig Grows in London.” May 1967. New York. From The Women’s Magazine Archive. https://library.tcu.edu/PURL/EZproxy_link.asp?url=https://www.proquest.com/wma/magazines/twig-grows-london/docview/2029579073/sem-2?accountid=7090.
Seventeen. “Advertisement: Make Me a Model with Twiggy and Yardley.” October 1968. New York. From The Women’s Magazine Archive. https://library.tcu.edu/PURL/EZproxy_link.asp?url=https://www.proquest.com/wma/magazines/advertisement-yardley-london-inc/docview/2010802488/sem-2?accountid=7090
Cecily Newman
Cecily is majoring in anthropology with a minor in classical studies. She is a
member of TCU Twisters Country Dance Club and she plans to pursue her
teaching certification in secondary education Social Studies.
Anale Olmos
Anale Olmos is majoring in nursing with a minor in cultural
awareness in healthcare. She is an aspiring nurse practitioner with an interest in history which is
why I took an interest in this class.