Personal Services

Economic historians have not yet fully investigated the upkeep and beautification of the face and body. The history we do have tells the story of tensions between home care and the development of dedicated public spaces for pampering. In the eighteenth century, personal services that had previously been the prerogative of the aristocracy started to cater to a growing market of consumers. From their original positions in the homogeneous European court society, purveyors of grooming adapted to both the growing needs of the middle classes and to a multiplicity of cultural and ethnic aesthetics. As Western ideals of beauty Continue reading the remaining 96% ...