Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Easter Egg Eyebrows

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Forget about the traditional Easter bonnet. Today is the day to try out the Peeptastic pastel eyebrows seen on the Balenciaga runway last month.

Photo courtesy of Fashionista.

When I saw the Balenciaga pictures, I immediately thought of my gorgeous friend Kara Baby and her gorgeous sister Stephanie Baby.  No, their last name isn’t really “Baby.” I just call them that. My sister Terri‘s last name isn’t Berry either. That’s just a nickname. Anyway, in 1999 or so, I was hanging out downtown with Kara Baby when she suddenly said, “Look, here comes my sister with her purple eyebrows.” And sure enough, there was a hot chick with purple eyebrows courtesy of Make Up For Ever eyeshadow. Stephanie didn’t limit herself to purple. Here’s a picture of her wearing red eyebrows from Allure’s August 1999 story about the introduction of Tommy Hilfiger’s makeup line.

Stephanie Baby

The Balenciaga show isn’t the first time someone has jacked Stephanie Baby’s eyebrow style.  StephanieB points the finger at Britney Spears and her wig-matching red brows in the 2004 Toxic video.

Britney in Toxic. Click to see the whole video.

Stephanie Baby isn’t being paranoid and I’m not being biased due to past experience. Stephanie was bartending at Lit in the East Village in October 2003 when a guy came in looking for “authentic NYC party people.” Stephanie’s friends’ reaction was, “Who is this creep?” but Stephanie herself thought, “Awesome! I’m a party person!” The video was shooting right down the street from where she lived in Long Island City — at Silvercup Studios — so she rolled up in her usual sex-ay clothes and colored brows and wound up in the Me Against the Music video that Britney made with Madonna. Stephanie never saw Madonna but said Britney hung out with everyone and even complimented Stephanie’s makeup. So it’s totally possible that two months later, when Britney was filming the Toxic video, she said, “Hey, red eyebrows would look cool.”

Stephanie tells me you can see more of her in the “Making of…” video than in the video itself, so take a look for her here. I can’t see a thing because anytime I desperately need to watch something online, I get an attack of buffering. Once, while I was attempting to watch CSI online, the video stopped and restarted so often that it took me two hours to get through 45 minutes of TV. That’s why you don’t find me watching TV online too often.

Stephanie Baby needs to pipe up and tell me if she’s wearing a faux-ny tail in this video. That would make it easier to spot her. She wore a faux-ny tail often and she was so good at doing them that I had her do mine when I went to MTV’s Video Music Awards in 2003.

WendyB in 2003. Faux-ny tail by Stephanie Baby. Dress by Plein Sud.

I still have the Moonman from the VMA gift bag. I have the dress too. I never throw anything out.

As I remember it, the day Stephanie Baby did my faux-ny tail, she wasn’t wearing colored eyebrows but really intense, black, Sharpie-like ones. That look makes me think of highlarious gossip blogger Michael K of Dlisted and his “assault with a deadly eyebrow” line. And that line, in turn, makes me think of the dude in Animotion’s ’80s video for Obsession (the song, not the Calvin Klein perfume).

Click to see the whole video.

I think that eyebrow might be trying to get away from the terrifying side ponytail worn by the female member of Animotion, which you can see blurrily here. I keep meaning to do a second-by-second screen-cap breakdown of the Obsession video because there’s so much shit going on there that it really needs to be studied closely. If I get video working smoothly on a day when I’m feeling ambitious — a convergence of events that is rarer than a solar eclipse — I’ll do that.

Until then, if you have better luck than I do with video and want eyebrows that scream “bitch!”, follow this chola makeup tutorial by Baby Smiley.

Stephanie Baby is a real estate agent now and has given up her colored eyebrows, but I think she should start doing them again. She could develop a niche catering to people with crazy style. Like … if you have colored eyebrows or full-body tattoos or more piercings than you can count or scalp implants that make you look like you have devil horns, Stephanie is the Realtor for you. Squares go elsewhere!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hey!

    Thanks again for your Comment 🙂

    Yes it´s a Denim Dress from this Years H&M Fashion against Aids Collection..i can´t wait to have it!! :))

  3. Thanks Wendy!
    great piece ! Watching the making of brings me back. too funny feels like 20 years ago.

  7. The song “Obsession” brings me straight back to my 1980s hardcore high impact aerobics class (was there any other kind then?). I think I still have the original mix tape for that workout.

    When I changed my hair color to reddish gold, I bought some Bobbi Brown lavender eye shadow. Now I’m going to put it on my brows. Thanks for the idea!

  9. Happy Easter! I am a little obsessed with my eyebrows and now I can think about dying them a color next year for Easter. LOL!

  10. I definitely think Brit stole Stephanie’s style, 100% Steph should start her own make-up line for Ricky’s! I loved the Animotion video and I still play that song… gee, shocking isn’t it? Not.

  11. I’m pretty sure you are my hero! Not only are you a trendsetter, but everyone you know seems to be a trend setter! Is there like a test people have to pass before they can be your friend?

  12. Once I saw that this was about eye-browns, I knew Baby Smiley was going to end up in the post.

    You never disappoint me. And that is reason #148 why you are my guru.

  13. I like Stephanie Baby’s red brows & all the darker shades but am not a fan of the pastel Balenciaga’s – this could be something to do with the fact that I have natural blonde eyebrows and look like an albino if I don’t dye them!

  20. I love the idea of coloured eyebrows but, doubt I could pull it off. Espeically in the smaller, conservative, city I live in at the moment. Punk rock dressing and emo dressing if fine though you get yellled at negatively if you leave the house but any small, fun, fashion thing like coloured eyebrows and they totally harrass you.

  22. I too am a bit obsessed with eye brows but unfortunately this often leads to over plucking! The Chola video is fantastic and almost makes me miss living in Queens, ha!

    BTW Love your make-up in the photo, you look lovely.

  27. Whoa, is it just me or are pastel eyebrows reminescent of Oompa Loompas?

    Haha, Animotion! I haven’t seen a cute girl sporting a ‘side ponytail’ since, well maybe Napoleon Dynamite.

  28. Miss J can’t pull off pastels, so that’s out for her. She does enjoy elongating and painting wicked arches into her eyebrows when she wants to look especially evil.

    Miss Wendy is freaking beautiful in her silver Plein Sud dress…

  32. I wonder when Vanilla Ice eyebrow with 3 shavings in it will make a comeback? I’m partial to the 90’s, yo.

    P.S. Word to yer moms.

  34. Ahhh, your VMA look is stunning, you have an amazing smile! Also absolutely love the first look, aqua eyebrows here we come!

  35. That faux-nytail looks really good on you! Do you think I should try the baby blue eyebrow thing at the school gate? Small Child may just disown me.

  36. Chola!!!!!!! Jennine and Crosby showed this to me during SS10 fashion week! Love the easter egg eyebrows photo – you are SO creative/witty!

    P.S. I am snooping for the right photo of you…hoping to get some jewelry in the sketch too. I hope it turns out!

  37. i do love hearing about your realm of experiences and anekdotes! i could go for bleached out eyebrows but i’m not sure the streets are ready for coloured yet!