This "100 Years of Beauty" Video Celebrates Two Sides of Puerto Rican Heritage
We're more than a little obsessed with the "100 Years of..." video series: From turn-of-the-century Brazil to modern-day Ethiopia, it takes viewers on a time-traveling global journey that explains culture by way of beauty and fashion. One of the studios behind the videos, WatchCut, has shaken it up a bit with decade-by-decade rundown of Puerto Rican beauty looks since 1910 in both Puerto Rico and New York—an intentional comparison orchestrated by Christopher Chan, WatchCut’s visual anthropologist.
Nicole Adlman
This "100 Years of Beauty" Video Celebrates Two Sides of Puerto Rican Heritage
"By putting two histories together side-by-side, we see how complexly they are entangled," Chan explained toBuzzFeed. "We see how migrants to New York bring with them the spirit of the island, but also how styles that emerge in Harlem or the Bronx also recirculate back ‘home’ to Puerto Rico. It’s time to start complicating the idea that one people come from one place, when many of us in the diaspora feel like we always float between two."
True to form, even though the video takes place in two different places and over a century, it's uncanny to see just how much the trends are echoed today: The gold band-adorned top knot and slicked baby hairs of the former decade still informs Puerto Rican style today—you can often see Jennifer Lopez rocking it. The star, who comes from Puerto Rican parents but was born in the Bronx, is given a tribute in the video's final shot, when the go-to look for women in 2010 New York is revealed to be a glam baseball cap and sleek waves look inspired by her "Same Girl" music video.
You can visit WatchCut's "100 Years of Beauty" Pinterest board for behind-the-scenes photos and details for each look in the shoot (we're already getting some summer inspiration).
Nicole Adlman
This "100 Years of Beauty" Video Celebrates Two Sides of Puerto Rican Heritage
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