Pictures of Models From Pre-Revolution Iran Show Stark Contrast to Today’s Oppressive Atmosphere

16 Dec, 2015 by Greg Campbell

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Iran is a despotic place that is remarkably oppressive. However, it was not always that way. Prior to the Iranian revolution, Iran was modernized and more in-line with the Western world and modern culture. Rebelling against these ways, Islamic fundamentalists took over Iran in 1979 and it has been a repressive regime ever since. These photos, however, offer a glimpse into what Iran used to be.

Glamorous shots of models in Iranian fashion magazines from the 1970s show just how different life – and fashion – was like before the Revolution.

In a series of pictures taken for magazines and catalogues and posted on photo-sharing siteBoredPanda.com, models smile into the camera, twirl their hair and showcase bare legs, arms and hair – all of which must be covered up today.

The images show a Western-orientated aesthetic, and reveal women’s freedom up until 1979 when the Islamic Revolution took place.

Women in Iran now cover their hair, arms and necks when they appear in public although they can dress as they like in their home.

The images dating from more than 36 years ago and beyond featuring models showing a startling amount of skin, particularly compared with the modesty that is expected of Iranian women today.

In the shoots, women show off eye-wateringly low-cut tops, including one shot featuring a beauty in a white tank top and short shorts, posing next to a footballer as they crouch in the snow.

Many outfits follow Western styles from the time and reflect trends including the vogue for long, straight hair worn by actresses such as Ali McGraw as well as Sixties cocktail dresses with scoop necks and nipped-in waists.

While the glamorous make-up used had the models showing off heavily kohled eyes, thick mascara and lipstick, they add an Iranian twist to the traditional old Hollywood look.

Women’s hair was also as varied as in the pages of US or UK fashion magazines with models sporting perms, wavy bobs, long straight locks or glossy curls.

Today, women in Iran – even foreigners – are required to cover their hair and neck with a scarf.

Since the mid-1990s, there has been a gradual relaxation of the dress code despite continued campaigns by police to enforce it, but society has yet to revive the practice of showing off fashionable looks and the latest haircut, as seen in these pictures, on the country’s streets.

The below photos show a kind of beauty that could never be tolerated in the oppressive regime of today. As liberals rant and rave about a fictitious war on women at home, they simultaneously crusade for the Iran deal which would lift economic sanctions and strengthen the economy of the despotic Iranian regime and their continued oppression of women.