25 Vintage Photos Of Women In The Early 1900s That Look Better Than Anything On Instagram Today

I don’t know what it is about old photos, but every time I see a vintage portrait, I’m convinced those women invented being effortlessly cool. No ring light, no filters, just attitude and lace. And somehow, even these vintage photos look better than half my camera roll.

There’s something timeless about the confidence they carry, posing in gowns, lounging in gardens, or just giving face to a mirror like it’s a Vogue cover shoot. It makes you wonder what they were thinking, or who they thought they’d grow up to be.

1. “Camera Work: Portrait (Miss N.)”

Gertrude Käsebier

2. “Alice And Her Friends In The Darned Club”

Alice Austen

3. “Woman, Half-Length Portrait”

Frances Benjamin Johnston

4. “Barbara Stanwyck, Ziegfeld Girl”

Alfred Cheney Johnston

5. “A Nineteenth-Century Selfie By Alice Austen”

Alice Austen

6. “Gertrude Tate, Alice’s Life Partner, By Alice Austen”

Alice Austen

7. “Untitled”

Clarence H. White

8. “The Bubble”

Clarence H. White

9. “Ann Pennington, 1920, Vanity Fair”

Adolf de Meyer

10. “Camera Work: Portrait – Miss De C”

Joseph T. Keiley

11. “Mary Pickford-Ziegfeld”

Alfred Cheney Johnston

12. “Camera Work: Marcella”

F. Benedict Herzog

13. “Lillian And Dorothy Gish”

Alfred Cheney Johnston

14. “Untitled”

Clarence H. White

15. “Camera Work: Behind The Scenes”

Robert Demachy

16. “Mrs. W.g. Loew”

The Library of Congress

17. “Jeune Fille”

Gustave Marissiaux

18. “To A Greek Girl”

Emma Justine Farnsworth

19. “Letitia Felix At Table”

Clarence H. White

20. “Blindman’s Buff”

Clarence H. White

21. “Gertrude Käsebier At Crecy En Brie, France”

Gertrude Käsebier

22. “The Misses Gerson”

Gertrude Käsebier

23. “Fairbanks Twins”

Alfred Cheney Johnston

24. “Valentine De Saint-Point Photographed By Alphonse Mucha”

Alphonse Mucha

25. “The Peacock Feather”

Clarence H. White

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Nate

Nate Armbruster

Nate writes for Pleated-Jeans and enjoys finding the internet’s funniest corners so you don’t have to.