“Entire generations have enjoyed the small pleasure of looking better than what they’re going through, thanks in part to the Lipstick Effect”
Photo: Photo Illustration by Stevie Remsberg/Photo Getty In the Black Church tradition, there’s an adage: “You don’t look like what you’ve been through.” It means that despite whatever trials and tribulations you’ve faced, God has preserved your countenance. In other words, you look good for having been ill, grief-stricken, unemployed, impoverished, or just broke enough for it to potentially show.
All flaws were clocked: a run in your pantyhose, a pilled patch on the shoulder of a blazer, or — heaven forbid — a stain on your dress. But flawlessness was also clocked: new shoes, a designer bag, a belted dress that cinched a newly trimmed waist. Wardrobe would always be important, but a woman’s expression as she parted with her offering envelope was equally essential. Another church adage: “God loves a cheerful giver.
Mom never spent too much on lipstick. She was pragmatic about it. I remember her experiencing lean times when I was a kid — forgoing new church clothes so I could have them, wearing shoes long past their expiration date so that I could size mine up — but I never recall her running out of lipstick. With the right lip color, something vibrant like reddish-orange or rich like bronze or gold, she looked cheerful no matter what her checkbook was doing.
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