Celebrities Who Were Time-Machined From Another Era
There are some celebs we’re pretty sure arrived here from our more fashionable past via some sort of magical time travel machine. These stars are just so put-together and have a style that harkens back to a more sophisticated time. A time when one didn’t wear sweatpants all the time (I mean, “joggers”), as though they were the only pants that existed. A time when applying makeup wasn’t just for special occasions, but when ‘putting on your face’ was just something you did as part of your day. A time when your hair wasn’t an enemy to be tamed, but was something to be coiffed. To these retro celebs, we tip our hats.
Dita Von Teese
Dita’s a seductress in every aspect of her life. She is always boldly true to herself and that self is a 1940s burlesque goddess. So committed is Dita to the cause of the femme fatale that she’s even subjected herself to corsets. With her luscious curls and lacquered lips, Dita makes quite the statement. Dita’s not just a pretty picture though, she really lives the 40s life. She “has a thing for sipping tea from Victorian tea sets, and for polishing silver, particularly Art Deco teapots and Love Disarmed flatware.” Girlfriend is quite the collector of other oddities, too – she has a whole room dedicated to hats. Dita doesn’t just horde though, she truly loves the era and wants to honor it. She has “a corset that Betty Grable wore in a film called “The Farmer Takes a Wife,” and [she] also has a shawl that Dorothy Lamour knitted.” She truly lives the vintage life and we want in.
Rihanna
Rihanna, the ’80s called and they want their style back. But they can’t have it because you totally and utterly rock it. Whether she’s blowing our minds with a new crazy hair style or by shocking us with a new look, Rihanna is so very ’80s. And if there’s one thing you can say about the chick, it’s that she can pull off a fanny pack. Rihanna’s power pop dance hits also hearken back to a time of 80s dance clubs, and her super sexual videos and performances also nod back to an era when pushing boundaries during performances was king. Bow to her.
Zooey Deschanel
This queen of vintage glamour is known for her distinctive style. Zooey embraces the bold lip and cat-eye look, and when it’s set off by her seemingly endless collection of charming 1950s-style dresses, she can do no wrong. And, of course, those bangs. So stylish is Zooey that she collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger on a fashion line saying it “ has a Mary Tyler Moore-esque sensibility…some of the pieces could fit in at a David Bailey photo shoot or among the work of French New Wave filmmakers Claude Chabrol and Jacques Demy.” If there was any doubt that Zooey wasn’t sent to us from another time, one need only listen to her band, She & Him. They emulate those 1960s pop/rock tunes like nobody’s business. Whether She & Him’s music videos show a swingin’ colorful dance party or show Deschanel lounging around a mod space-age pad tricked out with all manner of nostalgia, it’s clear the ’60s are back.
Taylor Swift
Oh, Taylor, how we love thee. Taylor, like Zooey, also traveled here from the ’50s or ’60s. A mini-dress and short-shorts master, Taylor definitely has enviable style. Whenever Taylor steps out, she seems to have raided the Mad Men costume department and we’re loving it. On top of which, Taylor’s life is so glitteringly ’50s fabulous. She said it best herself: “Whether it’s a summertime dress that makes me feel carefree, an evening cocktail dress that makes me feel fancy, or a vintage dress that makes me feel like a ’50s housewife—which I enjoy feeling like, for some reason.“ She lives the high life, swanning about with Kennedys in the Hamptons, and takes a page from the demure and modest manner of the era. Though, of course, Taylor is no wallflower so she has just that splash of beatnik sass, belting out her broken-hearted melodies and singing the song of independence that so suits the modern woman.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
We can’t talk about retro-fabulous stars without mentioning JGL, one of Zooey’s constant partners in crime. Whether he’s swaggering about a magazine spread in a three-piece suit or busting out his amazing dance skills and hat tricks, JGL is the epitome of modern retro charm. Clearly, Joe was sent to us from Hollywood’s Golden Age where he was a beguiling triple threat of a leading man. He definitely would’ve been a part of the counterculture—he has an expansive and eclectic taste in music, is all about bringing the artistic community together via ventures like hitRECord, and seems to exude the open and accepting hippie ideology of the decade.
Beyoncé
Queen Bey is a woman of all times. Whether she’s channeling a ’60s sex kitten, a Ziegfeld performer of the ’20s, or a ’70s glam diva, she is a woman whom time cannot contain. While unmistakably a modern woman, Beyoncé pays her respects to the most trendsetting moments of the past. And we pledge our hearts unwaveringly to her. She is most definitely inviting the people of today to open their minds to embracing some of the prevailing ideas of the past. Themes of her work include getting women to embrace themselves body and mind, liberally celebrating her sexuality in an wonderfully unashamed way, and singing the praises of sisterhood.
