49 Inspiring Vintage Photos of Extraordinary Women

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A Fantastic Voyage, Raquel Welch (1966)

Fineartamerica

It’s not easy to pull off a white unitard, but the gorgeous brunette Raquel Welch gave the blonde bombshells of her era a run for their money when she first gained attention for her role in the 1966 sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage. In the same year, she wore mankind’s “first bikini” in the adventure fantasy movie One Million Years B.C. which quickly turned her into an international sex symbol. The promotional ad of Raquel in a deerskin two-piece became a best-selling poster and made her the most sought-after pinup model and the dream girl of millions of moviegoers.

Though she did wear a skimpy bikini, Raquel was never comfortable with nudity and instead broke the mold of the archetypal sex symbol by successfully portraying strong female characters. It seemed people found her talent and choices just as sexy (or it’s simply impossible to ignore how hot she was in that fur bikini) because in 1995, Empire magazine listed her among the “100 Sexiest Stars in Film History” and Playboy ranked her third in their list of “100 Sexiest Stars of the Twentieth Century.” In 2011, Men’s Health ranked her second in their own list of “Hottest Women of All Time.”