It is a world-wide notion that women from all corners of the planet love beautifying themselves. They groom themselves by doing their hair, choosing the perfect outfits, and, of course, letting their nails be on point. Speaking of nails, it has always been a sign of beauty and how women love taking care of themselves; it has also been a sign of a good hygiene. The trends of fingernails have been evolving throughout the years, however, how your fingernails look like is a matter of preferences, but still, you will realize that the way your grandmother took care of her nails, in her old pictures, might be a bit different from that your mother did of hers and, consequently, different from your own as well. In this article, you will be introduced to how the fingernails trends have been developing and all the stages it has been through during the last 125 years.
Starting from the 1800’s: back then, manicurist was the title given to those whose work was to keep women’s nails neat and short by cutting the extra cuticles and cleaning the beds of the nails; the word is derived from the French word Manicure, which means nail polish in English. The most popular shape, back then, was the rounded nails and, mostly, short, but that does not mean that there were not women who loved keeping their nails longer, however, they kept them rounded-shaped. Women who kept their nails that way were seen as elite people.
In the early 1900’s, the trend of fingernails continued to be the short and rounded ones, but then, the porcelain nails were brought into the picture; they were gluey, so they could stick to the natural nails, but they could also be removed. These nails were known to be very expensive back then, consequently, it was not used by everyone.
During the 20’s, keeping their nails clean and shaped was not enough, but actually, for the first time, women were getting introduced to the polish of the nails. The idea was formerly inspired from the painting of the cars; it might sound a bit strange, but it was true anyway, that was how the nail polish was invented. However, the colors that were used back then were only the basic ones and, mostly, red. Throughout the late 20’s, nail polishes became more and more popular, so the elite women were the one who kept their nails short, rounded, and red.
Then in the beginning of the 30’s, a new nail polish was launched by a brand named Revlon; this polish was made by pigments instead of the dyes that were formerly used for polishing the nails. Throughout the late 30’s, the nail shaped had evolved a bit to being a bit oval, besides, smoky colors were being introduced, instead of being limited to the basic colors, and they were abundantly sold in the stores.
The shapes of the nails as well as the colors of the polishes had continued progressing throughout the years until the acrylics were newly introduced in the market during the late 40’s and all the way through the 50’s as well as the 60’s. Acrylics were invented by using some substances that were originally used for creating the dental crowns and, concerning the shape of the nails, women who kept their longer were considered as the most fashionable. To be more precise, during the 60’s, the almond-shaped manicure became through popular among women and basic colors were not the most popular by the time, but actually the neutral shades had made appearance and stole the light from the red nails.
Starting from the mid 70’s and all the years through to the 90’s, all the colors had been already introduced to the world of nails and fashion, besides, the almond-shaped nails were not the most popular by that time, but, instead, getting your nails squared was the trend.
All the way through the 90’s, natural nails became more trendy once again and since a lot of nail polishes were being used at that time, surprisingly, the black nail polish came into the picture, but it did not gain its popularity, for it was considered to be used by a specific bunch of people, especially the punk rockers and the bikers; it was regarded pretty much as the tattoos were back then, but into the 2000’s, every color of nail polishes was already introduced and, pretty much, most of them were as equally popular and trendy. The square-shaped nails were still on top, and also the almond shape made a comeback, but this time, it was a bit modified to be sharper or as it was known, stiletto-shaped. But the 2000’s was actually the time when the incredibly long nails were not as trendy, but, instead, women preferred keeping their nails at a shorter length to look more natural and neat.
Since everything is expected to keep progressing, the nail trends have never disappointed women and they kept on witnessing more advancement until it was already 2007 and the world of fashion introduced to us the nail appliqués. Still, the square-shaped nails were still pulling off through the 2000’s, besides, that they were considered the most feminine nails shape by that time, especially if the edges were a bit rounded.
Needless to say, since we are already sixteen years into the 2000’s, we cannot say that there is a specific shape that is deemed to be more trendy than the other, but actually after we have almost been introduced to all the shapes and colors of the nails as well as the impressive arts that have been used, it became more like a matter of preferences, instead of what is more trendy that what. Everyone is capable of pulling off her own style, her own shape of nails, and whatever colors she prefers, for there is almost nothing else left to be perceived as strange or abnormal, but actually everything that is weird became the new trend.
The art of nails became very exciting, for it is considered as one tool to reveal the personality of each woman, besides, no matter what shape of nails you currently you prefer, it is totally normal if you woke up one day and decided to change it and pull off a new style. Despite the fact that the world is going at a rapid pace and we do not ever seem to be able to cope with every new trend, because, unlike the old days, trends are making appearances on a daily basis, women still seem to enjoy this fast pace that the world of fashion is going at because, for them, it means that everyday there is a new style to look forward to and there is always something new to try. Besides, manicures and nail care might be the only economical method that women can use to groom themselves and have fun changing the length, colors, and shapes of their nails whenever they want.
On the other hand, being introduced to a whole new world of nails arts and shapes does not mean that the upcoming trends can be easily expected, for no matter how hard you tried to imagine what could be coming next, you will still get surprised and that is actually the beauty of it; everybody enjoys surprises.