Chic And Sexy Pre-Revolution Fashions Of Iran

(L) Actrees Marjan, (R) Iranian pop star Arghavan who fled the country in 1979. As of late, she has been involved in attempts to bring music back to Iran, at the risk of imprisonment.

Even as a kid in the 1970s I was well aware of The Iranian Revolution. It was a top headline for quite some time because its consequences were so profound. The pro-Western Shah was overthrown and replaced with the rabidly anti-Western Ayatollah Khomeini. Any Western cultural influences were rejected overnight in favor of a hard-line Islamic state. Matters between the West and Iran got even worse when the dethroned Shah fled to the US, and the Iranians responded by holding diplomats hostage. Almost thirty years later, things haven’t changed much.

Let’s have a look at the fashions before the revolution. Now, Iranian women have to fight for the right to be able to expose hair under their headscarves. But in the 60s and early to mid-1970s it was quite a different story…

h/t: flashbak

(L) Miss Teen World Finalists – 1968 . (R) Sholeh Zand – Miss Iran 1969

Googoosh was a popular singer in Iran, and a favorite of the Shah. She happened to be in Los Angeles at the time of the revolution. She returned home to find that she was no longer allowed to perform and all her material was banned

Ettelaat Banovan magazine covers from the 1960s

Sexy actress Sepideh – pictured above and below

Miss Teen Iran Finalists 1969

Miss Iran finalists from 1972 and 1973

(L) Miss Iran finalists 1966, (R) Iran Air flight attendants

A couple Iranian celebs: Homa Roosta and Forouzan

Miss Iran 1978 finalists. This would be the last pageant – there would be no Miss Iran 1979 or onward.