While it is true that people across cultures tend to admire symmetrical features, standards of beauty do vary from one culture and one time period to another. For example, each of the following were considered beautiful at a certain time and place, but would not be considered so today: During the Elizabethan era in England, women thought that high foreheads were beautiful. So they plucked inches of their front hair to achieve this look. Also during the Elizabethan era, women brushed egg whites over their faces in order to have a glazed look. In ancient China, the belief that it was desirable for women to have tiny feet led to foot binding From the 14th to 19th centuries in Europe, women would bind their waists with corsets to make them look tiny. The corsets were so tight that often women could not breathe properly and sometimes fainted. Another example of how the concept of beauty changes with time is the way attitudes toward weight have changed through the ages. In Europe between 1500 and 1900, a plump figure was considered very attractive for both men and women. Famine was widespread, so full figures represented health and wealth. During that period, it was common for women to pad their hips, arms, and thighs in order to look heavier In the 1900s, fears of food shortages started to diminish, and with it, so did women's A new ideal began to waistline emerge: Thin was in Of course, this trend has to today. Because there is an overwhelming amount of fattening food available in most developed countries, it is now considered more to be thin.