To think people looked and felt better back in the old days vs now?

[wildernesswild]

Currently watching videos of Olivia Newton-John (rest in peace ) and I always notice people born years and years ago, maybe in the 60s/70s/80s look amazing then and now, no fakeness, I'm always told by my grandparents nobody really back in the day was majorly obese or had any mental health issues. Even the men groomed themselves and dressed amazingly.

What do we think contributes to our issues these days? Is it social media, processed food, unrealistic standards? I'd love to hear everyone's opinion

Mental health issues were hidden away. Our first flat was just outside St Albans. We had a large asylum on the outskirts of the village. I drove to Borehamwood and on that one short road there were 3 asylums, all closed now. We have a friend who was a carer for a 65 year old man who was put into an asylum by his family when he was a teenager as he was epileptic. When he came out he was totally institutionalised and couldn't do anything for himself.

Less fat maybe but not necessarily more healthy, smoking and drinking all the time including pregnancy
Looks wise slimmer for sure and no dodgy lip fillers etc but then it went to the heroin chick look which was awful

I was born in the 1960s and can assure you that many people looked rough as arses and there was no shortage of mental health problems!

What?! No mental health problems? They’ve just materialised in the last few years? They’ve run in my family for generations. People just used euphemisms to speak about it (if it had to be spoken about, usually it was brushed under the carpet) because it was considered shameful and there was such a stigma attached. It’s just people are open about it now so it feels more prevalent.

Don't be silly!

I thought we'd got over equating thinness to goodness, or being better 🙄

People did generally look better then. I was, however, a fat mental case in the 70s.
And still.am!

Wr I think you need to look at the average person and not an exception. Watch old re runs of Bullseye and guess the contestants ages before you hear them- you’ll be flabbergasted. People look a lot older and unhealthy. The same with old pictures of footballers. There’s also tons of stuff on Reddit and Pinterest about how people look younger now than ever (without intervention)- not sure which version of the world you’re living in!!

I can remember the 80s and I can absolutely assure you people did not look better than now. In the average UK town skin was spottier, teeth were wonkier, glasses were seem much more often than contacts and they were often Very Thick, make up was often garish, a subtle foundation was a very rare beast, clothes were poorly cut, the hair was so bad I’ve mostly blocked it out, but greasy fridges and frizzy perms were common sights. And I lived in a posh bit of the UK.

Overall, we all look a lot glossier than we did, believe me. We are fatter though, that bit is true.

This is just false. People were less healthy then than they are now. Mental health just wasn't considered, so you don't have accurate statistics for things like depression, anxiety, etc. Things like ADHD etc? The child would just be considered a menace and disciplined too harshly. I guess gay people just like depressed and obese people didn't really exist either O.O
POC? They must have had it great back then too. Must have been an awesome time to be black.

so so many things that were considered healthy and normal back in the "good old days" we just know are terrible for you now. Just because people weren't exposed to it as much due to absence of the Internet doesn't mean it didn't exist, and yeah, they didn't put fat and ugly people on TV.

Deffo slimmer as everyone walked everywhere less cars around a size 16 was classed as big in the 80s.

Clothes are a big thing. My grandmother (and other female relatives) would buy a new outfit very rarely. They would have it properly made to measure (at the Co-op!). Quality fabric and careful workmanship. That would be their Sunday best. They might have two frocks to wear during the week. One pair of sturdy every day shoes, one pair of smart shoes, one handbag and a variety of hats (they wouldn’t leave the house without wearing a hat.) My grandfather had a Sunday suit and his weekday clothes were his old Sunday suits (except for the clothes he wore down the mine). He also always wore a hat when going out. Neither of my grandparents would have been seen dead in the tat we all wear these days.

They weren’t posh. They were very poor, but they were smart.

People just looked more natural then and not like clones. Celebrity culture has a lot to answer for, plus fake eyebrows, fake tits, fake everything 🤣

The 80s fashions were awful as well. Garish colours, big hair, shoulder pads, white court shoes worn with tights....

Some of us were Goths or Smiths fans. Black, black, Levi’s and Dr Martens. No one l knew wore white court shoes or shoulder pads.

I think people look much healthier much better skin, hair and teeth

but far more are over weight now

the panstick makeup of the 60’s was horrible

There are so many really good good looking young people now they look so healthy

And many suffered in silence

they had no choice but to just get on with things and were utterly miserable

Has anyone mentioned false teeth yet? When I was a child a lot of adults had full sets of dentures.

Shoulder pads were quite common in work blouses. There was a point where it was hard to buy a work blouse without shoulder pads. But white court shoes were the equivalent of long false eyelashes or long false nails - some people loved them and others hated them back then.
You are forgetting punks - outside London still big in the eighties, goths, the rude boys and ska girls, the teenage boys with long hair wearing heavy metal t shirts, the new romantics. Fashion seemed pretty diverse for young people.

And you’re basing that on videos of the time?🤔

Your grandparents (like many of us) probably have selective memories! Unfortunately, mental health issues have always existed, but they haven’t been recognised or have been ignored.

There was also obesity, acne and all the other health concerns which may have made us look less ‘healthy’ than the celebrities in videos.

I look at my old school class photos and agree. I am especially amazed when I look at what we thought were the best-looking girls and boys. They are attractive, but they still have poor haircuts and ordinary clothes.
But I do agree people looked more natural then.

I showed my kids my 90’s year 11 photo and they piss themselves laughing because apparently every child looks about 35 years old. They are not wrong 😂 but in my brain some of those kids were so cool looking and sophisticated at the time

A good thread about people from many years ago who looked much older than they are www.boredpanda.com/past-young-people-look-older/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Agree - less obesity, processed food. I agree with the comments about tattoos. A small tattoo is okay but a visible, large one just looks horrid. Why would you want pictures all over your skin?

I think fashions are far more varied now

look at the late 60’s even old ladies were often wearing shortish skirts, many women had horrible bouffant hair

in the 70’s many were wearing horribly nylon clothes in orange and brown then in the 80’s satin and huge shoulder pads (I have a picture of my nanny, mum and aunt they can’t stand close together because of their shoulder pads)

cheap looking makeup, poor quality hair products (serum changed everything for me) rubbish fake tan (didn’t stop us using it)

Agree I hate them. They’re an eyesore, it’s like that mindless graffiti versus decent murals.

I have none and never will as an act of rebellion. Tattoos used to be daring - ditto piercings…I fought with my parents to hand multiple ear piercings in the 90s. I ended up doing it myself. Now they’re so ordinary🙄 basic people get them now.