While the most popular nail shapes and polish colors have evolved a lot over the years, a flawless manicure has always been an instant confidence booster and the quickest way to tie a look together. Whether you paint your nails yourself, hit the salon for acrylics or gels or just spend hours scrolling through nail artists’ Instagram pages, the options for creative manicures are endless. We took a look back at the century’s hottest nail trends, from the classic red ovals customary for ‘50s movie starlets to the ornamental acrylics spotted on rapper Cardi B. Getty Images 
In the roaring ‘20s, the “moon manicure” reigned supreme. Women only painted the middles of their nails, and left the tips and bases bare. This created two half-moon shapes. The most popular color choice was a deep, vampy red, as seen here on actress Clara Bow. The best features of this elegant style? It was resourceful (women only had to use about two stripes of nail polish) and nail growth enhanced the look instead of making it appear messy. Getty Images 
Women in the ‘20s also favored natural nails with a gleaming topcoat, à la actress Louise Brooks. The preferred shape was long and oval or almond to elongate the fingers, with well-kept cuticles courtesy of Cutex, the first cuticle remover on the market. Cutex promised women almond nails and snowy tips that make fingers slender.” The brand later released the first liquid nail polish, which was marketed as “an affordable luxury” and “an excusable indulgence” to retain customers during the Great Depression. Getty Images 
In the 1930s, women like actress Carole Lombard embraced matching their manicures to their lipstick shades. This was made foolproof when Cutex released corresponding lipstick colors for each of their polishes. There was Ruby, a rich, blue-based red; Cardinal, a fiery red-orange; Coral, a sweet orangey pink and Natural, a subdued rose. In advertisements, Cutex equated matching lipstick and nail polish with intelligence and sophistication, using slogans such as “Smart New Yorkers are Matching”. Getty Images 
The same decade brought the height of the Great Depression and with it, a surge of women in the workforce. The most popular fields for female employees were in the nursing, clerical and domestic sectors. Women also worked long hours sewing in factories. The jobs were necessary and unglamorous, which prompted many women to keep their nails short and bare. So while actress Katharine Hepburn’s andogynous fashion sense was discouraged (her blue jeans were once confiscated from her dressing room when she was filming with RKO Pictures), her natural nails fit with the times. Getty Images 
In the 1940s, beauty and patriotism were so closely intertwined, makeup artist Elizabeth Arden created a cosmetics kit specifically for women in the military. The kit included a bright red lipstick in a shade called “Montezuma Red,” which matched the vibrant piping on the women’s uniforms, as well as a corresponding blush and nail polish. Later, Arden publicly released a rich shade called “Victory Red,” similar to the color Rita Hayworth wore here on her lips and nails. Getty Images 
During World War II, over six million women joined the workforce. The greatest spike took place in the aviation industry, with women piloting military aircraft and building planes in factories. But of course, they weren’t just expected to work hard—they had to look good while doing it. Long almond-shaped nails and matching scarlet lips, as seen here on actress Lucille Ball, became the working woman’s go-to. Getty Images 
Red oval-shaped nails were still popular in the 1950s, as evidenced by Marilyn Monroe’s bold manicure, but the marketing took a turn. Instead of appealing to women’s patriotic spirit, nail polish companies doubled down on the sex appeal of a bright red manicure. A Cutex ad for “Hot Strawberry” nail polish featured the tagline, “You’ll love it…he’ll love it. Never before a look so fresh, so pretty!” An ad for another shade, called “Cute Tomata,” cautioned, “Warning to bachelors!” Getty Images 
On the other end of the spectrum, beauties like Grace Kelly embraced barely there blushes and nude shades on oval nails. As a royal, Grace had to wear more conservative hair and makeup than the blonde bombshells of her time. This meant her manicure wasn’t always visible—the actress and Princess of Monaco donned elbow-length gloves for formal events. Getty Images 
In the ‘60s, the fitted clothing silhouettes of the past decade started to loosen up. To complement the relaxed, colorful styles, women embraced well-kept natural nails. The emphasis was on the makeup. Thick eyeliner and pale nude lips brought the drama. Even glamazons like Diana Ross of The Supremes often performed with her nails bare. She didn’t need a manicure to compete with her exaggerated cat-eye, or that stunning cuff and hand chain. Getty Images 
Metallic nails were all the rage in the ‘60s. A sheer coat of opalescent polish on Twiggy’s nails glowed against her sequined Gene Shelly for Boutique International jumpsuit in this Vogue 1967 spread. The slogan in this Cutex ad for the company’s shimmery polishes read, “Reflect a little gentleness,” a nod to the decade’s peace-loving hippie movement. The ad promised “soft and swirly colors, with blue and green running through” in their Opalline collection. Getty Images 
The ‘70s saw lots of square-shaped nails, a departure from the rounded corners and pointed tips of past decades. Disco legend Donna Summer wore hers ultra-long and painted fire engine red. Polishes came in more colors than ever, like the icy blues and shimmering greens in this Rimmel ad, and Dior married the new squared-off and boldly colored trends in this ad for a range of sheer technicolor hues. Getty Images 
The French manicure was born in this decade, thanks to Jeff Pink, the creator behind nail polish brand Orly. According to WWD, Pink created the white tip and baby pink nail base look to aid manicurists who scrambled to repaint actresses’ nails for every costume change in a film. The neutral style looked right at home next to Cher’s sparkling red and gold leotard. Getty Images 
Tina Turner’s sizzling metallic red manicure was right on-trend during the decade of excess. The high-shine metallic colors of the ‘80s were reminiscent of the polishes popular in the ‘60s, only this time, opalescent pastels were swapped for bold shades of red, purple and pink. Long nails were coveted, as seen in this dramatic ad for Sally Hansen’s nail growth treatment. Getty Images 
Anyone who doubted Florence Griffith-Joyner (better known as Flo-Jo)’s ability to crush the competition while wearing her signature inch-long nails was quickly proven wrong at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. That year, Flo-Jo broke a world record for the 100-meter sprint and took home three gold and one silver medal for the 100, 200, and 4×1000-meter relay race—all while wearing long, curved acrylics hand painted red, white, blue and gold. She even added sequin and rhinestone details for extra glam. Getty Images 
In the ‘90s, the introduction of grunge popularized nail polish in shades of deep plum, navy blue and black. Popstar Gwen Stefani wore inky polish on short, natural nails. Two days before Chanel’s fall/winter runway show in 1994, makeup artist Heidi Morowetz mixed up a blackened-red polish shade called “Vamp,” which she told Interview magazine was inspired by a black-and-white photograph. The day the polish was released in the U.S., throngs of women lined up around the block outside Barneys New York, and in the U.K., the color sold out the day it hit shelves. Women joined waiting lists six to 12 months long to snag the shade. You can still buy the polish on Chanel’s website under its French name, “Rouge Noir.” Getty Images 
Female rappers and hip-hop artists popularized long, decorative acrylics. Compared to some stars, Lil’ Kim’s bejeweled French manicure is relatively tame. Coko from the girl group SWV regularly sported acrylics at least two inches in length and painted bright, spiraling patterns. Missy Elliott was also a fan of razor-sharp acrylics and bold nail art. In her 1999 music video for “She’s a B**ch”, her long acrylics were filed into perfect squares and painted jet-black. Getty Images 
In the early 2000s, the French manicure came back in a big way. This time, the style was worn in a square shape, with a chunky white tip and the original shell-pink base. Unlike the ‘70s iterations, the French tips of the early aughts weren’t intended to look natural or blend in with a star’s outfit. Pamela Anderson wore her acrylics long and shiny—the perfect match for her frosty nude lips and bleach-blonde hair. Getty Images 
The black nail polish made popular in the ‘90s reemerged in the 2000s. It was a quick, easy way for stars like Avril Lavigne to add an edge to their look. (Heavy eyeliner and pink streaks helped with that too.) In 2000, OPI released their fall/winter “New York City” collection, which offered a softer alternative to harsh black polish. The lineup included sultry berries, muted mauves and deep reds, including Big Apple Red, which remains one of the brand’s bestselling colors today. Getty Images 
Beyoncé wore a holographic manicure to the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, which could be achieved using press-on foil nail wraps. In 2014, Sally Hansen released their Color Foil collection, a line of liquid polishes so blindingly shiny they left a foil effect on the nails. The polish came in standard metallic gold, silver and bronze, plus sparkling pinks and blues. Floss Gloss also released several holographic polishes chock-full of rainbow glitter. Getty Images 
This was the decade of Insta-worthy nail art. Cardi B was (and still is) the queen of super long, elaborate acrylics. Her Bronx, New York-based nail tech, Jenny Bui, boasts a whopping 947,000 followers on Instagram. She was voted the 2019 Nail Artist of the Year by the American Influencer Awards. Bui’s clients leave with two-inch talons studded in Swarovski crystals and fun designs encapsulated in clear acrylic. Her intricate designs can take as long as three hours and one YouTuber’s blinged-out set ran her $700. Getty Images
How Celebrities of the Past Century Wore the Hottest Nail Trends
From “moon manicures” in the 1920s to classic French tips in the early ‘00s.
