Frumpy To Fabulous: the Return of the Bushy Brow and Fashion Cycles

I’m sure we all remember the pencil-thin brows that dominated the late ’90s and early 2000s. During that era, thin brows were all the rage, and having bushy brows was definitely not the standard. I was born in the early 2000s, and throughout my childhood and teenage years, I felt self-conscious about my naturally thick eyebrows, but my mother wouldn’t let me touch them. My teenage years were marked by eyebrows that felt untamed and unkempt which have now become staple features I am proud to wear every day. The 2010s favored thick eyebrows, but even then, bushy brows weren’t celebrated. Although pencil-thin brows have long been out of style, bushy brows have recently made a comeback in the fashion world.

Now, seeing bushy brows back in trend gives me a bittersweet feeling. It’s strange to witness something I’ve struggled with for so long becoming fashionable, and I’m sure many other people can attest to this same feeling with similar trends. I’ve faced teasing about my bushy eyebrows from a young age, including from peers in elementary school and even from older generations like my grandparents. While it’s gratifying to see something I’ve had for so long come into style, I can’t help but feel a mix of anger and frustration over the bullying I endured for what has now become the “hot new thing.” What’s even more irritating is how thin brows are still loved in some niche areas of pop culture. I rarely hear of people being shamed for their thin, tamed brows. I don’t wish ill upon people with thin eyebrows. I would like for everyone to embrace their natural features freely. My struggle lies in understanding this changing trend with my complex feelings of acceptance and fairness in the beauty world.

We are making bounds and leaps with welcoming diversity in the beauty world from standards to fashion trends. What we must recognize to maintain and extend this motion is the cycle fashion trends function on. Eyebrow trends follow the same cyclical patterns as other trends in fashion and beauty. An example of this was the popularity of thin eyebrows in the 1920s and 1930s before the rise of the bushy brow in the 1970s and 1980s. Thin eyebrows then returned to the world of the trendy in the 1990s. As discussed in an article by Kara Nesvig for Byrdie, even now, as ‘90s grunge rises in popularity, we are seeing the pencil-thin brow make its return. Byrdie: Skinny Eyebrows Are Officially Mainstream. Understanding the cycle of fashion trends is crucial to how we perceive beauty and self-worth. Trends in fashion and beauty are fleeting, and what’s on the cover of magazines today may be out of style tomorrow. This cyclical nature means that features once considered unfashionable can come back into trend, just as bushy brows have. We must stop allowing people to believe that trends are anything other than reflections of changing tastes. They are not measures of value or true beauty.

It’s important to cultivate a mindset that celebrates individuality over conformity to ever-shifting standards. Just because something is not currently fashionable doesn’t mean it is ugly or undesirable. I have worked very hard to appreciate and eventually admire my features and traits. Though this is just a small example in the larger scheme of trends in the beauty world, we can choose to resist the pressure to conform to fleeting trends. We can embrace our authentic selves and begin the work of fostering a more inclusive and compassionate perspective on beauty.