Severe graphical issues when playing older versions of Minecraft

Issue actually effects versions 1.7.x and below - There is no option for that in 'Affects Version/s'

Problem summarized:

• ⚠️ All entities and chests do not render properly (they render either as a solid colour or invisible in the case of chests)

• ⚠️ The user cannot hold an item or press F5 to zoom out otherwise the game screen is affected by the same visual error

List of attempted (and unsuccessful) fixes:

1.  Uninstalling and reinstalling Minecraft (including deleting the .minecraft folder)

2.  Using a different launcher (MultiMC, this proves that this is an issue with the game)

3.  Changing the mipmap levels in game (did not make any difference whatsoever)

4.  Playing Minecraft using a different user in the laptop (no difference)

5.  Deleting options.txt from the .minecraft folder (no difference)

Other observations:

• Lots of guides around the Internet suggested that I update my graphics drivers. This issue only began today (20 Dec 2022) and before then, it was working fine with no major issues ❓ , so I don't believe that the graphics drivers are to blame.

• When checking the latest.log file in %appdata%\.minecraft\logs, this error appears to be raised as soon as I enter a world:

<Start>

[18:46:22] [Skin downloader: http://skins.minecraft.net/MinecraftCloaks/Player.png/ERROR]: Couldn't download http texture
java.net.UnknownHostException: skins.minecraft.net
    at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:184) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:172) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:392) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:589) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:538) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.NetworkClient.doConnect(NetworkClient.java:180) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:432) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:527) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.<init>(HttpClient.java:211) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.New(HttpClient.java:308) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.New(HttpClient.java:326) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getNewHttpClient(HttpURLConnection.java:1168) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect0(HttpURLConnection.java:1147) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect(HttpURLConnection.java:998) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.connect(HttpURLConnection.java:932) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at bpk.run(SourceFile:79) [1.7.2.jar:?]
[18:46:22] [Skin downloader: http://skins.minecraft.net/MinecraftSkins/Player.png/ERROR]: Couldn't download http texture
java.net.UnknownHostException: skins.minecraft.net
    at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:184) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:172) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:392) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:589) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:538) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.NetworkClient.doConnect(NetworkClient.java:180) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:432) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:527) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.<init>(HttpClient.java:211) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.New(HttpClient.java:308) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.New(HttpClient.java:326) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getNewHttpClient(HttpURLConnection.java:1168) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect0(HttpURLConnection.java:1147) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect(HttpURLConnection.java:998) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.connect(HttpURLConnection.java:932) ~[?:1.8.0_51]
    at bpk.run(SourceFile:79) [1.7.2.jar:?]

<End>

This part of the log shows that it tries to connect to skins.minecraft.net to retrieve the cape and skin of my user.

Firstly, I haven't bought Minecraft (yet!), so I shouldn't have a cape, let alone a skin.

Secondly, correct me if I am wrong, but skins.minecraft.net has been fully deprecated and replaced by s3.amazonaws.com [Please fact check]

Since this issue has just arisen, it is unlikely to be the main reasoning, however it is important to know.

If anyone knows why this could be happening, then it would be great to know!

p.s. The video exceeded the 10MB limit (the limit should be more than 10MB), so I had to compress it quite a lot