DEVASTATING BEAUTY

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louise dahl wolfe

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"Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. 

God and the Devil are fighting there, 

and the battlefield is the heart of Man."

Dostoevsky

When posing a question to the wonderfully creative mind best be clear & succinct.
OR
Do what I did & pose it in a  relaxed & limitless way and you get a wildly different free flowing of ideas. This is the only way to go with  my astute PANEL of Aesthetes. It is fascinating to a the question to people and get such varied responses.

"Without Emotion there is No Beauty"

Diana Vreeland

“I think if I weren't so beautiful, maybe, 

I'd have more character.”

 Jerry Hall


Name the 10 Most Devastating Beauties of the 

20th century (1900-2000). 

Of course-right there- a crossover of dates occurs. Many of those BEAUTIES named who peaked (as it were) were born prior to the change in the 20th century. It is perhaps for that very reason they have such appeal-taking in both centuries, the links to past beauty ideals and the great changes that gave way to a new one.

But wait, then to make matters more free flowing , I added-

"If 10 don't come to mind-

Just a few strong picks!" 

Getting a real consensus just flew out the window, But Did I Ever Get Great Names, in abundance & in the singular - some submitting more than 10, some 10, some just 1.
I hope the WOMEN & MEN that appear on this list will find a place on these blogs so more can be known about them.

Each One of the assembled PANEL appears on my List of Blogs To Read.

THE PANEL of AESTHETES

 A BLOOMSBURY LIFE
AN AESTHETE'S LAMENT

ARCHITECT DESIGN

ELIZABETH AVEDON

EMILY EVANS EERDMANS
(IN)DECOROUS TASTE

MODEL'S OWN

PARIS ORIGINALS

LE STYLE ET LE MATIERE

LUCINDAVILLE

ROSE C'EST LA VIE

THE BLUSHING HOSTESS ENTERTAINS

THE HOUSE OF BEAUTY & CULTURE

 ME-LITTLE AUGURY

(I did make my list prior to asking so as not to be unduly influenced by better answers, it was hard)

It's interesting to ponder that many of the most Stylish are not necessarily the most Beautiful in terms of pure physical appeal. I always error on the Style side if truth be told-but DEVASTATING as a defining characteristic made me hesitate on some of my initial jottings. It can be difficult to sort through the Classic, the Devastating, the Jolie laide.

Here &  in several upcoming episodes are the results-I hope you enjoy.

horst

Some Excerpts from the PANEL about their approach & A DEVASTATING BEAUTY from each of them- Just revealing ONE mind you- No being swayed by your favourite Aesthete, though I admit- 

 YES, it was damn hard NOT TO BE-

Even after the list topped 100- I still found myself saying- How did I NOT KNOW about her, or I should have thought of Him.

"I thought of "devastating beauty" as a femme fatale at first, but then I said to myself that I was also swept off my feet by graceful,gentle beauty -so I've included two of that sort as well ! I think these women who impress us through their image need no words to explain their beauty; they are riveting to us according to our own aesthetic sense - or despite it. No matter the personality of the woman behind the face and silhouette, her special energy speaks physically."

                  le style et le matiere
one of le style's picks- Nusch Eluard- acrobat, actress, model, Muse to Man Ray, Dora Maar, and all.

"I am attracted to the kind of beauty that misses the mark of popular perfection—there's much to be said for the allure of a nose whose character has been left unmolested by the surgeon's knife, for instance. But when I think real beauty, I think carriage. 'She walks in beauty like the night' surely referenced posture as well as pulchritude. You can't be beautiful and walk like a slob."~AN AESTHETE'S LAMENT
Princess Fawzia-born Princess Fawzia of Egypt and Sudan,
Queen of Iran 1941 to 1948, Cecil Beaton described her as VENUS.

 

  "I loved the "jolie -laide post as many of my great beauties fall into that category."

 LUCINDAVILLE
One of her picks- Tallulah Bankhead- born down South  in the states, wicked actress
& notoriously wicked woman

"One would assume this an easy task, in fact it is actually quite difficult.On closer inspection some of my initial choices (France Nuyen, Gloria Guinness, and Dina Merrill among them) did not hold up to scrutiny."

the House Of Beauty and Culture
Capucine- a HOBAC selection, "just always looked so damned well bred!"

"All of my beauties were intimately acquainted with devastation, either through their own actions or as an indirect result of them." Lisa of A Bloomsbury Life( Bloomsbury)
Evelyn Nesbit- chorus girl, the girl in Standford White's red velvet swing 

 "Having been a Latin major in college, the first thing I think of when I think about what does "devastating" mean is the word's roots in vasto, vastare translating to "to lay waste to"....so with the idea of a beauty that has laid waste to her time's conventional conception of beauty".    Emily Evans Erdmans ( EEE)
Coco Chanel-designer extraordinaire, "the first modern woman of style."

"I like EEE's thoughts on the word devastating. The first thing that came to my mind was the power and aggression associated with the word devastating. That quality is extremely alluring... so all of the people that came to mind were people who embody strength in some way."

Lauren of (In)Decorous Taste (InDecorous)
NUREYEV one of the MEN that made the list and rightly so

"What about considering MEN?"

Debra of PARIS ORIGINALS( PARIS O)

though Debra did select Men- she ALSO zeroed in on GARBO,
AH, GARBO.

OF COURSE, OF COURSE-MEN! YES, definitely!
How could I refuse them anything?

 Now that is a face- ROSE C'EST LA VIE said of Vivien Leigh "smoulderingly pretty."

 Elizabeth Avedon said "The aristocratic beauty of Donna Marella Agnelli IS devastatingly beautiful."

Stefan of Architect Design said " I have to state the obvious, GRACE KELLY. While her beauty and glamour are so in your face, perhaps conventional even, it is the utter perfection of her cool classicism that is DEVASTATING."

"Perhaps an off choice" says Catherine of The Blushing Hostess Entertains but Vanessa Williams "is not only a remarkable beauty, but also a choice for her ability to transcend the photographs that nearly ruined her."

Florinda Bolkan, international Brazilian actress, is one of gorgeous model Ulla's of Model's Own picks. I knew she would have some new faces to consider. She said "I think I have a few interesting ladies but have a hard time narrowing down the choices." 

Lastly one of my own DEVASTATING BEAUTIES- TINA CHOW

There is something haunting in all the images of Tina Chow I see. As style.com puts it-"She was never a mainstream beauty." Vulnerable, penetrating, winsome, exotic-all in one FACE. Tina Chow - ultimately, tragically died in 1992 at age 41 of AIDS.
In order to make some-well-order of the MANY Names-Well over 100, I've created categories.As you might suspect, there were few, but there were a FEW, crossover names.

 "Beauty can be isolating."

Richard Avedon

Horst image

THE CAST
of

DEVASTATING BEAUTY

THE SOCIALITES

THE MODELS

THE ROYALS

THE MEN

THE ARTISTS

Writers, Dancers,Singers, Painters

THE MUSES
THE DESIGNERS

THE ACTRESSES

Here's a Peak.Familiar? Remember there is a List of Over 100 Names coming-
Any guesses?

MORE FACES & THE LIST COMING NEXT. Do weigh in-
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