See What Anna Wintour’s Feminist Fashion Spreads Of The ’80s Looked Like

Stop what you're doing, and look at this right now. Our friends at The Cut dug into their archives this morning and unearthed more than 40 fashion spreads Anna Wintour put together when she was fashion editor of New York magazine (before she became the Anna) — and they're amazing. As she's known for her ability to document what's going on in fashion — what is a magazine if not an almanac of style? — Wintour's spreads are exactly what you'd picture: supermodels of the moment, troves of fur, and subtle odes to New York City. These signatures, along with her impeccable taste in fashion photographers like Peter Lindbergh and Tohru Nakamura, is precisely what launched her career and makes the pages of Vogue today so brilliantly recognizable. For instance, read her take on androgyny in the '80s: "In the past, women tended to parody men's formal wear with loosely structured, oversize tuxedo jackets, shirts, and ties. But, now they've progressed from mere parody to the sincerest form of flattery. Take advantage of the low light in the late-night clubs. Make the crowd look twice and wonder, 'Is it a he or a she?'" So good, right?

It's inspiring that the now editor-in-chief of Vogue represented women in such solid, (usually) male-dominated roles. Our favorite spread, cleverly titled "Strong Suits," featured women of the boardroom dressed in the season's newest work wardrobe with text that alluded to the concept of dressing confidently. We're obviously not surprised Anna began injecting small doses of feminism into her shoots early on in her career, but it's really cool to see what this message looked like over 30 years ago. Now, have a quick look and get back to work! That's all. (The Cut)