This article originally appeared on Creators.
Whatever your feelings on Playboy, the iconic nudie magazine proffering “Entertainment for Men” “Entertainment for All,” it’s hard to argue with the merit of a recent photo series commissioned by Playboy, in which seven Playmates recreated their iconic cover shoots 30-odd years later. The gorgeous portraits were photographed by Ben Miller and Ryan Lowry.
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Echoing Hugh Hefner’s sentiment—”Once a Playmate always a Playmate“—the featured women share reminiscences of their time as bunnies, making Playboy sound more like a sorority than a gentleman’s club. “I had a Playmate running team. I had ten girls on the team and we’d run marathons, all around the country, raising money for charities,” Charlotte Kemp, December Playmate 1982, says in the accompanying Playboy article.
What’s stunning about the images is their body-positive, sex-positive, age-positive message. Both the vintage covers and their contemporary recreations feature buxom beauties posing seductively, but the aged versions are arguably even more gorgeous than the originals.
As Reneé Tenison, Playmate of the Year 1990 and November 1989 Playmate, points out, Playboy does have a decent reputation for showcasing diverse representations of beauty. “When I did Playboy, there was a little bit of controversy because I was the first African-American Playmate of the Year, and some women were saying I was being objectified,” Tenison says. “But I said, ‘Well, if you’re pro-choice, shouldn’t I have the right to choose what I want to do?’ If I want to pose nude, I should be able to pose nude!”
Scroll through the original photos and their updates below:
Read the full feature on Playboy .
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