Early Influencers Before Social Media Was Created
Influencers are found everywhere on social media. They have hundreds of thousands of followers who follow their recommendations and some even try to emulate them. Influencers might recommend their own products or others, and share their lives. They’ve developed their brand, found their niche, and sometimes, they get into trouble like the mother who decided to rehome her adopted child and faced public opinion. However, before social media, before television, radio, or movies, there were influencers who created their own brands, and were followed by the public.
There was one influencer back in the 16th century who had women dyeing their hair and eyebrows, wearing her type of makeup. They wanted to be just like her. This woman’s name? Queen Elizabeth I. She didn’t have access to social media as we know it so she used the media she had available. She had tons of portraits painted to show everyone who she was and to create her brand. She had a look of reddish hair, with high forehead, and a very pale skin created by a lead based white makeup. Due to her media campaign, women wanted to look like her from head to toe, just like today.
Another early influencer was the Italian painter Titian. He painted beautiful red haired beauties causing many women to want to emulate the color. He showed women in various states of undress but never naked and he influenced women in Italy to look more like the women he painted. Furthermore, his work garnered him an international following which made him one of the first whose influence extend beyond his native land. He also created new techniques that others adopted and created a new style by combining Renaissance with Mannerism ideals.
One big influencer of that time period was William Shakespeare. Yes, the same man who wrote “Romeo and Juliet” and other such plays. His sphere of influence was the English language. If you do a bit of research, you’ll find he helped standardize grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. He contributed about 1700 original words to the English language and we use some of them even today. He is responsible for phrases like “Full circle”, “Sorry sight”, and so many others. In addition, he chose to use words in new ways such as gloomy that was originally a verb but he used it as a noun. Even though he passed a few hundred years ago, his influence is still felt.
On the other hand, a later influencer was Max Factor, the same man who started the makeup line of the same name. He started out creating the makeup looks seen in movies because he was a makeup artist working in the film industry. he began releasing eye shadows to eyebrow pencils in 1916 so women could experiment. This was the first time, women had access to makeup outside of the film industry so they could recreate the looks they saw. He continued releasing makeup so soon women had access to everything from foundation to mascara and more because he believed that any woman could achieve the looks he created for films if they had the correct tools and he did.
The last person I’m looking at who was an influencer was Coco Chanel. She knew women and created fashion to be worn by them. In the process of producing clothing that stayed in fashion, she created one of the first :”brands”. If you say you are wearing a Chanel, a picture pops into your mind because her name is connected to her style. She started trends such as “The little black dress” and two toned shoes.
So from early times on, there have been people who created their own brands, marketed them, created a following, and influenced the world around them. For many, their influence is still being felt even today. They were some of the early influencers who made their mark long before the invention of social media. Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear. Have a great weekend.
