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Vintage Wedding Ads Make Your Housewife Dreams Come True

Tara Block — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:30:25 PDT

Wedding season is all around us, and we share plenty of tips here on TrèsSugar for how to be a modern bride and bridesmaid. But sometimes we like to take a look back at what it was like to walk down the aisle back in the day. Looking through these vintage wedding ads, I gather that the best way to secure a husband and have the wedding of your dreams involved a lot of soap, silverware, and toasters. Check out these retro ads now, and see how the advertisers of the Mad Men era caught the attention of brides and brides-to-be!

When Flight Attendants Glammed It Up

TresSugar — Wed, 02 May 2012 08:10:00 PDT

Exactly 60 years ago today (May 2, 1952), the de Havilland DH 106 Comet was officially introduced as the world's first production commercial jet airliner with its inaugural flight from London to Johannesburg. Soon after that landmark flight came the flight attendants of the '60s, who have had a resurgence in popularity thanks to last year's big drama Pam Am. Some consider this era the glory years of air travel, when service was still good and passengers weren't herded like cattle. Some would also call it a time when stewardesses (the retro name for flight attendant) were treated as sex objects who were supposed to wait on you hand and foot and possibly hint at . . . other services. For a time, there was even a policy that only unmarried women could fill the job. Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in this flight attendant flashback.

Hunt For Eggs in Your Sunday Best With Women in Vintage Easter Ads

Tara Block — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:48:04 PDT

Today is Easter Sunday, and people around the world are celebrating the holiday with everything from church services to parades to egg hunts. According to these vintage ads, the way to a woman's heart on Easter is a combination of flower-topped hats, chocolates, pastel frocks, and Coke-fueled celebrations. So see what the Easter bunny brought women and girls back in the day with a collection of vintage Easter ads!

Booze, Bras, and Husbands: What Women Want According to Vintage Advertising

Tara Block — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 12:13:00 PDT

Tonight Mad Men returns to TV after its long hiatus, and we're excited to jump back into the series which has explored what it was like for women in the '60s and how that was connected to the world of advertising. When it comes to the history of our gender, nothing is quite as fascinating and disturbing as the history of advertising as it relates to women. Vintage ads for, about, and featuring the fairer sex range from retro-cute to scarily sexist with their portrayal of women. But we like to look back at these vintage ads for everything from cocktails to underwear to feminine hygiene products to remember how far we've come as well as how far we are from where we need to be in the world of advertising. Plus, a lot of these old ads are so backwards and ridiculous, you have to laugh. So take a trip back in time with us to see what ad execs of the past thought women would want!

Catch Spring Fever With Fresh Vintage Ads

Tara Block — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:03:17 PDT

Spring is around the corner, and we're already daydreaming about strolling in parks, smelling fresh flowers, and enjoying sunny outdoor dates. If you're also longing for the sunny days of Spring, be inspired by the season with these fresh vintage ads for and featuring women. Take a look back at how ladies of past decades enjoyed the perks of Springtime!

Channel Your Inner Irishwoman: Vintage St. Patrick's Day Ads

Tara Block — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:05:02 PDT

St. Patrick's Day is this Saturday, and we're ready for some green-wearing, Guinness-drinking fun! Inspired by the Irish holiday and our love of vintage advertising, we've rounded up some old-school St. Patty's Day-inspired ads featuring women for everything from cigarettes to Irish whiskey. Click through the retro ads now, and may the luck o' the Irish be with you!

PETA's Latest Ad Tries to Promote Veganism With an Injured Woman

Annie Scudder — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:10:26 PST

Nothing mixes like sex and veggies if you ask PETA. They anti-meat group isn't afraid to use sexualized women to promote its message. Not surprisingly, PETA's latest ad relies on sex again, but if you ask me, it makes veganism seem anything but appetizing. It features "Jessica," a pantsless woman wearing a neck brace. Jessica is suffering from "BWVAKTBOOM" (Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom Out of Me), a "painful condition that occurs when boyfriends go vegan and can suddenly bring it like a tantric porn star." The imaging hints at sexual violence, even though I'd assume PETA is trying to characterize the sex as being consensual and rough. If you go to the website promoted in the video, it touts the "dramatic increase in their wang power and sexual stamina" that it says comes with giving up meat. Sorry, but painful sex that leaves you in a neck brace is not a turn on or funny.

We're Sweet on Vintage Valentine's Day Ads

Tara Block — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:23:58 PST

Happy Valentine's Day! Take a trip back in time with these funny, cute, romantic, and sometimes sexist vintage V-Day ads. According to these ads, it seems the best way to impress a woman (and get some lovin') on Feb. 14 is with a box of chocolates, and for men it's cake. Alluding to sexual favors in exchange for Valentine's Day gifts may seem retro, but the concept hasn't gone away in advertising, as we saw in Teleflora's "give and receive" Super Bowl ad over the weekend. See some of the good, bad, and most bizarre vintage V-Day ads!

Corsets: Lots of Controversy Squeezed Into One Undergarment

Tara Block — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:40:11 PST

Nowadays, women who want a trimmer waist in a pinch typically turn to Spanx or some other body-slimming underwear. But when it's less about practicality and more about looking sexy in nothing but your skivvies (like for your Valentine's Day date night, for instance), you may choose to don a corset. While modern women are free to wear these fitted underpinnings whenever we want to spice things up in the bedroom, corsets and the idealized tiny waists they create have a long and controversial history that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.

Just last September, Vogue Italia controversially featured Ethel Granger and her 13-inch waist, which she achieved by wearing a corset 24-7. Ethel, who holds the record for the smallest waist in recorded history, went through the painful process for her husband. Her motivation brings up one of the main issues with corsets: are they for the men or the women? And Romanian-born model Ioana Spangenberg, "the human hourglass," is being criticized for setting a bad example with her 20-inch waist, even though she claims she can't help her shape and didn't use corsets to achieve it.

To find out more about what made corsets so controversial back in their heyday (including info from Valerie Steele's book The Corset: A Cultural History), let's look back at some of the vintage ads and photos of these constrictive undergarments and the nonhuman-like shapes they created on women.

Sexism, Stereotypes, and the Super Bowl: Recent Ads That Sexualize Women

Anna Monette Roberts — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:05:00 PST

Sex sells - especially for Super Bowl ads - and year after year, major companies try to get away with the raciest, steamiest ads possible, often at the expense of women. Cars, food, technology - it doesn't matter what the product is; these ads throw in a hot, skin-baring woman for distraction and buzz. Ahead of the big game tomorrow, let's look back at some of the most scandalous ads in the last few years. And maybe one day we'll see more Super Bowl ads that show women some respect.

Skechers: "Kim Kardashian For Shape-Ups"

Kim teases her trainer by telling him he's "the best she's ever had, but it's not working out," and she prefers her Shape-Up Skechers over him. This 2011 ad is confusing and mismarketed, because it's eye candy for men, yet targeting women. Plus, no woman in her right mind would pass up that smokin' trainer for a pair of sneakers.

Click here to check out more sexualized Super Bowl ads.