Iran was on a good way in the 1950's but an Anglo-American coup deposed the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mosaddegh, and put their puppet Shah in his place. That was the beginning of the 1979 revolution which turned the country to more hardline Islam. As in so many countries, western oil and gas interests destroyed democracy and set up the country as we know it today. Any westerners who complain about Iran today would do well to go back and read some history; the hypocrisy and lack of education on display is sickening. The Shah who was in charge as these pics were taken was a puppet to the west, and steered the country with an iron hand; all political opposition to his affiliation with the west was destroyed, tortured or killed by his secret police. No wonder Ayatollah Khomeini was welcomed back with open arms after his exile by the Shah!

So happy to see this article. Most people actually think Iran has always been ruled the way it is today (although, thanks to internet and other sources of information and group formations, it is not as bad as 80s and 90s). Love these outfits, would love to have them myself!

Come on. This is not how 'women' dressed in iran in the 1970s.. These are models (western and iranian) in a magazine. They reflect how women dressed in Iran as much as Victoria Secrets or Vogue reflect how women dress today. Granted some women wore pants and short sleeved shirts, but like most fashion magazines they do not depict reality but rather an aspiration. Iran is and was a deeply conservative society and there were no doubt some westernized Iranians, but the Ayatollah had a great deal of support and quite a bit of that was a backlashed against western society and ideas.

Didn't know Natalie Wood was Iranian.

god...i wished i was born 1oo years ago life is almost sucks for a teenage in iran believe me im there

And the irony is, that only a few of the women in these photos are actually Iranian. Most of the pictures are blonde women. And one of the pictures is a photo of the actress Sophia Loren !

Go to Iran check family albums of poor and rich and middle class and they were all dressing so classy! unbelievable

The Islamic extremists were created by the US during the Cold War due to their paranoia. Now it's all coming back to them. Sad truth!

Shah was quite a nice man! May his soul rest in peace! He only did one mistake! He let terrorists like khomeini and radicals out of prison and was lenient towards communist! all over the world terrorists who do act of terror get arrested.

Islamic Revolution, or American-sponsored coup to oust a progressive, democratically elected leader? Make no mistake, the US is responsible for the state Iran is in today, not Islam.

Why is gender-equality/relaxed gender roles always associated with Western society? Westerners are the most sexist people I have ever met, they are like Saudi Arabians. Having a relaxed gender role society is not a Western idea, how about Soviet Russia? How about the Ottoman Empire before the 1700s? And what about the pagans? Not the satanistic f*****s of today, but true pagans.

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I say bring back the old Iran where women weren't thrown back into the Dark Ages like Islam today

I'm iranian and I know for sure half of the girls in this photos are not iranian and it was a photo shot for a magazine ( vogue I guess)

Yes they were getting modernized then they put that whizend up Khomeini in charge and all of a sudden they are back living in the cave men day's, why don't they pull their finger out and grow up and enjoy life instead of hiding women away enjoy them and let them enjoy themselves.

So weird, the outfits are bizarre and most poses are so skeezy

You do realise, that fashion photos are not representative of street wear, do you? SOME people dressed in a Western way, but mostly in the big cities. And then there were some who dressed not unlike what you see today. And then, what's wrong with observing Islamic modesty, if that is what you want? Must everyone wear Western fashion ideals to look progressive and modern? The only problem with that is that today, it is more or less enforced. If you think that everyone in the Iran of today looks like a black ghost, wearing chador, then think again. http://thetehrantimes.tumblr.com/tagged/streetstyle

hmm since when were bardot and sophia loren iranian

Islamic Revolution, or US-sponsored coup to oust a progressive, democratically elected leader? Make no mistake, the US is responsible for why Iran is in the state it's in now. Simple as that.

persian women as a group are pretty f*****g hot until they turn 30 then there's a sharp decline where they gain about 40 lbs and get hair on their chests

This is what happens when the West butts in- people go from one extreme to another! I am not happy with extremist Islamic views and discrimination of women, but I do not appreciate Iran being too Western either, trying to copy the "standard" Hollywood looks!

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everything was good, and overly attacted (because this is it) muslims are came aaand f*cked up everything.