Back during the bad old days of the cold war, it was generally held that the standard of beauty in the Soviet bloc was something akin to its building construction standards. Since it appeared at that time that the Soviets were making concrete with sugar, this did not bode well. Polish women in particular bore the brunt of the jokes, but all eastern bloc womanhood was generally regarded as cold and ugly.

When Mikhail Gorbachev's came to power, he began a policy which became known as "perestroika". Its aim was to modernise the USSR and restart its economy, and they were successful. In 1989 another movement started. This was known as "glasnost" and aimed to give greater freedoms to the people, and open up the Soviet union. It was in the following years that the western world began to see eastern europe for what it was: a collection of disparate countries rather than the homogenous single entity that the Soviet military had projected.

The political story from this point on is one of internal conflict and coups, but we leave that track to talk about a cultural revelation. In 1996 Gossard launched the Wonderbra which went on to become an international sensation. They decided to pick one model to be the face (and other parts) of the advertising campaign. Who landed this coveted role? Was it one of the usual blonde, Californian-style babes that so dominated fashion in the previous decade? No. It was a girl from the Czech Republic (which had until recently been Czechoslovakia under the Soviet hegemony) by the name of Eva Herzigova. And she was stunningly beautiful. It gave everyone in the west pause for thought.

After a quick journey west for Brenda Schad, Gossard returned to eastern Europe for Adriana Sklenarikova. Adriana hailed from Slovakia (the other half of the former Czechoslovakia) and had jaws dropping at twenty paces. At the same time, Paulina Porzikova became a supermodel, and then an actress, and Daniela Pestova became a regular in fashion shows and catalogues.

Now the wheels were turning in the collective western minds - "crikey - if Eva, Adriana and Daniela came from eastern Europe, what else was being hidden behind the iron curtain?" Well, over the next few years this question would be answered with model after beautiful model until it could best be sumarised "the best looking women in the world!" Soon, fashion editors everywhere had to learn had to spell three-to-five syllabale surnames ending in "ova"! This phenomenon probably reached its peak (in terms of publicity) with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova.

While all this was happening in the mainstream, the fringes were also seeing an influx of Eastern European talent. Glamour modelling had the shapely forms of Veronika Zemanova, Kyla Cole and Zdenka Podkapova. Adult films gained the dynamite presence of Silvia Saint and Anitas Blonde and Dark. And there has been a steady stream ever since, right up to current Euroeros favourite Liliane Tiger.

Check out the links below for photos, information and wallpaper images. The list isn't an exhaustive one, but it covers the main celebs.

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