r/OldSchoolCool • u/db7112 • Jul 27 '26

1950s Sylvia Plath in happier times, early 1950s

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326

u/vince_vanGoNe Jul 28 '26

She was blonde?!

413

u/CreepingCoins Jul 28 '26

Not naturally:

All of those [blond Sylvia Plath] photos come from a single summer—1954, Sylvia’s “platinum” summer—when she briefly died her hair lighter and posed in a white bikini top and shorts for her boyfriend. It was an act of purposeful reinvention following her 1953 annus horribilis (NYC Mademoiselle internship, first documented suicide attempt, shock therapy). Later, preparing to return to college, she dyed her hair dark again.

124

u/StrippinChicken Jul 28 '26

Really underscores OP's "happier times" comment /s

39

u/CreepingCoins Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Eh, I think most people, if they saw a photo of somebody smiling, would assume that the person was happy when it was taken.