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Old 04-01-2014, 06:08 AM
 
3,430 posts, read 4,227,790 times
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You are right, Tallybalt. I hadn't thought about it but the clothes really were heavier. Did we know the difference? I thought my Indianhead dresses were the "nines" until they'd been washed dozens of times and become soft and faded. Then they were play clothes. Of course they lasted so long that we outgrew them before they became play clothes. So, pass them on to smaller folk. And everything shrank. We'd buy things a size too large because we knew it would shrink. But, better made. Lelt's be fair. They lasted longer because of that material and they were definitely better made.

I'm digging into my brain and thinking such style still looks good to me. More dressed up. On the other hand, today's clothes are more comfortable, softer. Maybe it isn't so much what we are wearing but what condition it is in (clean and neat), as well as where and when.

I have noticed that today's young people are beginning to wear brighter colors. For a while, it was just blacks, greys or darker colors. The bright colors make them look happier. Imagination?
I used to wish they'd put on some pinks and pastels. Now they are doing it. They are experimenting with what looks good or different -- socks that don't match?

All that said, it is still true that people were more particular about how they appeared in public. They had rules about what you wore or didn't wear where and when. Those rules may seem foolish today but they served. And some of those rules still serve today. Clean and neat?
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Old 04-01-2014, 05:41 PM
 
50,164 posts, read 35,825,070 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazel W View Post
You are right, Tallybalt. I hadn't thought about it but the clothes really were heavier. Did we know the difference? I thought my Indianhead dresses were the "nines" until they'd been washed dozens of times and become soft and faded. Then they were play clothes. Of course they lasted so long that we outgrew them before they became play clothes. So, pass them on to smaller folk. And everything shrank. We'd buy things a size too large because we knew it would shrink. But, better made. Lelt's be fair. They lasted longer because of that material and they were definitely better made.

I'm digging into my brain and thinking such style still looks good to me. More dressed up. On the other hand, today's clothes are more comfortable, softer. Maybe it isn't so much what we are wearing but what condition it is in (clean and neat), as well as where and when.

I have noticed that today's young people are beginning to wear brighter colors. For a while, it was just blacks, greys or darker colors. The bright colors make them look happier. Imagination?
I used to wish they'd put on some pinks and pastels. Now they are doing it. They are experimenting with what looks good or different -- socks that don't match?

All that said, it is still true that people were more particular about how they appeared in public. They had rules about what you wore or didn't wear where and when.
Those rules may seem foolish today but they served. And some of those rules still serve today. Clean and neat?
I sometimes wish they still were like that. For instance, I think it was nice when people looked nice for church, now they wear shorts and flip-flops. When my mother talks about Atlantic City in the 50's and 60's, everyone wore dresses and suits, now everyone looks like a homeless person, even the people playing the $100 slots. Even 20 years ago, the casinos required a jacket after 6. I love the look of men all dressed up, with suits and cologne and especially hats. I see many older black men who still dress like that for church, and they look great!
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Old 04-02-2014, 06:17 AM
 
3,430 posts, read 4,227,790 times
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Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
I sometimes wish they still were like that. For instance, I think it was nice when people looked nice for church, now they wear shorts and flip-flops. When my mother talks about Atlantic City in the 50's and 60's, everyone wore dresses and suits, now everyone looks like a homeless person, even the people playing the $100 slots. Even 20 years ago, the casinos required a jacket after 6. I love the look of men all dressed up, with suits and cologne and especially hats. I see many older black men who still dress like that for church, and they look great!
This topic set me to remembering the hippies in the 60s and how they deliberately dressed as poor and raggedy as they could - deliberately. They had their reasons that made no sense to me. And nothing came of it. But that's another topic. Best skip it. Just remembering them lounging around on sidewalks in their rags. Wonder where they are today. Are they back in suits and ties?

I agree with you that the men look so nice in their suits as do the women in a nice dress. There is a place for dress-up. Business offices for sure. Dinner in a nice restaurant. Church, of course. A sign of respect.

Question: Isn't some of this "dress down" done simply to provoke comment? Maybe a rebellion against being asked to dress nicely or comb the hair?

I think I'll wear my nice jumper with pretty blouse today. Especially since it is April and spring is springing.
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Old 04-02-2014, 06:50 AM
Status: "Mistress of finance and foods." (set 20 days ago)
 
Location: Coastal Georgia
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I was a teenager in the 60's. Shopping took place in the downtown area. When we went downtown to shop we wore high heels, stockings and dresses. We also got all dressed up for church on Sunday.
My grandmother was in her 60's then, and every day of her life she wore a girdle and stockings and a dress.
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Old 04-02-2014, 07:28 AM
 
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Interesting topic. I love how people dressed up back in the day.

I'm a product of the 70's when dress became more relaxed and style was traded for comfort. I am a jeans and tshirt kind of gal and I cannot even remember the last time I wore a dress. I don't own "fancy" clothes and I never go places where I feel the need to dress up. Everything I own is black or grey (due to pure laziness of not wanting to match things). I usually wear my hair in a ponytail or a braid. I never do anything different with my hair and I do not wear makeup.

I do think people dressed much better back in the day.
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Old 04-02-2014, 08:12 AM
 
3,430 posts, read 4,227,790 times
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Gingham. Does anyone remember gingham? Those were the everyday dresses. All kinds of pretty materials. Now there are so many new materials that I am lost when I go shopping. Then, of course, sizes have gone haywire. Time was you could say "size 14, buy it, take it home and wear it. The only time we tried on dresses was to see how we looked in them. We knew what size we wore.

Times change.
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Old 04-02-2014, 10:31 AM
 
5,544 posts, read 8,272,198 times
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I was a teenager in the 60s and college/career in the 70s.

Spent the weekend visiting family and going through photo albums. amazed at how dressing style evolved to the more casual colorful style into the 70s. But the album told the tale. I really prefer the dressed up version and find myself migrating back to that in bits and pieces.

Maybe it is just returning to your youth, but I like the 60s and early 70s look still. Neat and polished.
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Old 04-02-2014, 12:17 PM
 
28,574 posts, read 18,586,360 times
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My millennial daughter tells me that as she gets older, guys around her in suits are really beginning to look a lot better to her than the guys around her in tee-shirts. She's also beginning to appreciate the "dapper dan" look compared to the "perpetual bed-head" look. She says, "I can see now why people considered Cary Grant the 'shiznozz.'"
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Old 04-02-2014, 02:42 PM
Status: "Mistress of finance and foods." (set 20 days ago)
 
Location: Coastal Georgia
50,026 posts, read 63,371,030 times
Reputation: 92559
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazel W View Post
Gingham. Does anyone remember gingham? Those were the everyday dresses. All kinds of pretty materials. Now there are so many new materials that I am lost when I go shopping. Then, of course, sizes have gone haywire. Time was you could say "size 14, buy it, take it home and wear it. The only time we tried on dresses was to see how we looked in them. We knew what size we wore.

Times change.
I have a little collection of gingham aprons. I just like them. They bring out the June Cleaver in me.
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Old 05-14-2014, 10:06 PM
 
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Absolutely they did. Today, most people look like they are homeless and that is what passes for fashion these days. More of the USA's culture rot.
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