When Creepy Face Masks Were The Coolest Fashion Item
On Wednesdays we wear a visard
Maybe you think late Victorian bustles were stuffy and unflattering, or wonder how hot and sweaty an 18th-century periwig could become on a summer day. Maybe you ponder what women in the 1870s were thinking when they decided wearing taxidermy birds on their heads was a good idea. On a more recent note, maybe you think the 2000s trend of wearing denim on denim was the lowest point in fashion history.
But on the list of history’s most terrifying fashion moments, the visard fad of the 16th and 17th centuries must be pretty high.
A visard (also called moretta or serva muta) was a small, oval mask made of pressed paper covered in black velvet, with a silk lining on the inside. They were worn by traveling women to protect their skin from the sun, and soon became all the rage among fashionable Elizabethan dames.
This early form of sunscreen also guaranteed some privacy to the ladies— often the object of unwanted attention, gossip, and/or marital jealousy — who did not shy away from using some tricks to acquire temporary anonymity.
