Eyebrow face-off: Bare brows V statement brows

Emma Straub says the ‘naked face’ look makes an edgy non-conformist statement about a woman, while Paula Burns argues thick brows define a face, promoting a natural beauty and urges us all to banish our tweezers.

BARE BROWS

When the model Kristen McMenamy shaved off her eyebrows for Anna Sui’s fall 1992 collection, the look was shocking and watershed; the ’90s had arrived, weird and grungy. No more big-haired bombshells, no more Christie Brinkley prom-queen smiles. With her jet-black hair and a forehead now made entirely of negative space, McMenamy looked half-alien. Like Ziggy Stardust before her, that was probably the intention.