The English Parliament passed an act in 1770 decreeing that any woman who sought to betray one of His Majesty’s subjects into marriage by “scents, paints, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool (rouge), iron stays, high-heeled shoes, bolstered hips and like misdemeanors shall incur the penalty of the law in force against witchcraft and that marriage shall stand null and void.”
I’ve heard that there is no real proof that this law was on the books, but it makes for a good story doesn’t it? The reality is that it was a popular argument against makeup that it was a lie and was tricking men into thinking a woman was prettier than she was, but there isn’t any proof that laws were passed. But I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to get a law passed.
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4 Comments
aelith
thanks for the chuckle this caused
Kristen
I’ve always liked Sinatra’s sexy resignation to “Witchcraft.” But searching for it on Youtube this afternoon I chanced on this clip of Frank & Elvis together proving that men do witchcraft too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmWc3XAhCWw
Vintage Hairstyling Lauren
That’s a whole lot’a man for my eyes all at once.
Anonymous
I don’t think this can be true, because the laws against witchcraft were repealed in England in 1735. To quote Wikipedia: “The Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2. c. 5) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1735 which made it a crime for a person to claim that any human being had magical powers or was guilty of practising witchcraft. With this, the law abolished the hunting and executions of witches in Great Britain. The maximum penalty set out by the Act was a year’s imprisonment.”