Summertime and beautiful girls in New York

It’s hot and swampy already where I live. In the mid-Atlantic US, summer usually comes too early…and this year has been no different. Temps aren’t usually all that high, but we have high humidity, so it feels much hotter than it is. This often makes putting on clothes the last thing one wants to do—laying around a pool in a bathing suit seems so much more appealing, if not totally unrealistic.  But, unless one is a work-at-home writer, the need to put on clothes is inevitable.  And for many, there is the need to wear office attire, and what could be hotter than that? These ladies from the 1940’s seem to have the idea of how handle summertime dressing though—they look way cooler and less drippy and soggy than I feel when wearing heels and a dress during the summer.

These photos are actually from a series called Beautiful Girls in New York and were shot in Rockefeller Plaza in 1944 by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life magazine. They are part of the archive collaboration between Google and Life.

Another significant note is that Alfred Eisenstaedt is the photographer who shot the famous pic of the sailor dipping a nurse for a kiss in Times Square on V-J Day. You can see that iconic image at the bottom of this post.

*via Bust.






3 comments

  1. Love your site, my first visit here! Temps are hot out here in AZ too, I feel your pain 🙁 Great post, ty for sharing – 40’s is back – good excuse to shop for some new dresses.

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