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

There were definitely mental health issues. And you're comparing apples and oranges. A pretty,fit ,successful actress does not the rest of the population make. Just like the specific pictures or videos in their Sunday best, or at events etc.

In the real world , while people were indeed skinnier, you would find just as many unattractive,unkempt, aged by life and hardship, drink/smoke too much, poverty ridden looks like you do today.

Pressed post to soon. And the polished looks came at a cost of faffing and time . Yes they might've looked great,but I omen in particular spent a lot of time to achieve the look, not to mention some of the uncomfortable,tailored ,fussy dresses and mandatory heels.

Have you seen some of the fashion from the 70s? Christ, it was horrendous.

We were slimmer because there were few takeaways and no TV dinners. Processed food amounted to fishfingers.😀And we all walked more.

Healthier - not sure. Lots of smoking, too much salt, saturated fat. And I remember being cold for half the year. Living standards were lower.

People were a lot less glossy in the 80s and 90s. I like that if you were talented you could be a successful pop star/actor without needing to also be beautiful - you were allowed to look real!
Most people were pretty ordinary looking, those who were naturally beautiful did stand out. Today it's possible to give the illusion of beauty since it's easier to be well groomed and there is a specific 'look' that is achievable by even ordinary looking girls (tan, extensions, make up, professional manicures).
Diets weren't necessarily better in the 80s/90s. I remember a lot of chips. Probably better in the 70s when people ate less convenience food.

I always think The Spice Girls are a good example of this kind of thing. In the 90s they just looked like such normal girls with normal, relatable figures. Fast forward to the 00s and teens where girl groups such as Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and Little Mix all look really groomed with perfect make up wearing identical/very similar outfits onstage and in music videos.

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

A lot of people are eating way too much processed food now. Lifestyles are quite sedentary & these impact how people look & feel.

People were obese in the 70s and 80s, it wasn't the norm for sure, but I distinctly remember two obsess and smelly teachers at primary and two obese and not smelly teachers at secondary. I can also remember a few of my friends parents (mums and dads) being 'big girthed'.
Mental health was very much an issue except it was referred too in hushed tones as 'a nervous breakdown', or 'nervous exhaustion' or 'a fit of the nerves' all of which is now would be referred to as 'anxiety and depression' and thank goodness we can talk about it much more openly, although as a society we still have a long way to go in treating and understanding mental health.

I would agree that there is more obesity now. But I also wonder if the modern technology in file and photography producing clearer images is a) making everyone look worse now and b)fueling the Botox/plastic surgery industry.

Nonsense! It was fab.u.lous darling!
I loved all the bright colours after the uniformly brown and mustard 70s.

I'm 65, born in 1956. If you look at the school photos from my girls grammar school (mostly middle class "gels" ) we looked horrendous in the 1970s compared with girls now. We seldom wore make up, tended to be spotty, hairdressers were a bit hit and miss. For some reason we tended to have chunky legs too, even if we were slim, in fact there were no willowy beauties in the school at all. To my eyes the teenage girls at our local grammar are now taller, longer legged and far better looking than we were. Thahk goodness we all manged to become more attractive as we aged.

Don't forget the leg warmers!

Saying that it was only younger people who looked and felt better back then. I think once you hit a certain age you written off as "frumpy" mum. Women weren't encouraged to make themselves look fitter/younger as it was just accepted that you hit your 30s and you just aged.

I read a quote somewhere years ago (can't remember where) which said "you just accept between 20 and 40 you double your dress size." In other words, the "middle age spread " was just something that happened.

Olivia was a beautiful woman with lovely hair,skin.bone structure and so on.The rest of us didnt look like that! I grew up in the 70s /80s and most people werent esp attractive.Smoking was the thing and lots looked thin /pale ,not slim /attractive.Clothes were expensive to buy .And food generally not that great!

Are you looking at film/TV actors? Of course they looked good! You can't compare publicity shots with the general public.
Newton-John was 29 when she did Grease, and definitely had cosmetic work as she aged. But she wouldn't have got the part if she didn't have a certain look.
As pp says - just look at yearbooks from back in the day!
Teen models did look much more 'girl next door' than filtered perfection you see on mags today, but supermodels were as unattainable then as they are now.

I grew up in the 90s and think I was a passive chain smoker 🙈😂

I was looking at some of our old school photos circa 1968-77: it was an eye opener. There were a few overweight folk but most looked incredibly slim. Some of the children’s clothing looked ragged and dirty - clothing was relatively expensive and a lot of folk didn’t have washing machines. The women teachers looked relatively old for their ages, mainly due to fashion trends (tweed skirts, cardigans and short permed hair) and false teeth. Some things have improved; some things are worse.

Oh, and the first time I had food that wasn't deep fried or shallow fried in lard was quite a revelation.

Oh, but there was nothing to beat my mum's crinkly chips deep fried in beef dripping - the best!

I grew up in the eighties and nineties, no one looked good then! Honestly we were all rocking perms and blue eyeliner with neon legwarmers.

My mum's era was. far more serene. I suspect there was a lot of bad teeth but the black and white photos made everyone look fabulous.

In fairness, if you were born in 1960, you would now be 62; if you were a teen in the 1960s, you’d be in your late 70s. It was quite a long time ago! Just as I often end up clocking, with a jolt of dismay, that 1990, was not, in fact, just a decade ago 😭

Yes my parents looked great in the 80’s despite the smoking. We are all too fat now. And everyone had a natural tan then and didn’t cake makeup on, though that has resulted in high skin cancer rates.

Oh, chips fried in lard are the best.
I just remember discovering foods that didn't get fried!

I actually disagree with you here. I grew up in a similar era and we had a great diet/lifestyle, far less junk food, more eating food in season and though we might've been thin/slim/pale it was better than being overweight or tanning ourselves to death.

Smoking wasn't the thing for everyone either. A lot of my peers did but I certainly didn't and I knew others who didn't either.

Clothes could be expensive to buy but what you did buy was nicer/better made/more natural fibres. You bought less but better.

40 years here!

It is astonishing how much rot is talked about the 20th century!

nobody … had mental health issues.

And yet a vast quantity of English language fiction focuses on people (women especially) locked up in asylums (prefer ‘asyla’ but no one would understand) for decades. Not to speak of the countless people who lived lives of ‘quiet desperation’ through shame and never got close to fulfilling their potential.

The reality is that a lot of girls wear practically “stage” makeup to be always ‘Gram-ready. It does not make them pretty though.

I see up and down the UK a lot of young women who are basically overweight but have learned to put their best foot forward, makeup, and pose.