We take a look at style tips and tricks from a bygone era...
The caliper: the stars' beauty aid that measures you up to new loveliness
— May 14, 1956
Make-up artists to the stars, The Westmore Brothers, gave every
Woman's Day woman a chance to look beautiful with the aid of the caliper beauty measure — a handy device that measured your facial construction.
The Hollywood-based brothers advised: "If you want to build a house, you must first have a plan. It's every bit as necessary to plan your appearance."
And then promised: "Once you measure your facial construction you'll have a new view of its possibilities."
So whether you had an Oval, Oblong, Round, Square, Triangle, Inverted Triangle or Diamond-shaped visage, if you used the Westmore Brothers handy calipers you'd be able to put your best face forward every time.
Sophia Loren tells her beauty secrets
— April 20, 1959
Exotic and ageless Italian screen siren Sophia Loren revealed her beauty secrets to
Woman's Day readers in 1959 and stunned us with her disclosure that she'd never been in a beauty salon in her life:
"I don't believe in them. I don't believe beauty treatments are necessary for any normal, healthy girl. So-called facials do no lasting good to the skin. Fresh air, exercise, inward contentment and happiness are what keeps a girl lovely. Look natural and be natural. And, above all, don't cultivate the kind of appearance that makes people feel you've come straight off the factory assembly line. A lot of American women look like they've been turned out by the nearest factory."
Writer Guy K Austin marvelled in his Hollywood interview with Loren:
"Apart from night cream, Sophia never gives herself a facial treatment, never straps her chin into a chin-lift, never sleeps with her face hidden under a mountain of expensive cosmetics."
Australia's six loveliest models
— February 2, 1959
When
Woman's Day asked Australia's six top photographers — including the world renowned Helmut Newton — to pick their favourite model to stroll a catwalk since WWII they came up with some beauties.
Geraldine Branson — "It isn't possible to take a bad picture of Geraldine," said Ray Leighton.
June Massey — "Her figure is so good, she's co-operative, knows what's wanted and is temperamentally suited to the job," said John Nisbett.
Del Hancock — "The brightest little gem that ever tripped from the country to try her luck modelling."
Margo McKendry — "Margot has such mobility of expression she can model as a teenage outdoor girl or a sophisticate," said Laurence Le Guay.
Jan Williams — "Jan has good movement and expression, and in her photo looks relaxed and supremely elegant," said Helmut Newton.
Yvonne Nightingale — "She has femininity and an inner quality which is as important as the outward facade," said Athol Smith.
Return to the Woman's Day 1950s page 
