False eyelashes might not be for everyone but they are essential to the fashion and beauty world. Models wear them on runways while celebrities sport them on red carpets – but how did they originate in the first place?

Legend has it that it all began in 1916 when film director D. W. Griffith scrutinized actress Seena Owen on the set of his film “Intolerance” and knew that something was missing. Her eyes needed to somehow be enlarged and made to look “supernatural”. After putting some thought into it, Griffith went to see his wig-maker and asked him to create eyelash extensions made of human hair to be glued onto Owen’s eyelids. Since gluing things onto someone’s eyes wasn’t customary back in the day, it did do some damage.

Actress Lillian Gish, who was also in the movie, wrote in her memoir that “one morning [Owen] arrived at the studio with her eyes swollen nearly shut. Fortunately, Mr. Griffith had already shot the important scenes.”  And fortunately for us, false eyelashes have come a long way since then.

Leonore Dicker