Did most everyone dress nice back in the day?

[Felix C]

Originally Posted by Chava61

I do think people used to dress more nicely. My father who is in his late 70s always used to disprove when my siblings and I wore jeans as he was raised to think that jeans were work clothes only.

I was raised like this as well and I was a teen in the late 1970s and 1980s. Only owned a set of blue jeans once I left home at 18.

[Nighteyes]

Originally Posted by Felix C

I was raised like this as well and I was a teen in the late 1970s and 1980s. Only owned a set of blue jeans once I left home at 18.

In 1980 I was refused admission to a very popular nightspot because I was wearing "jeans". They were not denim, and were tan in color, so I didn't personally recognize them as jeans. But the bouncer did...

[hifijohn]

I remember one episode of 'I love lucy' lucy got a loving cup stuck on here head and she and ethel had to take the subway to a metal smith to get it off.ethel says that she cant go on the subway in her dungarees(blue jeans), the show was made in the 50's and Im assuming reflected the values of it day.Imagine wearing blues on the NYC subway was inappropriate!!

[travric]

Re: wealthy people and their clothes for leisure...

You know I thought it interesting to see how Messrs Lee and Levi's fashion sense in jeans went from the working class at one time to all classes nowadays. Nothing like jeans and a shirt to completely hide one's class or extent of being 'rich'.

Back then of course clothing was a marker for class but Lee and Levi sure got rich when their pants wound up on 'trustfund' people. And that ushered in the fashion dynamic of fact 'dressing down' instead of 'dressing up!' ....;-)..