Customer Watch: And the Antithesis of the Strong Brow

For every action, there is an equal reaction. The pendulum swings both ways. And being a contrarian can be just plain fun when it comes to fashion.

Just when I’ve about gotten used to seeing Jennifer Connelly and other beauties adopting the dramatic look of strong eyebrows, along comes one of my favorite designers, Miuccia Prada, and not only takes the opposite approach, but takes it to the extreme.

Here are the latest ads from Tommy Hilfiger and Shiseido from the March 2008 issue of Glamour magazine, featuring models with strong eyebrows:

Taking the contrarian view, in this ad for Prada eyewear that is running in the same issue of Glamour, the eyebrows of the model are so light as almost to disappear:

Of course, the nearly invisible eyebrows present a blank canvas, if you will, on which to display the latest style of eyeglasses without the competing distraction of brows. The marketers want to focus our attention on the eyewear.

Eyebrows, whether strong, straight, tapered, arched, thin, dark, light, high contrast or—yes—almost invisible, are one of the design elements inherent in every face that can and should be considered in the selection of flattering jewelry, just as in the selection of flattering eyewear. Don’t you love fashion?