Tourist Resorts as Stages of Social Display: Beauty and Fashion in 1930s Estoril

In: Beauty: Exploring Critical Perspectives
Author:
Cristina Carvalho
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In 2014, Estoril celebrated its first 100 years by recalling Fausto Figueiredo’s dream-like resort. Early literary descriptions of this city reveal an area whose outstanding feminine traits took on the artifice of fashion in a way that could drive men wild. This resort became internationally renowned for its finesse and civility. Its architectural features, seaside valley and its leisure programs were enjoyed by a growing number of visitors. Estoril’s elegant shops sold Paris’ latest fashion. Lisbon’s finest magazines advertised clothing meant to be worn while playing golf to complement Estoril’s natural scenery. A women’s magazine published beauty tips and featured models that were portrayed in specific social locations well-known and appreciated by middle and upper class ladies. Estoril’s Casino used all resources at its disposal to organize refined afternoon programs and entertain a growing commercial niche market. These programs ranged from hair styling competitions to talks about cosmetics, or fashion shows with catwalks. The 1930s also witnessed a ‘chromatic revolution’, as far as tourists’ skin tones were concerned. The Suntan Age had arrived that cast away by-gone days of the Thermal Era. It did so with the help of young Hollywood stars and British theater star Heather Thatcher. As Wolff explains, women’s tanned body became a trophy that attracted men to coastal resorts where beauty and bathing suits contests assisted in the making of a social threshold. During this era, life in Estoril evoked a somewhat gray area of gender contact that Turner and Shield refer to as a liminal place, where society’s rules were slightly bent… for a while.

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