In the famous and the most cosmopolitan Rambla of Barcelona, there's an unique Museum.
The exhibits would not be the usual paintings, sculptures, art objects,
but everything to do with a lady's boudoir throughout the past
centuries, not just legacies of any famous or notorious ladies past and
present, but the evolution of beauty and hairdressing salons, with a
special section dedicated to the gentleman's Barber shops.
The importance of the boudoir has been featured in it's multifaceted forms according to the times, over and over again in epic films , in books and poems, from literature to nearly all of the hundreds of novels by the prolific novelist Barbara Cartland.
On exhibitions would be great collections of objects, employed to enhance and beautify not just a lady's hair, but all other magical products to turn an ugly duckling into a desirable beauty. Included are great varieties of hair-driers, used not all that long ago and can still be found in some small provincial hairdressers, a hanging or standing helmet, looking more like an apparatus for torture. Combs, practical as well as decorative ones, made of wood, tortoiseshells, ivory, silver, gold, encrusted with jewels or precious stones; brushes in several hundred shapes, sizes and different materials, tongs for curling or straightening, clips, rings, wigs ...
I had never given a thought nor wondered,
just how the hairdressing utensils and equipment could be so varied,
and had gone through so much in the history to warrant a museum. Through
them I suppose one gets a better insight of the evolution in different
periods of the history and the people who used them.
I have only 2 combs and 2 brushes.
This alone then must have accounted for the fact that I am no raving
beauty. On the other hand, my 'Ah Q' spirit tells me that I don't need
it.
(If anyone wonders what 'Ah Q' means ... in Chinese It's more or less similar to 'sour grape', self justifying, defending or consoling ... )
Tags: boudoirhistory, uglyduckling
No comments:
Post a Comment