It’s always a good time for a stroll down memory lane with Cher. Photos of young Cher prove that the only thing that never changes about the singer/actor/icon is her ability to pull off an outfit change.
Cher has canonically always been hot, and it’s hard to think of another celeb who has half as many iconic looks, serves, moments, or eras to her name. For a brief moment in the early ’60s, when Cher was first introduced to the world, her look was fairly conventional. But soon after she hit it big with the Sonny & Cher Show, the true Cher begins to emerge. The outfits get smaller, the headdresses get bigger, and the accessories get wilder.
Asked to described her personal style in a 2022 Vogue interview, Cher responded, “Oh babe, I don’t know. I know what it’s been. I have things that I’ve had in my wardrobe for 30 years.” She said of her early fashion days on Sonny & Cher, “No one was doing what we were doing. There weren’t stylists to take on people who were unknown or doing something really different.” And that goes for makeup, too, as Cher told Glamour in 2022. “The first time I ever saw MAC, I just remember looking at everything because it’s a lot, it’s an eye-full. And I thought, This is like a candy store for makeup. I was fascinated, too, by the range of colors because it was very difficult to find at the time. I mean, I remember in the ’60s, I was making eye makeup on a double boiler.”
Now, of course, it’s a whole different story, as Cher’s looks have inspired red carpet imitations from everyone from Beyoncé to Dua Lipa to Zendaya. “I love that in the ’70s Cher and Diana Ross looked like superstars and never played it safe. When they were onstage, they gave you drama—and I love drama,” Beyoncé told InStyle in 2008.
So, let’s take a look at some pictures of Cher young to see where our current pop stars sourced their looks.