February 01, 2014
The Evolution of Sexy & Sports Illustrated
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition has been around for a while. Fifty years to be exact. It’s first model, Babette March, didn’t even fill out her bikini. Sports Illustrated has always been graced the by ‘model of the moment’, featuring household names like Kathy Ireland, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Beyonce, and Kate Upton.
A lot has changed in fifty years. There’s Cheryl Tiegs from 1970 who’s actually wearing a long sleeve shirt and glasses. The photos seem candid-something you might snap yourself at a beach with friends.
The swimsuit edition has never really been about swimsuits. If it were it wouldn’t be in a predominantly male oriented magazine. But then there’s the suits themselves...from a belted on in 1971, the extremely high waisted suits of the 80s, to the barely there (or not at all) bikinis of the 2000’s.
The smiles become less and less frequent and the sultry looks more commonplace. There’s even a bit of controversy over Tyra Banks, the first black cover woman, who looks like her skin tone has been incredibly lightened.
While reality may escape the editors of Sports Illustrated in the way of uncomfortable and impractical swimwear...at least there are examples of great how beautiful women are without photoshop.
A lot has changed in fifty years. There’s Cheryl Tiegs from 1970 who’s actually wearing a long sleeve shirt and glasses. The photos seem candid-something you might snap yourself at a beach with friends.
The swimsuit edition has never really been about swimsuits. If it were it wouldn’t be in a predominantly male oriented magazine. But then there’s the suits themselves...from a belted on in 1971, the extremely high waisted suits of the 80s, to the barely there (or not at all) bikinis of the 2000’s.
The smiles become less and less frequent and the sultry looks more commonplace. There’s even a bit of controversy over Tyra Banks, the first black cover woman, who looks like her skin tone has been incredibly lightened.
While reality may escape the editors of Sports Illustrated in the way of uncomfortable and impractical swimwear...at least there are examples of great how beautiful women are without photoshop.
