As this excellent post on the (sadly, apparently now defunct) Art Deco blog The Painted Woman points out, "In the early-mid '30s, women usually only painted the center of the nail, leaving the half-moon cuticle and tips bare with the underside tinted with a nail-white pencil or cream." It's the "moon manicure": like a French manicure in reverse, in a bold color, without all the Jersey Shore associations of a pink-and-white French. (Yes, I will silently judge your tacky manicure. Bite me.)
What polish colors were popular in the '30s, you ask? According to the Painted Woman, "All reds — from rosy to deep crimson — were popular, of course. But it isn't true that 'they' didn't wear pink in the 30s. Pinks were very much seen, as were nice peachy-browns and tawny colors that looked nice with suntans (the concept of changing one's make-up according to the season was not unknown to 30s women). Cutex color choices in 1932 were Natural, Rose, Coral, Cardinal, and Colorless. Revlon colors introduced for the summer of 1935 included 'Sun Rose' and 'Chestnut.' Cutex named the 'smartest colors' for 1936 as Rose, Ruby, and Rust...wild colors such as green, blue, black, and gold were indeed available."
Источник: Jezebel
