Frida Kahlo
Although Mexican culture and tradition prevail in Frida Kahlo’s paintings, she still often painted herself. She’s frequently described as a surrealist, but Kahlo believed that she never painted her dreams but her own reality instead. She was known for resisting the norm, involving herself in politics while most women sat on the sidelines.
Her self-portraits are as intriguing as da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” but unlike Mona Lisa’s mysterious smirk, Kahlo’s thick unibrow is unapologetically obvious. Her image in her self-portraits looks almost exactly as she did in real life—though her unibrow got even more exaggerated. It was an artistic statement indeed, during the ’30s, an indication that women had both masculine and feminine traits and didn’t need to sit behind men.
Get the look: We’re not going to tell you to grow a unibrow just to make a feminist point, but ever thought of growing it thick instead like model Cara Delevingne? Avoid over plucking. Draw lines and fill them in, or better yet, dye your brows darker.
Andy Warhol
Almost everybody is familiar with Andy Warhol’s mono prints of celebrities and silkscreens of mundane objects such as a soup can and the Coca-Cola bottle.
But what also got us interested is how the “Pope of Pop” presented himself to the public. His platinum wig worn because of his thinning hair was particularly memorable. He stood out and got away with wearing this standout headpiece in a sea of blondes and brunettes streaming in and out of his Factory in the ’60s. Warhol, after all, did say that art is anything you can get away with—and his persona and his trademark wig are as iconic as his work.
Get the look: More than for men, Warhol’s look suits women. Get a cut, but keep it wispy and the bangs brushed to the side. Amidst heads with long, black hair, short hair will make you stand out. If you want to go the extra mile, go light or choose a color not a lot of people would go for. Take a page from Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, modern- day pop icons who never lacked for attention because of their hairstyles.
Antoni Gaudí
The Spanish Catalan architect is best known for his Gothic revival and modernism, and his magnum opus is the unfinished Sagrada Família. Gaudí took his personal appearance seriously when he was younger, wearing costly suits and keeping his hair and beard well groomed—a certified dandy. As he grew older, though, he spent less time grooming himself. He wore old, worn-out suits and neglected his appearance that sometimes, he was taken for a beggar. On June 7, 1926, a tram hit Gaudí and left him unconscious. Assumed to be a beggar because of his old clothing, he didn’t receive immediate help and died three days later.
Get the look: For the guys, leave your facial hair alone. Ignore the belief that shaving regularly makes hair grow thicker and quicker. And since you’re not getting a clean shave, wear proper clothes to compensate.
Coco Chanel
Today, Coco Chanel’s beauty and style are considered classics, but during the 1920s, her look was revolutionary. In a time when women had long hair and wore corsets and other confining garments, she designed clothes that borrowed elements from menswear. Comfort and simplicity were key for her. As she began creating unrestrictive womenswear pieces, she chopped off her long locks, truly setting her apart from other designers at the time.
Get the look: She always had that je ne sais quoi, and looked a little androgynous, with her neck showing but the rest of her conservatively covered. Her simple style was not a matter of laziness but of knowing how to keep to whatever was unnecessary, a skill any woman of today needs to master.