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Beauty standards were also shockingly different,reflecting the turbulence of the era.
Here are some of the most surprising things that men found attractive 50 years ago.
In spite of the reforms made in the 1960s, racial prejudice was still prevalent.
By the 1960s, the Miss America Pageantstill didn’t allow African-American contestants.
Things are a little better today, but there is still discrimination against those with darker skin.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, voluptuous women like Marilyn Monroe were cultural icons.
As time went on, “models became thinner and thinner,” wrote Grogan.
Flat chests
As models became thinner, curves became less desirable.
It was in the late 1960s when the obsession with eliminating cellulite began.
The desire to be thin led to a preoccupation with weight, especially among younger girls.
“Before the 1920s, teenagers worried about becoming better people,” wrote Przybyszewski.
By the 1960s, however, “weight loss became the primary obsession.”
Such regimens were typical in the late 1960s.
The miniskirt came into vogue as “bare legs… developed through various conceptual stages in the 1960s.”
As hemlines rose, more attention was paid to the length and shape of a woman’s legs.
Androgyny
Coinciding with the preference for more boyish figures wasthe rise of unisex clothingand androgynous styles.
Lithe, young-looking Lolita types like Twiggy dominated the fashion world.
The “Lolita look” embodied the spirit of the era, representing youth and vigor.
Going braless
The rebellion against traditional gender norms was also evidenced in women’s undergarments.
His sheer designs were always modeled by women who wore no undergarments beneath them.
Long, straight hair
The time period was noted for a departure from formality and tradition.
Many men also wore their hair long at this time.
The changing hairstyles weren’t just about following fashion.
Some states still banned women from serving on juries.
Columbia didn’t offer admission to women until 1981.
“People think of the woman drunk as an old hag,” warned theSaturday Evening Postin 1962.
No one ever said approvingly, ‘She was drunk as a lady.'"
That sentiment still remained true by the end of the decade.
While a link between smoking and lung cancer had been established years before, the practice was still widespread.
In spite of such warnings, smoking was largely considered to beglamorous and sophisticated.
Unemployment
By the late 1960s,more women were working than ever.
While they were making great economic strides, working women faced a certain stigma.
Working wives and mothers were thought to destabilize home life and their families.
By the mid 1960s, a new trend was emerging: leg makeup.
Women would carefully apply makeup to their legs to cover up blemishes before putting on hosiery.
Bruises, scars, and other imperfections were covered up with cosmetics, and then further concealed with stockings.
The use of leg makeup shows just how conflicted women in this era were.
Athletics were viewed as a way for women to maintain “attractive” figures.
Many of the most admired women of the era like Farrah Fawcett rocked blonde strands, observedGlamour.
Women looking to imitate Fawcett’s lusted-after locks weren’t the only ones to adopt this hairstyle, though.
Many men also wore feathered hairstyles in an example ofthe androgynous lookthat was considered particularly attractive in that era.
A fresh face was also considered to be particularly appealing, notedThe Art of Makeup.
In the 1960s, silicone was briefly used as a lip filler but wasn’t entirely safe, notedDazed.
By the 1970s, silicone was out and some doctors instead used bovine collagen to give people larger lips.
That’s because thin eyebrows were very much in back then.
Thin eyebrows weren’t just a beauty standard 50 years ago, though.
read one ad from the time.
While womencouldenter other fields, very few did.
This was largely because women were still expected to focus on raising a family.
Women who prioritized a career, then, often did not appeal to traditional-minded men.
