I think women look better these days. It may be the easier living.
1923:
1925:
1925:
1929:
1957:
(OK, not exactly modern times yet, but what an improvement already. One would almost think WWII did some good.)Update:
"June 17, 1922. Iola Swinnerton and Anna Neibel, winners of a beauty contest at Washington's Tidal Bathing Beach."
15 comments:
You know there are a couple of good looking girls in the older photos. The line of dancers, there is a very cute smile, then looking closer the girl to the (our) left of the smile in the light gingham dress has a very pleasing face, and a terrible permanent wave. As for the typing pool, two look tired and hagarred, the other two, one would benefit from a second flash or reflector to soften the nose, and something other than the silly cowlick hair plastered to her forehead. The last girl in the typing pool shows that you have a skewed sample, there were lookers out there, just badly clothed and badly lit.
Yeah, but the first three pictures were of professional stage people, and professionally photographed.
I've no idea how representative this is, and it's not really important, it just struck me looking at the "pretty girls" pages on shorpys, how many weren't.
This seems to be kind of the opposite to the guys, who get less manly with each passing decade.
"Soon there won't be any men or women, just wankers..."
To paraphrase Rentboy from "Trainspotting", a sentiment that H.G. Wells originally put forward in "The Time Machine".
And if you ever go to Butlins (if they still exist) or the Costa Del Pissup, or a liner cruise you will know that resorts have weekly if not daily "Miss Bathing Suit", "Miss Wet T Shirt", "Miss Damp Blouse", "Miss Et Cetera" contests.
Sorry, I don't believe beauty became widespread circa 1940.
No, I would think more like 1937 or '38.
I wish John Collier were a photographer, then we'd have photographic evidence of beauty in the 1880's, rather then his painted interpretations.
"One would almost think WWII did some good."
When it comes to the condition of American women, it sure did change a lot. Prior to WWII, women working outside the family circle were a rarity, relatively speaking. Sure, there were some traditionally feminine areas: secretaries, nurses, etc., but they didn't account for much in terms of numbers.
Then came the war and, almost overnight, women of all conditions & origins ended up holding jobs in every area of the industry, and in some cases, even positions of great responsibility. All in support of the war effort. After all, someone had to keep the machine going while the men were sent away.
This was a life-changing experience for many of those women, but more importantly, the public's perception of a working gal was changed forever. Sure, after the war was over, many (mostly men) would have liked things to go back to the way they were, but it was too late... women had become persons in the workplace, almost like men. To think that, 60+ years later, they are still struggling to get equal wages is mind-boggling.
This seems to be kind of the opposite to the guys, who get less manly with each passing decade.
That's seems to be the case. Where are today's Marlboro Men? The chicks are getting hotter but guys are getting wimpier.
Good for us.
The Marlboro man died from lung cancer.
The Marlboro Man can never die, only the actors who play him.
...The smoking had nothing to do with his manliness anyway, they just used the idea of this uber-manly guy to sell a kind of cigarette that men weren't buying.
Nowadays he's been retired, as has Joe Camel.
Use anyone you like. Maybe we should all be more like this guy.
Healthy is beautiful, I always say. That's why women got better, literally.
And both world wars DID have a positive effect. Women left back home to run the country got the chance to prove they could do it just as well as men. (Some say "better even".) Greatly helped the equal rights cause.
These early century women are, essentially, direly unhealthy. Always cooped up, never saw the sun or got any physical exercise apart from house chores...
Plus, taking care of your hair, face, body... was probably very frowned upon for "moral reasons" in the middle and lower classes.
Bert amazed...
"To think that, 60+ years later, they are still struggling to get equal wages is mind-boggling."
Ah, yes, well, that's precisely the downside of the process. Women proved their worth in wartime, but also that they would work for wartime wages. How capitalistically convenient. :-(
"So hot I'm smoking" Joe Dick said...
"The smoking had nothing to do with his manliness anyway"
Right. They sell some cheap dream of manliness (eventually some overpriced dream) to the average virility-insecure smoker. Whom, in Lebanon at least, is obese, bald, unkempt, a sorry-ass loser, and basically repulsive. But you should see how they behave the second they see a young woman! As if they were Eros' gift to them!
UGH!
It's funny how much more attractive those guys become to that same young woman when that young women finds out they have money.
The young woman on the far right of the "secretaries" could actually pass for a woman today, minus the clothes, that is. I don't know what it is: her makeup or her hair, but she just looks "normal." It's nice to see, as one has a difficult time trying to connect with the people in these photos. On a different subject, the photo of the "adolescent girls" ... didn't people bathe in the old days?
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