Business -- 10 days ago
17 vintage photos that will show you why we used to be so much cooler
Words: Charlie Gardiner-Hill
These photos show how the world wasn’t always obsessed by extroverts, exhibitionism and superficial grins. Take a few lessons from these classically cool and sartorially styled men, women and children, who dressed like they meant it.
THE WOMEN
Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 film ‘Two for the Road’, reminding us of a time when not all smiles were fake and not all photos were posed.
Natalie Wood giving a masterclass in how to be irresistible without posing naked on a silk sheet (we’re looking at you, Kim).
This is Bettie Page in the 1950s, proving that Victoria’s Secret models aren’t a modern phenomenon.
Here’s Brigitte Bardot in 1950, when you didn’t need to twerk to get some attention.
Mia Farrow shot in London in the 1960s, before having short hair started a media frenzy over whether a woman was a lesbian.
This is Grace Kelly, when wearing pearl earrings was the height of elegance, not a sign of ageing.
Two women at a fashion show in Tehran, the capital of a secular and peaceful country.
Grace Kelly shot in Monaco in 1962, when it was actually cool to be a mysterious girl.
THE MEN
Here’s prolific Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, teaching us a lesson about Japanese attention to detail in style.
Here are three men in Jamaica in the 1950s to remind you that style is about how you wear it, not what you’re wearing.
This is Cary Grant in the 1950s, making us miss hats.
A couple dancing in a be-bop cellar in Paris, in 1951. When all men could dance, or they wouldn’t get a date.
A group of Irish farmers at a pub in 1963, when ties were to keep out the cold, not just for work.
A group of kids in Chicago in 1941, proving that you’re never too young to be a gentleman.
A Vogue shoot in 1952, when watches never came off and were a statement of taste, not wealth.
Roy Halston Frowick in 1960, defining cool.
Paul Newman photographed in Venice in 1963. Need we say anymore.
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