Small feet
One of the craziest beauty trends from a long time ago was this one from China. Little pieces of ancient Chinese culture can still be found all over the world today: The Great Wall, feng shui, terracotta soldiers… But the chance of seeing this specific piece of ancient Chinese culture is slim to none.
Back in the day in China, around the 13th century, it was all the rage to have extremely small feet. It wasn’t uncommon to see wives and daughters of affluent families with mini feet. When girls were between the ages of five and seven years old, the process of foot binding began. While the feet were trying to grow, they were held back by tightly applied bandages. The bones in the feet broke, the sole bent towards the toes and the toes were forced underneath the feet. This kept their feet as small and compact as possible. This was extremely attractive in ancient China.
The ancient Chinese weren’t the only ones who had a thing for misshapen bodies… The Mayans had their fair share of it too, as you can see on the next page.