vintage

Picture the scene: you're strolling down the street minding your own business, when you stumble across a book, lying there deserted on the curb. Curious, you bend down and pick it up, and it ends up being one of the weirdest but most brilliantly hilarious books you've ever had the pleasure of reading. And to think that someone knowingly threw it out. Madness! This exact scenario happened to Alina Pleskova when she came across Asher Jane's "Fancy Dress" book from 1986 lying on the curb when out for a walk.

The holiday season is a time when families come together to eat, argue, and remind you why you moved away in the first place. Part of the holiday fun nightmare is being forced to take some awkward photos in front of the Christmas tree that no one will ever look at again. Unless, of course, they are so uncomfortable and disturbing that they end up on the internet years later, like these creepily awkward photos.

Being a bridesmaid is a big honor. Wearing a hideous bridesmaid dress is not. These ugly vintage bridesmaid dresses prove two things: that these brides have awful taste, and I feel sorry for the poor bridesmaids who had to wear these monstrosities.

Full gender equality might still not be where it needs to be, but we've certainly come a long way over the past half a century. Travel back just 50 or-so-years-ago, and the world was not an easy place to be a woman. Where assisting men to become great achievers was their highest accolade, women didn't have much hope for being taken seriously. With companies insulting and belittling women as marketing strategies to sell their products, it was indeed a man's world.

These vintage ads give us an idea of just how little empowerment, rights, or power women had back in the day. Check out the horrors below.

Given what a sh*t show 2020 has been, we're hopeful that 2021 will be somewhat better. Seriously, nothing can be worse than 2020 (right?!), but just in case, the latest Anne Taintor calendar will brighten up your year. Filled with retro pictures of women, it has a sarcastic and quippy twist. Its hilarious and dark humor makes it the only calendar you need for 2021. If it hits your funny bone, you can find it on Amazon.

Remember when you were a little kid, and your mom forced you and your siblings to wear matching, scratchy, ugly outfits? The shame, the embarrassment, and the discomfort you endured, all so that your mom could get some great family pics? Well, we took a look back at some 1970s fashion ads, and the outfits look precisely like the scenario we just described. A mixture of tartan, plaid, high-waisted belts, and stuffy cotton looking numbers, the 1970s isn't a time we want to revisit when it comes to vintage fashion. Check out some of these ridiculous matching outfits from 70s fashion ads, and be grateful that your mom was the only one forcing you to match, and not the catwalks.

I think it's safe to say that the concept of beauty pageants is somewhat outdated, at least in their original format of judging and ranking contestants' physical attributes only. But nestled among the beauty pageants of old are the lesser-known vintage food-themed contests, which saw women's beauty celebrated alongside various produce. From Miss Idaho Potato, 1935 to Donut Queen, 1951, here is the only beauty pageant I will endorse. Mixing food with fashion is something I will always support, and celebrating food, in general, is a worthy endeavor. So scroll through these bizarre pictures of the food industry's beauty queens and be as baffled but amazed as I am at their splendor.

The concept of pin-up girls — idealized painting or drawing of the female form designed for public display — was one of the key elements of 20th Century Americana. Most people are familiar with vintage images of women in bikinis or other skimpy clothing in various provocative poses, but few have been acquainted with these photoshopped versions. Welcome to the pin-up girls with a twist. And by twist, we mean with Robert Downey Jr.'s face. Yes, that's right, someone out there has spent time photoshopping his face onto classic pin-up girl's bodies, and we're not mad about it. We can only assume he would be if he saw them. Scroll through for some strange but funny eye-candy.

Back in the day, rock stars were demi-gods. Every guy wanted to be one; every girl wanted to be with one. And although fashion was somewhat different back then — and by that, we mean when men were somewhat effeminate and very tight clothing — the spotlight was always on them. Sometimes, quite literally. So, when the world is staring at your crotch, there's only one thing to do; shove some socks down there (unless you're born naturally endowed if you know what I mean). Enjoy these pictures of rockstars from the '60s and '70s wearing extremely tight pants and showing off their extremely large bulges. Whose is natural, and whose is a DIY job? What a fun game to play!

Fashion changes over time; this is a universally acknowledged fact. And while some things come back into fashion a decade or two later, some fads are best forgotten and need to be buried deep in the fashion archives. Men's short shorts are one of those things, as proved by these vintage pictures from the 70s. Put the thighs away, gentleman. Thank you very much.

Purchasing home appliances is an investment. Some may be more significant investments than others, but whatever you buy, you hope it will last a good few years. And yet, despite having newer technology now than back in the day, it turns out that the durability of some vintage appliances isn't all that bad! People from the internet shared pictures of vintage appliances in their families that are still working after all this time, and it's quite remarkable! Check them out below.

Fashion provides an opportunity for people to express their individual style and personality. But more than that, it also allows you to live vicariously through other characters, by dressing as they would. Dressing up is an outlet and means to imagine what you'd look like as another person or character and that's exactly what Danielle & Nicole, British twin sisters do on their Instagram account. Using vintage clothing, they recreate famous animated characters from movies or our favorite pop icons with beautiful results. Check out some of their amazing clothing creations below. Which is your favorite? 

Have you ever wondered how Twitter, iPod, youtube, and other technology tools and platforms would be represented if they were created in the 1960s? Via: Design Crowd

Artist Anne Taintor is behind this brilliant 2020 calendar which you really need on your wall. 

Women's suffrage, the legal right of women to vote. Women's suffrage first began in 1848, when a women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. 

And from the moment the word spread, the men dramatically feared the worst... stepping into their wives shoes. 

Must have been so awful being a housewife. Considering all the men who created these illustrations displaying their worst nightmare, becoming the housewife themselves. Oh, the absolute horror. 

Thank you Twitter user, @RabbitThoughts, for bringing these...interesting stamps back into the limelight. 

We're really torn on how we feel about these vintage Christmas stamps from the 1800s.

On one hand, they're super strange and just the weirdest...

But on the other hand, they're amazing and hilarious and we have this urge to go out into the world and collect these stamps. 

One thing we do know for sure, we're in love with that one abominable snowman/ Snow-covered Cousin It, from the Addams Family.

How do you feel about them?