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When you look back at old videos of crowds of people from, say the early 20th century it seems as if almost everyone, man or woman wore something nice, or at least pretty decent, not lots of the ghetto-type stuff you see lots of people wearing today. And considering how large the crowds are I doubt everyone was really that well off, so did people back then just have an overall finer sense of fashion and things were more affordable, or what? While I'm not trying to imply every man should be wearing suits and top hats or women wearing nice dresses I always am amazed looking at what seemed to be the daily ware for people back in the day from watching old videos not movies just videos of large crowds and real life stuff.
I think one thing that occurred was that good clothing got worn and worn, and handed down until it was only fit for the ragman.
Look at a copy of Jacob A. Riis's book How the Other Half Lives, published in 1901. It is photos of how the common grunt lived in New York City in that era. One thing that is remarkable, along with the shocking squalor, is that some of the men are wearing suits even though they are indigent, and many other men are wearing at least suit jackets and hats though their pants are filthy and baggy work pants. "Good clothes" seem to have been worn to the bitter end.
People definitely dressed more presentably than today. Conspicuously absent would be sports clothes, sweats, and the like. "Appropriate attire" meant dressing for school, religious occasions, work, and just to be seen in public. There was no "I don't care what anyone thinks of me" attitude because most wanted to be thought of as respectable.
Clothes for school meant dresses for girls, church attire meant dresses and suits, work was dresses and suits and so on. In the fifties, gloves and hats were usual.
Hollytree hit it on the nail when she mentioned people wanted to be thought of as respectable.
"Respectability" is a concept that has largely disappeared from today's world. Back then it governed much of how we behaved, including how we dressed in public. It wasn't a question of showing off or being pretentious, as some people might think, but telling the world you were a valued member of society.
To answer the original question, people did dress up when they went out in public. People would wear casual clothes inside the house or if they were just in their backyard. Women had house dresses which they would never wear in public, and clothes for outside the house were usually exchanged for the house dresses once they came back home. Part of it had to do with that clothing was more expensive and not as disposable.
And considering how large the crowds are I doubt everyone was really that well off, so did people back then just have an overall finer sense of fashion and things were more affordable, or what?
In the 19th century, men wore suits at all times—even working in a factory or dockyard. Appearing in public in shirtsleeves or without a hat was considered obscene. It was more social custom than “fashion.â€
Clothing was extremely expensive because everything was handmade by local labor. People made their own and spent a lot of time mending and caring for clothes (including things like socks and underwear) that we simply through away today.
At the turn of the 20th century things started to get more casual. By the 40s men could be seen (outside of the city) in causal shirts without jackets. However it wasn’t until the 60s that informal clothing became socially acceptable.
Even as late as 1980, if my wife had to go to WalMart, she would put on a casual skirt or dress, proper shoes, and give cursory attention to her hair before leaving the house.
Up to the '60s, neither of my parents would even dream of leaving the house without a hat -- and I don't mean a baseball cap.
When you look back at old videos of crowds of people from, say the early 20th century it seems as if almost everyone, man or woman wore something nice, or at least pretty decent, not lots of the ghetto-type stuff you see lots of people wearing today. And considering how large the crowds are I doubt everyone was really that well off, so did people back then just have an overall finer sense of fashion and things were more affordable, or what? While I'm not trying to imply every man should be wearing suits and top hats or women wearing nice dresses I always am amazed looking at what seemed to be the daily ware for people back in the day from watching old videos not movies just videos of large crowds and real life stuff.
I feel the same but the opposite way about the way most dress today. Dress shoes can cost less than walking shoes; so why not dress better. And I consider the sloppy styles that people pay big money for today to look like something out of a yard sale. I get compliments all the time about the way I dress and I don't have a perfect figure; I just dress in a tasteful way.
I think several factors come into play here. The first and most obvious is simply style. That was ths style back then... I am always amazed when I see old photographs from baseball games and all the men in the stands are wearing top hats with coats and ties.. compare that to today's ball park pictures. Not that today's game goers are any less stylish, they are just wearing what is in style today for a ball game.
Another thing to consider is clothing availabilty. Today you can run to the store and buy a new outfit everyday if you want to.. 100 years ago that was not the case. Clothing was not readily available so you took care of the clothes you had simple because you didn't know when you might be able to get a new pair of shoes or pants. There was also far less variety in clothes, especially mens clothes.. In many cases, you had to make your own clothes.. that or your mother or wife made your clothes for you. If you making your own clothes, you likely to take better care of them as they need to last you a while.
I think we take clothes for granted today where as folks 100 or so years ago did not. They knew that their shoes had to last them a decade or more where as today, most folks have more pairs of shoes in their closet to choose from today than their great grandparents had their entire lives.
That doesn't make any one generation better than the other, its just a product of our times. Clothing has become big business and folks are buying into it. Just think, if all we had to choose from was a black jacket, white shirt and dress pants then we are likely to only have a few outfits but since we have litterally thousands of styles to choose from we have a few dozen in our closet.
Another thing to consider is location. If your looking at photos from city dwellers then you are going to see the style of the city. Men wore coats and ties back then regardless of occupation, even street sweepers or lamp lighters had to wear a coat and tie... but if you were to take a look at some rural photographs of farmers they were not dressed quite as nicely... they wore floppy hats to protect them from the sun, grungy boots, pants and a shirt... sometimes a coat.. no ties or top hats for sod busters.
I just returned from Puerto Rico, I didn't see one guy wearing a baseball cap. At night couples got dressed up for evening festivities. It was a breath of fresh air, so unlike what I see here in my neck of the woods.
Yes, I do think people of the bygone era dressed for success, and, took pride in their appearance, today, it's ripped jeans and dirty t-shirts.
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