A RAMBLING OVERVIEW by Anonymous What Boomers Wore Until the late 60's, dress styles for kids were pretty simple: shirts, slacks, tennis, or black or brown lace shoes. Guys in my school were not allowed to wear any pants with the seam on the outside of the pants. Period; end of discussion. The shirt had to be tucked in. No T-shirts, sleeveless shirts, or undershirts. No trenchcoats! We were not allowed to wear our hair long, the Beatles notwithstanding. No beards; no facial hair. Guys in high school did not have tattoos (rest assured that girls did not, either); and believe me, if any guy showed up wearing an earring, he would have been laughed out of the state! And nobody but Yul Brenner shaved their head. Real tight pants became popular for guys in the mid sixties; you could barely get them over your ankle. Then fashion went the other way in the late 60's and early 70's with bell bottom pants for both girls and boys. Girls wore skirts and blouses, even in the winter; no pants. Many girls wore knee-high boots in the winter. But I remember many times standing at the bus stop at the corner of Lomond and Traynham with several girls when the temperature was below 20 degrees... sometimes near zero. And there were these poor girls with their upper legs exposed, wind blowing right up where my eyes had no business going. It really was unfair. That did not stop them from wearing short, short skirts, though... or at least trying to. As I recall, the skirts had to go down to the knee-cap. Some girls got away with wearing culottes - kind of like a cross between a skirt and a pair of shorts. After school, they wore the real, real, real short skirts that were sometimes called "hot pants." Hot, they were! Loafers were popular in high school - shoes, not kids - penny-loafers, too. They had a small notch on the front, where you could store... a penny, for safe-keeping, I guess. Why not a dime? I donno'; I guess the term dime-loafers just did not ring. You younger folks will have to pardon us if we boomers scoff at walking shoes, running shoes, climbing shoes, hiking shoes, racquetball shoes, pump-up shoes... and hundred dollar sports shoes. When we were kids, we had tennis shoes - black or white - period. They cost about $25, in today's terms. Guys might wear a watch; and for a short while in junior high, ID bracelets were popular for guys. But there were no chains or necklaces, gold or otherwise. Pocket protectors? Not used as widely as you might think. I'm no expert on this, but girls did not get their ears pierced as early. Many of them never did. As I recall, they did not wear earrings to school. Too dressy. A lot of girls confiscated their dad's long sleeved white shirts and wore them after school. Permanent press came into existence in the late 60's. But I still remember ironing my shirts in college, permanent press or not. A little more on shoes: we wore shoes back then... at least where I grew up. For us guys, there was not much choice: dress shoes and tennis shoes. Dress shoes usually had laces. Tennis shoes were black or white, usually white. There were no Reeboks, no "walking shoes" - just tennis shoes. For females, there were flats, low heels, high heels, and tennis shoes.... and penny loafers. A toe showing meant you needed a new pair of shoes. No boots; boots were for horse riding.... except when it snowed. When it rained... we wore rubbers... yep, that's what they were called; rubber "overalls" for shoes. In the winter, we wore boots; big boots over our shoes for guys. Girls usually wore boot-shoes and carried their regular shoes... I donno'... somewhere, and then switched when they got where they were going. Life was tough back then. THE '70'S Now, if you're looking for real wild stuff... the 70's is your decade. The 60's broke down the barriers, the 70's went nuts! Bell bottoms were in till about 1975, and teens added flowers and other adornments to their jeans. Beads for belts, long hair for everyone, afros for blacks, long sideburns for wannabe hippies, sandals, platform shoes, frilly collars, leather, paisley shirts... whew! Adults got in on it, too. (Come to think of it, many boomers were adults by then.) The poster-boy for banning long sideburns was Sam Donaldson. He looked horrible with them! But then, most men looked horrible. Some men wore "leisure suits" (light colors, polyester... stupid looking), and for a while Nehru shirts were popular (a thin collar up around the neck, worn without being tucked in; straight at the bottom. They were named after and made fashionable by the Indian leader at the time). Why the Nehru shirts? I have no earthly idea, believe me; things were just nuts then. The thin ties of the 60's gave way to wide, colorful ties in the 70's - the wider the better (3-4 inches at the bottom). Collars for men's shirts went from narrow to wide, to real wide, and then back to narrow. In the 60's the collars were usually button-down. But button-down collars were out in the 70's. No, along with everything else, collars were not to be constrained in the 70's! Many women took off their bras, and then burned them! Streaking was popular in the early 70's, and a few daring women went topless at the beach. Many women wore their hair long and straight. In addition to the sideburns, many guys grew beards and mustaches: long, wide, and untrimmed. Broadway Joe Namath wore one of those Fu Man Chu mustaches. As I recall, Willie Nelson wore an earring and a bandanna. But he was out here pretty much by himself back then. Glasses!? You wanna' talk glasses? In the 60's, it was mostly plain frames; not too different from what we wear today. Tortoise shell; I think they call the style and/or color. But in the 70's, it was big frames, little frames, round frames, square frames, no frames, wire rim frames, granny glasses. It was really... nuts! Lots of people wore glasses. Contact lenses were popular (but very expensive), but many people could not wear the hard (or the soft) lenses. Extended wear lenses were not available till the 80's. And there was no surgery to correct near-sightedness. When you lost a lens, everyone nearby got down on their hands and knees to look for it. ABC Sports said they would pay for replacement lenses for any NFL player who lost a lens during a televised game. The last thing in the world they wanted was to waste 15 minutes of air time while 30 guys in spiked shoes looked for a contact lens. If you want to see the madness of the 70's clothing fashions, rent "Saturday Night Fever," which was filmed in 1977. It pretty well captures what was "in" in the 70's. In fact, many people think that it was "Saturday Night Fever" that killed both the disco and the fashions of the 70's. The movie held up a mirror to us. We took a good look at ourselves, freaked out, and then sobered up and got back to "normal." Mohair In ' 63-' 64 the big fad in the Northeast was the MOHAIR SWEATER! They came in pullover, vest and cardigan styles. These oversized fluffy sweaters came in a range of colors -baby blue, baby pink, baby lilac, baby orange, baby yellow...and you HAD to have more than one! --- Hannah, Norwalk, CT, 1948 THE PILLBOX HATOf all the fashion trends set by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, she will be remembered most for her trademark pillbox hat. It was called a pillbox hat because it looked as if it was designed to hold pills. While Mrs. Kennedy is credited with bringing the hat to the masses, the hat had existed in different forms since the 1930s. In fact, Mrs. Kennedy was not even the first "First Lady" to wear one, as the First Lady of Mexico preceded her by a year or so. By 1963, interest in wearing the pillbox hat had already begun to fade but came to a sudden halt when Mrs. Kennedy, wearing a pink pillbox hat, cradled the President's head in her lap after he was struck down by assassin's bullets. LEISURE SUITS, n (1975) : a suit consisting of a shirt jacket and matching trousers for informal wear - Websters Dictionary Leisure suits first originated in Europe in the 1700s but the 1970s saw the emergence of the polyester version, sported by lounge lizards across the United States. While acting as an informal alternative to sports coats or suits, the leisure suit eventually because a cause ridicule, with certain restaurants and businesses going so far to ban them from being worn in their establishments. Long Fringe-ware I remember purple bell-bottom jeans and suede jackets with long, long fringe on the body and sleeves. The longer the fringe was, the cooler you were. If you had a purple long-fringe jacket, you were about he coolest person on the planet. The whole purple thing was launched by Jimi Hendrix and "Purple Haze." --- Lynn, Chicago, 1954 Side Belt Buckles I think I remember why many guys wore their belt buckles on the side. I believe the trend was started by mechanics moving the buckle aside so they wouldn't scratch the paint job on their cars as they leaned into the engine compartment of their 57 Chevys, T-Birds, Vettes, etc. --- Greg, Milton, DE, 1952 Halter Tops and Tie Dyes I remember when I was a kid wearing halter tops and platform shoes to make me taller and also the Earth Shoes were the hot new new shoes to wear. Bell bottoms and later straight leg pants began to come into style.The boys wore silk fancy tie dyed shirts and white tee shirts with blue jeans. Disco clothes were in too. --- Melody, Virginia Beach, VA,1958 I remember making our own tie dyed t-shirts in college. We made a mess out of the laundry room.Tie-dye colored the '60's. You still see 'em on the streets. No knowing how to "set" the color in the shirt, the first time I wore mine I had bright green arm pits for a week! --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Pink and Black Shoes In 1957 the color rage was pink and black. Wishing to be a trendsetter I wanted pink and black saddle oxfords but, of course, there were no pink shoes then. The only pink thing in the house was Pepo-Bismol so I polished my shoes with it, becoming the talk of school-until it rained! It was great fun. --- Miki J., Miami, FL, 1940 Hair Fashion, Spray on Shampoo, All things hair... I used to iron my hair to get it straight in the late sixties. Then in the early seventies, I'd use soup cans (empty) to set it with. Does anyone remember spray on or shake on dry shampoo? --- Julie, Sturgeon Bay, WI 1953 Was the spray on shampoo called Pssst? or some such thing? --- Pam, League City, Texas - 1961 Editor note: it was called Psssssst (with that many S's). I remembered the commercial thanks to your prodding, Pam. Hip Huggers and Palazzo Pants ......especially in HOT PINK and ORANGE or PURPLEs and TURQUOISE. The brighter the better! Speaking about FISH NET stockings - I remember the FISH-NET VESTS. Real cool with GRANNY-GLASSES and HIGH BOOTS. There was also a time when putting "taps" on heels was the thing. (Am I giving away my age?). --- Norma; W. Palm Beach; FL,1946 Elephant Leg Pants Remember the HUGE elephant leg pants. A lot like the extremely large baggy jeans kids wear today, but ours stayed up without a belt. --- Pam, League City, Texas, 1961 Pointed Shoes My fond memory was the pointed shoes of the sixties. As I had size 12 feet imagine how long the shoes were with the point, they looked like snow skis. --- John, Adelaide South Australia 1950 JAZZED UP JEANSAlthough not as popular as poodle skirts and cardigans, jazzed up jeans have made a lasting impression on fashion. Teenage girls started the trend in the 1940's by adding everything from studs, paint, and patches to their jeans. The most common artwork to find on these jeans were collages of their favorite rock idols. In the early sixties, these jazzy jeans made a comeback with the flower children. Men and women both became slave to this fashion by spending weeks to get their jeans to look perfect - skintight and faded. Unlike the decals of the forties, jeans from the disco era had a more drug-oriented flavor, as leafy hemp plants and cigarette logos graces thousands of legs. The trend slowly started to exit the fashion scene around 1974 with the introduction of one person into the fashion arena- Levi Strauss - who introduced designers to the jeans craze. Breaking in Blue Jeans A cheap pair of stiff blue jeans had to be worked on to get them into shape in the days before bell bottoms. So in 1965 while on holiday I was persuaded that the thing to do was to soak them and wear them until they fitted. Duly, before breakfast I strapped the jeans on, jumped into the swimming pool and walked soggily around all day until they had dried out. They still looked awful, I got blue legs and I think a cold. --- John Culyer, born in Brentwood, England, 1950 Belt Fashions Nobody ever talked about it, but most of the boys wore their belt buckles on the side of their pants. If you wore Levis, you wore your wide Garrison black belt, with its big silver buckle on the side of your jeans. On kahkis or dress pants, you wore a skinny belt with your buckle on the side, too. Some girls wore their big buckles on the backside of their clothes. Yet nobody ever talke about this fad, most just did it. TV stars like Ricky Nelson and Wally on Leave it to Beaver wore it that way, too, as did many of the rock stars. A few of us still wear side buckles today. ---Dennis, Stratford, CT, 1943THE DA [DUCK'S ASS] HAIRCUT The D.A. (short for Ducks Ass) was the haircut of the 1950s for cool white males. Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it with place with hair grease (hence the term greasers), the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and musical stars. The popularity of the haircut was accented by the fact that several versions of it were spun off in the United States and Great Britain, but faded with the coming of the British invasion of the United States in the early 1960s. COWBOY BELTS - I remember it being cool if you had a cowboy belt (early junior high), then later in junior high and high school it was a thinner brown belt with side stitching and a simple brass U-shaped buckle. Also, when "Clam Diggers" were in, a white cotton rope was the belt. --- Jeff, St. Paul, MN 1954 X-Ray Shoe Machines I remember those x-ray machines in the shoe stores....try on a pair of shoes...put your feet in and look down to view your own bones rattling inside those new penny loafers. --- Phil Morris, Lenox, IA, 1951 Cha Cha Blouses and Modrian Dresses We all wore those short white ruffle blouses. Very cha-cha ish ! They also came in longer renditions. I had them both. I also had this ugly dress styled after a Mondrian geometric design. It's a wonder I became an artist. When I was in high school, all the Juniors wore their hair in a flip. We couldn't wait to be Junior's, so we could wear the Junior flip, as my friend Janet so aptly put it. --- Phyllis, Baldwin, NY 1950 Peasant Blouses In Schenectady, New York, in the middle 1970's, every high school girl looked the same. It was as if we wore a uniform in expressing "our freedom." Straight long hair parted in the mddle, faded, worn jeans, men's work shoes, silver and turquoise jewelry, shiny lip gloss,... and the ever present peasant blouse. Fashion seems to be repeating itself. Most of these styles are back. --- Maria Martin, Schenectady, New York, 1958 GOGO BOOTS In 1965, Los Angeles and New York discos were infiltrated with women dressed in thigh high dresses and go-go boots. Go-Go boots were calf level boots with a broad heel that were either bright while leather or vinyl.GOGO boots and hot pants! Who lovd 'em most - the chicks or the dudes? They originated from the collection of Andre Courreges, a Parisian. His collection introduced white dresses three inches above the knee coupled with white mid-calf boots - called "kid boots". That year his collection overshadowed such seasoned designers as Coco Chanel. In 1965, Nancy Sinatra topped music charts with her smash hit "These Boots Are Made For Walking." The record sold almost 4 million copies -- she will forever be the poster child for go-go boots. By the spring of 1965, go-go boots began to fall out of fashion with designers showing shorter skirts and higher boots. I remember wearing white go-go boots and dancing on top of garbage cans singing "These Boots were made for walking" by Nancy Sinatra. --- Gayle Rhodes, Corinth, MS '59 Gum Wrapper Belts I remember making gum wrapper belts after chewing our gum we would fold the wrappers together (sort of like weaving) they were stretchy too. You used the silver part for disposal of gum. It was the neatest thing to have a gum wrapper belt around your waist. The longer the better. Funny thing is I can't remember how to do it now. --- Virginia, Orange Springs, Florida, 1950 Ironing Hair In an attempt to revolt against the complexity of the such styles as the bouffant hairdo, Northeastern girls began ironing their hair in an attempt to make it as straight and natural as possible. In order to get this look, young girls would simply lie their head on an ironing board while a trusted friend would iron the hair in one inch sections, the process taking up to an hour. The girls had to be careful, however, not to iron the hair for too long of a period of time as that could leave burn marks in the hair or could make the hair too dry or brittle. The fad diminished in the early seventies as other styles became the vogue. I remember the trauma of having naturally curly hair when the style was long and straight. That ironing board sure hurt my neck. --- Margie - Dallas, TX (previously Flushing, NY) 1951 Sunday Best My memories are of my fancy "Sunday" dresses with stiff crinoline slips. Accompanying them would be my black patent-leather Mary Jane shoes. In the winter, there was the wool fancy Sunday coat and matching hat. Back then, there weren't jeans------we had DUNGAREES! --- Mary, Little Neck, NY, 1950 Paper Dresses I remember paper dresses. I had several. To hem them, just cut the bottom off! Also, I remember the first time I saw velcro-I was about 8 years old and my cousin had a blouse on and told me it was held together by magic and I believed her!! --- Bev., New Canaan, Ct 1947 Angora Sweaters Remember Angora sweaters and tailor made, kick pleated skirts? We also used Angora to wrap around our boyfriend's class ring. --- Sandi, Canton, Ohio 1948 Engineer Boots Do you remember guys wearing engineer boots? Sometimes we would attach heel clips made from metal or if you REALLY wanted to be kool you would use horse shoes made for ponys. Every time you took a step, you would make this clicking noise. At night these pony shoes would look especially fine if you would put your feet on the pavement while riding your bicycle. The little kids loved the spark shower. Do you remember the black shoes with the external tongue? They had a wire type device on the back of tongue that would slide shut and hold shoe on your foot. Do you remember the black slacks with the cloth belt and buckle sewn onto the back side? These were especially kool worn with one of those thin belts that had two buckles. --- Dave, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1946 Name Brand Recollections Remember Madras wrap-around skirts and Bermuda bags to match? (We had to wash them in cold salt water because it kept the "bleeding" at a minimum.)Then, in that whole Ivy league (now called preppy) look in the early '60s, we saved every penny to buy Villager shirtwaist dresses, John Meyer sweater/skirt sets and Weejun by Bass. Add to those: Circle pins, peter pan collar blouses, Pappagallo flats, Capezio anything (back when the company still made things of leather, not plastic), sterling charm bracelets; pastel-colored angora oversized sweaters with VERY tight slacks; loden green suede 7/8 length winter coats with 3/4 sleeves and racoon collars; hose that always matched the winter skirt colors; Gant shirts for guys; white sail cloth pleated skirts for summer; scarab bracelets and summer Espadrilles! --- Kaye Elliott, Virginia, 1947 Earth Shoes How about Earth Shoes! They are back too. --- Jan, Carlsbad, CA, 1956 Yeah! Earth Shoes - I wore them waitering in the early 70's. The theory was that when you walked in them it was the same effect as walking on a sandy beach (your heel was lower than the rest of your foot). I remember getting shin splints while getting used to them. --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Granny Glasses, etc. Remember granny glasses, saftey pin piercings, clogs, Frye boots, Beatle boots and hi-heel sneakers? --- Lance, WPB, Fl., 1956 Hiphuggers, bell-bottoms (the really, really big bells!), Beatle wigs, wide belts, fringed leather jackets, and beads everywhere! --- Mike, San Angelo, TX 1956 How about poor boy sweaters and mini-skirts? Also, falls to turn short haired gals into long-haired babes. --- Andrea, Indiana, 1951 Fishnets Fishnet stockings were the absolute rage! It really didn't matter what color they were either. Mine were green and they matched a dress with a green fishnet collar! Man I thought it didn't stink when I wore this outfit! Nowadays, I'm laughing on the outside about it and on the inside seriously hoping that NO ONE has a picture of me back then! UGH! --- Susan, Panama City, Florida, 1955 Nehru Jackets and "Dickies" I performed a magic show with a friend in junior high. Our costume consisted of gold Nehru jackets under which we wore black turtle neck "dickies" (just the collar and a tab that hung down in the front and back). We were SOOO groovy! - Tim, Shoreview, Minnesota, 1953RETRO TO '60'S FASHION?Is there really a mid-'60s pop culture revival going on, or is it just being foisted on us? Tune in to prime time shows any day and see a Target ad promoting their red-and-white bullseye brand, sung to Petula Clark's "Sign of the Times;" a series of Sears clothing ads sung to Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" and Flexon eyeglasses twisted in time to The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." But what's next?Ads and commericials today going retro - '60's Nehru jackes and '60's rock music promoting clothing and other products Surely not Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully" for Nair? "Under the Boardwalk" for Truly Nolen? Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" for Viagra? Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" for surge protectors? "If I Had a Hammer" for Home Depot? "Surf City" for Yahoo? "Little Honda" for...well, we could go on, but we know that many of you are eating lunch. But take heart: the minute we see those annoying Gap kids doing the jerk in their khakis, it'll be almost over. Platform Shoes We would wear platform shoes with such high elevations that we felt as if we were on stilts! Now, my teenaged daughter wears the same type shoes AND CLOTHES. - Gayle, Texline, TX 1956 Dress Codes Saddle Oxfords and Bobbie Socks were the only thing allowed in school with only skirts and blouses. All skirts had to be no higher then the knee. Jeans, slacks were unheard of unless you worked in you yard. --- Alice, Gladwin, MI, 1946 I remember the "greasers" at our school used to wear black boots that were "illegal" and confiscated if they were over the ankle. --- Sharon, St. Paul, MN 1954 Hot Pants and... Hot pants were the rage in the early 1970s having found great popularity years earlier among European prostitutes. Hot pants were the successor to the miniskirt, succeeding in showing more leg, more cheek and more attitude than had been previously displayed. While very popular among many young women (and most young men,) they were frowned upon in the workplace as well as in many social arenas (a number of prominent restaurants forbade them from being worn by patrons.) Some businesses took full advantage of the fad (notably Allegheny airlines, even made them a part of the company uniform.) Surprisingly, this fad only lasted during colder months and faded before the warm weather came, perhaps because showing legs was more titillating during the winter months when they weren't expected. How about Hot Pants, Platform Shoes, and long flowered nylon dresses. Eee Gads. Isn't it funny how fashions repeat themselves. Kids today are wearing the same things we did, only we did it first. - Lore, Chicago, 1958 Clam Diggers In junior high (1965+) we wore 'clam diggers' which were kind of like Capri pants for guys. They were calf-high and had a little V-shaped slit on the outside of the leg. It was part of beach culture.Thank you, BBHQ and contributors!
What Boomers Wore
Until the late 60's, dress styles for kids were pretty simple: shirts, slacks, tennis, or black or brown lace shoes. Guys in my school were not allowed to wear any pants with the seam on the outside of the pants. Period; end of discussion. The shirt had to be tucked in. No T-shirts, sleeveless shirts, or undershirts. No trenchcoats! We were not allowed to wear our hair long, the Beatles notwithstanding. No beards; no facial hair.
Guys in high school did not have tattoos (rest assured that girls did not, either); and believe me, if any guy showed up wearing an earring, he would have been laughed out of the state! And nobody but Yul Brenner shaved their head. Real tight pants became popular for guys in the mid sixties; you could barely get them over your ankle.
Then fashion went the other way in the late 60's and early 70's with bell bottom pants for both girls and boys. Girls wore skirts and blouses, even in the winter; no pants. Many girls wore knee-high boots in the winter. But I remember many times standing at the bus stop at the corner of Lomond and Traynham with several girls when the temperature was below 20 degrees... sometimes near zero. And there were these poor girls with their upper legs exposed, wind blowing right up where my eyes had no business going. It really was unfair. That did not stop them from wearing short, short skirts, though... or at least trying to. As I recall, the skirts had to go down to the knee-cap. Some girls got away with wearing culottes - kind of like a cross between a skirt and a pair of shorts. After school, they wore the real, real, real short skirts that were sometimes called "hot pants." Hot, they were!
Loafers were popular in high school - shoes, not kids - penny-loafers, too. They had a small notch on the front, where you could store... a penny, for safe-keeping, I guess. Why not a dime? I donno'; I guess the term dime-loafers just did not ring. You younger folks will have to pardon us if we boomers scoff at walking shoes, running shoes, climbing shoes, hiking shoes, racquetball shoes, pump-up shoes... and hundred dollar sports shoes. When we were kids, we had tennis shoes - black or white - period. They cost about $25, in today's terms.
Guys might wear a watch; and for a short while in junior high, ID bracelets were popular for guys. But there were no chains or necklaces, gold or otherwise. Pocket protectors? Not used as widely as you might think. I'm no expert on this, but girls did not get their ears pierced as early. Many of them never did. As I recall, they did not wear earrings to school. Too dressy.
A lot of girls confiscated their dad's long sleeved white shirts and wore them after school. Permanent press came into existence in the late 60's. But I still remember ironing my shirts in college, permanent press or not.
A little more on shoes: we wore shoes back then... at least where I grew up. For us guys, there was not much choice: dress shoes and tennis shoes. Dress shoes usually had laces. Tennis shoes were black or white, usually white. There were no Reeboks, no "walking shoes" - just tennis shoes. For females, there were flats, low heels, high heels, and tennis shoes.... and penny loafers. A toe showing meant you needed a new pair of shoes. No boots; boots were for horse riding.... except when it snowed. When it rained... we wore rubbers... yep, that's what they were called; rubber "overalls" for shoes. In the winter, we wore boots; big boots over our shoes for guys. Girls usually wore boot-shoes and carried their regular shoes... I donno'... somewhere, and then switched when they got where they were going. Life was tough back then.
THE '70'S
Now, if you're looking for real wild stuff... the 70's is your decade. The 60's broke down the barriers, the 70's went nuts! Bell bottoms were in till about 1975, and teens added flowers and other adornments to their jeans. Beads for belts, long hair for everyone, afros for blacks, long sideburns for wannabe hippies, sandals, platform shoes, frilly collars, leather, paisley shirts... whew! Adults got in on it, too. (Come to think of it, many boomers were adults by then.) The poster-boy for banning long sideburns was Sam Donaldson. He looked horrible with them! But then, most men looked horrible. Some men wore "leisure suits" (light colors, polyester... stupid looking), and for a while Nehru shirts were popular (a thin collar up around the neck, worn without being tucked in; straight at the bottom. They were named after and made fashionable by the Indian leader at the time). Why the Nehru shirts? I have no earthly idea, believe me; things were just nuts then. The thin ties of the 60's gave way to wide, colorful ties in the 70's - the wider the better (3-4 inches at the bottom). Collars for men's shirts went from narrow to wide, to real wide, and then back to narrow. In the 60's the collars were usually button-down. But button-down collars were out in the 70's. No, along with everything else, collars were not to be constrained in the 70's! Many women took off their bras, and then burned them! Streaking was popular in the early 70's, and a few daring women went topless at the beach. Many women wore their hair long and straight. In addition to the sideburns, many guys grew beards and mustaches: long, wide, and untrimmed. Broadway Joe Namath wore one of those Fu Man Chu mustaches. As I recall, Willie Nelson wore an earring and a bandanna. But he was out here pretty much by himself back then. Glasses!? You wanna' talk glasses? In the 60's, it was mostly plain frames; not too different from what we wear today. Tortoise shell; I think they call the style and/or color. But in the 70's, it was big frames, little frames, round frames, square frames, no frames, wire rim frames, granny glasses. It was really... nuts! Lots of people wore glasses. Contact lenses were popular (but very expensive), but many people could not wear the hard (or the soft) lenses. Extended wear lenses were not available till the 80's. And there was no surgery to correct near-sightedness. When you lost a lens, everyone nearby got down on their hands and knees to look for it. ABC Sports said they would pay for replacement lenses for any NFL player who lost a lens during a televised game. The last thing in the world they wanted was to waste 15 minutes of air time while 30 guys in spiked shoes looked for a contact lens. If you want to see the madness of the 70's clothing fashions, rent "Saturday Night Fever," which was filmed in 1977. It pretty well captures what was "in" in the 70's. In fact, many people think that it was "Saturday Night Fever" that killed both the disco and the fashions of the 70's. The movie held up a mirror to us. We took a good look at ourselves, freaked out, and then sobered up and got back to "normal." Mohair In ' 63-' 64 the big fad in the Northeast was the MOHAIR SWEATER! They came in pullover, vest and cardigan styles. These oversized fluffy sweaters came in a range of colors -baby blue, baby pink, baby lilac, baby orange, baby yellow...and you HAD to have more than one! --- Hannah, Norwalk, CT, 1948 THE PILLBOX HATOf all the fashion trends set by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, she will be remembered most for her trademark pillbox hat. It was called a pillbox hat because it looked as if it was designed to hold pills. While Mrs. Kennedy is credited with bringing the hat to the masses, the hat had existed in different forms since the 1930s. In fact, Mrs. Kennedy was not even the first "First Lady" to wear one, as the First Lady of Mexico preceded her by a year or so. By 1963, interest in wearing the pillbox hat had already begun to fade but came to a sudden halt when Mrs. Kennedy, wearing a pink pillbox hat, cradled the President's head in her lap after he was struck down by assassin's bullets. LEISURE SUITS, n (1975) : a suit consisting of a shirt jacket and matching trousers for informal wear - Websters Dictionary Leisure suits first originated in Europe in the 1700s but the 1970s saw the emergence of the polyester version, sported by lounge lizards across the United States. While acting as an informal alternative to sports coats or suits, the leisure suit eventually because a cause ridicule, with certain restaurants and businesses going so far to ban them from being worn in their establishments. Long Fringe-ware I remember purple bell-bottom jeans and suede jackets with long, long fringe on the body and sleeves. The longer the fringe was, the cooler you were. If you had a purple long-fringe jacket, you were about he coolest person on the planet. The whole purple thing was launched by Jimi Hendrix and "Purple Haze." --- Lynn, Chicago, 1954 Side Belt Buckles I think I remember why many guys wore their belt buckles on the side. I believe the trend was started by mechanics moving the buckle aside so they wouldn't scratch the paint job on their cars as they leaned into the engine compartment of their 57 Chevys, T-Birds, Vettes, etc. --- Greg, Milton, DE, 1952 Halter Tops and Tie Dyes I remember when I was a kid wearing halter tops and platform shoes to make me taller and also the Earth Shoes were the hot new new shoes to wear. Bell bottoms and later straight leg pants began to come into style.The boys wore silk fancy tie dyed shirts and white tee shirts with blue jeans. Disco clothes were in too. --- Melody, Virginia Beach, VA,1958 I remember making our own tie dyed t-shirts in college. We made a mess out of the laundry room.Tie-dye colored the '60's. You still see 'em on the streets. No knowing how to "set" the color in the shirt, the first time I wore mine I had bright green arm pits for a week! --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Pink and Black Shoes In 1957 the color rage was pink and black. Wishing to be a trendsetter I wanted pink and black saddle oxfords but, of course, there were no pink shoes then. The only pink thing in the house was Pepo-Bismol so I polished my shoes with it, becoming the talk of school-until it rained! It was great fun. --- Miki J., Miami, FL, 1940 Hair Fashion, Spray on Shampoo, All things hair... I used to iron my hair to get it straight in the late sixties. Then in the early seventies, I'd use soup cans (empty) to set it with. Does anyone remember spray on or shake on dry shampoo? --- Julie, Sturgeon Bay, WI 1953 Was the spray on shampoo called Pssst? or some such thing? --- Pam, League City, Texas - 1961 Editor note: it was called Psssssst (with that many S's). I remembered the commercial thanks to your prodding, Pam. Hip Huggers and Palazzo Pants ......especially in HOT PINK and ORANGE or PURPLEs and TURQUOISE. The brighter the better! Speaking about FISH NET stockings - I remember the FISH-NET VESTS. Real cool with GRANNY-GLASSES and HIGH BOOTS. There was also a time when putting "taps" on heels was the thing. (Am I giving away my age?). --- Norma; W. Palm Beach; FL,1946 Elephant Leg Pants Remember the HUGE elephant leg pants. A lot like the extremely large baggy jeans kids wear today, but ours stayed up without a belt. --- Pam, League City, Texas, 1961 Pointed Shoes My fond memory was the pointed shoes of the sixties. As I had size 12 feet imagine how long the shoes were with the point, they looked like snow skis. --- John, Adelaide South Australia 1950 JAZZED UP JEANSAlthough not as popular as poodle skirts and cardigans, jazzed up jeans have made a lasting impression on fashion. Teenage girls started the trend in the 1940's by adding everything from studs, paint, and patches to their jeans. The most common artwork to find on these jeans were collages of their favorite rock idols. In the early sixties, these jazzy jeans made a comeback with the flower children. Men and women both became slave to this fashion by spending weeks to get their jeans to look perfect - skintight and faded. Unlike the decals of the forties, jeans from the disco era had a more drug-oriented flavor, as leafy hemp plants and cigarette logos graces thousands of legs. The trend slowly started to exit the fashion scene around 1974 with the introduction of one person into the fashion arena- Levi Strauss - who introduced designers to the jeans craze. Breaking in Blue Jeans A cheap pair of stiff blue jeans had to be worked on to get them into shape in the days before bell bottoms. So in 1965 while on holiday I was persuaded that the thing to do was to soak them and wear them until they fitted. Duly, before breakfast I strapped the jeans on, jumped into the swimming pool and walked soggily around all day until they had dried out. They still looked awful, I got blue legs and I think a cold. --- John Culyer, born in Brentwood, England, 1950 Belt Fashions Nobody ever talked about it, but most of the boys wore their belt buckles on the side of their pants. If you wore Levis, you wore your wide Garrison black belt, with its big silver buckle on the side of your jeans. On kahkis or dress pants, you wore a skinny belt with your buckle on the side, too. Some girls wore their big buckles on the backside of their clothes. Yet nobody ever talke about this fad, most just did it. TV stars like Ricky Nelson and Wally on Leave it to Beaver wore it that way, too, as did many of the rock stars. A few of us still wear side buckles today. ---Dennis, Stratford, CT, 1943THE DA [DUCK'S ASS] HAIRCUT The D.A. (short for Ducks Ass) was the haircut of the 1950s for cool white males. Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it with place with hair grease (hence the term greasers), the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and musical stars. The popularity of the haircut was accented by the fact that several versions of it were spun off in the United States and Great Britain, but faded with the coming of the British invasion of the United States in the early 1960s. COWBOY BELTS - I remember it being cool if you had a cowboy belt (early junior high), then later in junior high and high school it was a thinner brown belt with side stitching and a simple brass U-shaped buckle. Also, when "Clam Diggers" were in, a white cotton rope was the belt. --- Jeff, St. Paul, MN 1954 X-Ray Shoe Machines I remember those x-ray machines in the shoe stores....try on a pair of shoes...put your feet in and look down to view your own bones rattling inside those new penny loafers. --- Phil Morris, Lenox, IA, 1951 Cha Cha Blouses and Modrian Dresses We all wore those short white ruffle blouses. Very cha-cha ish ! They also came in longer renditions. I had them both. I also had this ugly dress styled after a Mondrian geometric design. It's a wonder I became an artist. When I was in high school, all the Juniors wore their hair in a flip. We couldn't wait to be Junior's, so we could wear the Junior flip, as my friend Janet so aptly put it. --- Phyllis, Baldwin, NY 1950 Peasant Blouses In Schenectady, New York, in the middle 1970's, every high school girl looked the same. It was as if we wore a uniform in expressing "our freedom." Straight long hair parted in the mddle, faded, worn jeans, men's work shoes, silver and turquoise jewelry, shiny lip gloss,... and the ever present peasant blouse. Fashion seems to be repeating itself. Most of these styles are back. --- Maria Martin, Schenectady, New York, 1958 GOGO BOOTS In 1965, Los Angeles and New York discos were infiltrated with women dressed in thigh high dresses and go-go boots. Go-Go boots were calf level boots with a broad heel that were either bright while leather or vinyl.GOGO boots and hot pants! Who lovd 'em most - the chicks or the dudes? They originated from the collection of Andre Courreges, a Parisian. His collection introduced white dresses three inches above the knee coupled with white mid-calf boots - called "kid boots". That year his collection overshadowed such seasoned designers as Coco Chanel. In 1965, Nancy Sinatra topped music charts with her smash hit "These Boots Are Made For Walking." The record sold almost 4 million copies -- she will forever be the poster child for go-go boots. By the spring of 1965, go-go boots began to fall out of fashion with designers showing shorter skirts and higher boots. I remember wearing white go-go boots and dancing on top of garbage cans singing "These Boots were made for walking" by Nancy Sinatra. --- Gayle Rhodes, Corinth, MS '59 Gum Wrapper Belts I remember making gum wrapper belts after chewing our gum we would fold the wrappers together (sort of like weaving) they were stretchy too. You used the silver part for disposal of gum. It was the neatest thing to have a gum wrapper belt around your waist. The longer the better. Funny thing is I can't remember how to do it now. --- Virginia, Orange Springs, Florida, 1950 Ironing Hair In an attempt to revolt against the complexity of the such styles as the bouffant hairdo, Northeastern girls began ironing their hair in an attempt to make it as straight and natural as possible. In order to get this look, young girls would simply lie their head on an ironing board while a trusted friend would iron the hair in one inch sections, the process taking up to an hour. The girls had to be careful, however, not to iron the hair for too long of a period of time as that could leave burn marks in the hair or could make the hair too dry or brittle. The fad diminished in the early seventies as other styles became the vogue. I remember the trauma of having naturally curly hair when the style was long and straight. That ironing board sure hurt my neck. --- Margie - Dallas, TX (previously Flushing, NY) 1951 Sunday Best My memories are of my fancy "Sunday" dresses with stiff crinoline slips. Accompanying them would be my black patent-leather Mary Jane shoes. In the winter, there was the wool fancy Sunday coat and matching hat. Back then, there weren't jeans------we had DUNGAREES! --- Mary, Little Neck, NY, 1950 Paper Dresses I remember paper dresses. I had several. To hem them, just cut the bottom off! Also, I remember the first time I saw velcro-I was about 8 years old and my cousin had a blouse on and told me it was held together by magic and I believed her!! --- Bev., New Canaan, Ct 1947 Angora Sweaters Remember Angora sweaters and tailor made, kick pleated skirts? We also used Angora to wrap around our boyfriend's class ring. --- Sandi, Canton, Ohio 1948 Engineer Boots Do you remember guys wearing engineer boots? Sometimes we would attach heel clips made from metal or if you REALLY wanted to be kool you would use horse shoes made for ponys. Every time you took a step, you would make this clicking noise. At night these pony shoes would look especially fine if you would put your feet on the pavement while riding your bicycle. The little kids loved the spark shower. Do you remember the black shoes with the external tongue? They had a wire type device on the back of tongue that would slide shut and hold shoe on your foot. Do you remember the black slacks with the cloth belt and buckle sewn onto the back side? These were especially kool worn with one of those thin belts that had two buckles. --- Dave, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1946 Name Brand Recollections Remember Madras wrap-around skirts and Bermuda bags to match? (We had to wash them in cold salt water because it kept the "bleeding" at a minimum.)Then, in that whole Ivy league (now called preppy) look in the early '60s, we saved every penny to buy Villager shirtwaist dresses, John Meyer sweater/skirt sets and Weejun by Bass. Add to those: Circle pins, peter pan collar blouses, Pappagallo flats, Capezio anything (back when the company still made things of leather, not plastic), sterling charm bracelets; pastel-colored angora oversized sweaters with VERY tight slacks; loden green suede 7/8 length winter coats with 3/4 sleeves and racoon collars; hose that always matched the winter skirt colors; Gant shirts for guys; white sail cloth pleated skirts for summer; scarab bracelets and summer Espadrilles! --- Kaye Elliott, Virginia, 1947 Earth Shoes How about Earth Shoes! They are back too. --- Jan, Carlsbad, CA, 1956 Yeah! Earth Shoes - I wore them waitering in the early 70's. The theory was that when you walked in them it was the same effect as walking on a sandy beach (your heel was lower than the rest of your foot). I remember getting shin splints while getting used to them. --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Granny Glasses, etc. Remember granny glasses, saftey pin piercings, clogs, Frye boots, Beatle boots and hi-heel sneakers? --- Lance, WPB, Fl., 1956 Hiphuggers, bell-bottoms (the really, really big bells!), Beatle wigs, wide belts, fringed leather jackets, and beads everywhere! --- Mike, San Angelo, TX 1956 How about poor boy sweaters and mini-skirts? Also, falls to turn short haired gals into long-haired babes. --- Andrea, Indiana, 1951 Fishnets Fishnet stockings were the absolute rage! It really didn't matter what color they were either. Mine were green and they matched a dress with a green fishnet collar! Man I thought it didn't stink when I wore this outfit! Nowadays, I'm laughing on the outside about it and on the inside seriously hoping that NO ONE has a picture of me back then! UGH! --- Susan, Panama City, Florida, 1955 Nehru Jackets and "Dickies" I performed a magic show with a friend in junior high. Our costume consisted of gold Nehru jackets under which we wore black turtle neck "dickies" (just the collar and a tab that hung down in the front and back). We were SOOO groovy! - Tim, Shoreview, Minnesota, 1953RETRO TO '60'S FASHION?Is there really a mid-'60s pop culture revival going on, or is it just being foisted on us? Tune in to prime time shows any day and see a Target ad promoting their red-and-white bullseye brand, sung to Petula Clark's "Sign of the Times;" a series of Sears clothing ads sung to Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" and Flexon eyeglasses twisted in time to The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." But what's next?Ads and commericials today going retro - '60's Nehru jackes and '60's rock music promoting clothing and other products Surely not Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully" for Nair? "Under the Boardwalk" for Truly Nolen? Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" for Viagra? Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" for surge protectors? "If I Had a Hammer" for Home Depot? "Surf City" for Yahoo? "Little Honda" for...well, we could go on, but we know that many of you are eating lunch. But take heart: the minute we see those annoying Gap kids doing the jerk in their khakis, it'll be almost over. Platform Shoes We would wear platform shoes with such high elevations that we felt as if we were on stilts! Now, my teenaged daughter wears the same type shoes AND CLOTHES. - Gayle, Texline, TX 1956 Dress Codes Saddle Oxfords and Bobbie Socks were the only thing allowed in school with only skirts and blouses. All skirts had to be no higher then the knee. Jeans, slacks were unheard of unless you worked in you yard. --- Alice, Gladwin, MI, 1946 I remember the "greasers" at our school used to wear black boots that were "illegal" and confiscated if they were over the ankle. --- Sharon, St. Paul, MN 1954 Hot Pants and... Hot pants were the rage in the early 1970s having found great popularity years earlier among European prostitutes. Hot pants were the successor to the miniskirt, succeeding in showing more leg, more cheek and more attitude than had been previously displayed. While very popular among many young women (and most young men,) they were frowned upon in the workplace as well as in many social arenas (a number of prominent restaurants forbade them from being worn by patrons.) Some businesses took full advantage of the fad (notably Allegheny airlines, even made them a part of the company uniform.) Surprisingly, this fad only lasted during colder months and faded before the warm weather came, perhaps because showing legs was more titillating during the winter months when they weren't expected. How about Hot Pants, Platform Shoes, and long flowered nylon dresses. Eee Gads. Isn't it funny how fashions repeat themselves. Kids today are wearing the same things we did, only we did it first. - Lore, Chicago, 1958 Clam Diggers In junior high (1965+) we wore 'clam diggers' which were kind of like Capri pants for guys. They were calf-high and had a little V-shaped slit on the outside of the leg. It was part of beach culture.Thank you, BBHQ and contributors!
Adults got in on it, too. (Come to think of it, many boomers were adults by then.) The poster-boy for banning long sideburns was Sam Donaldson. He looked horrible with them! But then, most men looked horrible. Some men wore "leisure suits" (light colors, polyester... stupid looking), and for a while Nehru shirts were popular (a thin collar up around the neck, worn without being tucked in; straight at the bottom. They were named after and made fashionable by the Indian leader at the time). Why the Nehru shirts? I have no earthly idea, believe me; things were just nuts then.
The thin ties of the 60's gave way to wide, colorful ties in the 70's - the wider the better (3-4 inches at the bottom). Collars for men's shirts went from narrow to wide, to real wide, and then back to narrow. In the 60's the collars were usually button-down. But button-down collars were out in the 70's. No, along with everything else, collars were not to be constrained in the 70's!
Many women took off their bras, and then burned them! Streaking was popular in the early 70's, and a few daring women went topless at the beach. Many women wore their hair long and straight. In addition to the sideburns, many guys grew beards and mustaches: long, wide, and untrimmed. Broadway Joe Namath wore one of those Fu Man Chu mustaches. As I recall, Willie Nelson wore an earring and a bandanna. But he was out here pretty much by himself back then.
Glasses!? You wanna' talk glasses? In the 60's, it was mostly plain frames; not too different from what we wear today. Tortoise shell; I think they call the style and/or color. But in the 70's, it was big frames, little frames, round frames, square frames, no frames, wire rim frames, granny glasses. It was really... nuts! Lots of people wore glasses. Contact lenses were popular (but very expensive), but many people could not wear the hard (or the soft) lenses. Extended wear lenses were not available till the 80's. And there was no surgery to correct near-sightedness. When you lost a lens, everyone nearby got down on their hands and knees to look for it. ABC Sports said they would pay for replacement lenses for any NFL player who lost a lens during a televised game. The last thing in the world they wanted was to waste 15 minutes of air time while 30 guys in spiked shoes looked for a contact lens.
If you want to see the madness of the 70's clothing fashions, rent "Saturday Night Fever," which was filmed in 1977. It pretty well captures what was "in" in the 70's. In fact, many people think that it was "Saturday Night Fever" that killed both the disco and the fashions of the 70's. The movie held up a mirror to us. We took a good look at ourselves, freaked out, and then sobered up and got back to "normal."
Mohair In ' 63-' 64 the big fad in the Northeast was the MOHAIR SWEATER! They came in pullover, vest and cardigan styles. These oversized fluffy sweaters came in a range of colors -baby blue, baby pink, baby lilac, baby orange, baby yellow...and you HAD to have more than one! --- Hannah, Norwalk, CT, 1948 THE PILLBOX HATOf all the fashion trends set by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, she will be remembered most for her trademark pillbox hat. It was called a pillbox hat because it looked as if it was designed to hold pills. While Mrs. Kennedy is credited with bringing the hat to the masses, the hat had existed in different forms since the 1930s. In fact, Mrs. Kennedy was not even the first "First Lady" to wear one, as the First Lady of Mexico preceded her by a year or so. By 1963, interest in wearing the pillbox hat had already begun to fade but came to a sudden halt when Mrs. Kennedy, wearing a pink pillbox hat, cradled the President's head in her lap after he was struck down by assassin's bullets. LEISURE SUITS, n (1975) : a suit consisting of a shirt jacket and matching trousers for informal wear - Websters Dictionary Leisure suits first originated in Europe in the 1700s but the 1970s saw the emergence of the polyester version, sported by lounge lizards across the United States. While acting as an informal alternative to sports coats or suits, the leisure suit eventually because a cause ridicule, with certain restaurants and businesses going so far to ban them from being worn in their establishments. Long Fringe-ware I remember purple bell-bottom jeans and suede jackets with long, long fringe on the body and sleeves. The longer the fringe was, the cooler you were. If you had a purple long-fringe jacket, you were about he coolest person on the planet. The whole purple thing was launched by Jimi Hendrix and "Purple Haze." --- Lynn, Chicago, 1954 Side Belt Buckles I think I remember why many guys wore their belt buckles on the side. I believe the trend was started by mechanics moving the buckle aside so they wouldn't scratch the paint job on their cars as they leaned into the engine compartment of their 57 Chevys, T-Birds, Vettes, etc. --- Greg, Milton, DE, 1952 Halter Tops and Tie Dyes I remember when I was a kid wearing halter tops and platform shoes to make me taller and also the Earth Shoes were the hot new new shoes to wear. Bell bottoms and later straight leg pants began to come into style.The boys wore silk fancy tie dyed shirts and white tee shirts with blue jeans. Disco clothes were in too. --- Melody, Virginia Beach, VA,1958 I remember making our own tie dyed t-shirts in college. We made a mess out of the laundry room.Tie-dye colored the '60's. You still see 'em on the streets. No knowing how to "set" the color in the shirt, the first time I wore mine I had bright green arm pits for a week! --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Pink and Black Shoes In 1957 the color rage was pink and black. Wishing to be a trendsetter I wanted pink and black saddle oxfords but, of course, there were no pink shoes then. The only pink thing in the house was Pepo-Bismol so I polished my shoes with it, becoming the talk of school-until it rained! It was great fun. --- Miki J., Miami, FL, 1940 Hair Fashion, Spray on Shampoo, All things hair... I used to iron my hair to get it straight in the late sixties. Then in the early seventies, I'd use soup cans (empty) to set it with. Does anyone remember spray on or shake on dry shampoo? --- Julie, Sturgeon Bay, WI 1953 Was the spray on shampoo called Pssst? or some such thing? --- Pam, League City, Texas - 1961 Editor note: it was called Psssssst (with that many S's). I remembered the commercial thanks to your prodding, Pam. Hip Huggers and Palazzo Pants ......especially in HOT PINK and ORANGE or PURPLEs and TURQUOISE. The brighter the better! Speaking about FISH NET stockings - I remember the FISH-NET VESTS. Real cool with GRANNY-GLASSES and HIGH BOOTS. There was also a time when putting "taps" on heels was the thing. (Am I giving away my age?). --- Norma; W. Palm Beach; FL,1946 Elephant Leg Pants Remember the HUGE elephant leg pants. A lot like the extremely large baggy jeans kids wear today, but ours stayed up without a belt. --- Pam, League City, Texas, 1961 Pointed Shoes My fond memory was the pointed shoes of the sixties. As I had size 12 feet imagine how long the shoes were with the point, they looked like snow skis. --- John, Adelaide South Australia 1950 JAZZED UP JEANSAlthough not as popular as poodle skirts and cardigans, jazzed up jeans have made a lasting impression on fashion. Teenage girls started the trend in the 1940's by adding everything from studs, paint, and patches to their jeans. The most common artwork to find on these jeans were collages of their favorite rock idols. In the early sixties, these jazzy jeans made a comeback with the flower children. Men and women both became slave to this fashion by spending weeks to get their jeans to look perfect - skintight and faded. Unlike the decals of the forties, jeans from the disco era had a more drug-oriented flavor, as leafy hemp plants and cigarette logos graces thousands of legs. The trend slowly started to exit the fashion scene around 1974 with the introduction of one person into the fashion arena- Levi Strauss - who introduced designers to the jeans craze. Breaking in Blue Jeans A cheap pair of stiff blue jeans had to be worked on to get them into shape in the days before bell bottoms. So in 1965 while on holiday I was persuaded that the thing to do was to soak them and wear them until they fitted. Duly, before breakfast I strapped the jeans on, jumped into the swimming pool and walked soggily around all day until they had dried out. They still looked awful, I got blue legs and I think a cold. --- John Culyer, born in Brentwood, England, 1950 Belt Fashions Nobody ever talked about it, but most of the boys wore their belt buckles on the side of their pants. If you wore Levis, you wore your wide Garrison black belt, with its big silver buckle on the side of your jeans. On kahkis or dress pants, you wore a skinny belt with your buckle on the side, too. Some girls wore their big buckles on the backside of their clothes. Yet nobody ever talke about this fad, most just did it. TV stars like Ricky Nelson and Wally on Leave it to Beaver wore it that way, too, as did many of the rock stars. A few of us still wear side buckles today. ---Dennis, Stratford, CT, 1943THE DA [DUCK'S ASS] HAIRCUT The D.A. (short for Ducks Ass) was the haircut of the 1950s for cool white males. Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it with place with hair grease (hence the term greasers), the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and musical stars. The popularity of the haircut was accented by the fact that several versions of it were spun off in the United States and Great Britain, but faded with the coming of the British invasion of the United States in the early 1960s. COWBOY BELTS - I remember it being cool if you had a cowboy belt (early junior high), then later in junior high and high school it was a thinner brown belt with side stitching and a simple brass U-shaped buckle. Also, when "Clam Diggers" were in, a white cotton rope was the belt. --- Jeff, St. Paul, MN 1954 X-Ray Shoe Machines I remember those x-ray machines in the shoe stores....try on a pair of shoes...put your feet in and look down to view your own bones rattling inside those new penny loafers. --- Phil Morris, Lenox, IA, 1951 Cha Cha Blouses and Modrian Dresses We all wore those short white ruffle blouses. Very cha-cha ish ! They also came in longer renditions. I had them both. I also had this ugly dress styled after a Mondrian geometric design. It's a wonder I became an artist. When I was in high school, all the Juniors wore their hair in a flip. We couldn't wait to be Junior's, so we could wear the Junior flip, as my friend Janet so aptly put it. --- Phyllis, Baldwin, NY 1950 Peasant Blouses In Schenectady, New York, in the middle 1970's, every high school girl looked the same. It was as if we wore a uniform in expressing "our freedom." Straight long hair parted in the mddle, faded, worn jeans, men's work shoes, silver and turquoise jewelry, shiny lip gloss,... and the ever present peasant blouse. Fashion seems to be repeating itself. Most of these styles are back. --- Maria Martin, Schenectady, New York, 1958 GOGO BOOTS In 1965, Los Angeles and New York discos were infiltrated with women dressed in thigh high dresses and go-go boots. Go-Go boots were calf level boots with a broad heel that were either bright while leather or vinyl.GOGO boots and hot pants! Who lovd 'em most - the chicks or the dudes? They originated from the collection of Andre Courreges, a Parisian. His collection introduced white dresses three inches above the knee coupled with white mid-calf boots - called "kid boots". That year his collection overshadowed such seasoned designers as Coco Chanel. In 1965, Nancy Sinatra topped music charts with her smash hit "These Boots Are Made For Walking." The record sold almost 4 million copies -- she will forever be the poster child for go-go boots. By the spring of 1965, go-go boots began to fall out of fashion with designers showing shorter skirts and higher boots. I remember wearing white go-go boots and dancing on top of garbage cans singing "These Boots were made for walking" by Nancy Sinatra. --- Gayle Rhodes, Corinth, MS '59 Gum Wrapper Belts I remember making gum wrapper belts after chewing our gum we would fold the wrappers together (sort of like weaving) they were stretchy too. You used the silver part for disposal of gum. It was the neatest thing to have a gum wrapper belt around your waist. The longer the better. Funny thing is I can't remember how to do it now. --- Virginia, Orange Springs, Florida, 1950 Ironing Hair In an attempt to revolt against the complexity of the such styles as the bouffant hairdo, Northeastern girls began ironing their hair in an attempt to make it as straight and natural as possible. In order to get this look, young girls would simply lie their head on an ironing board while a trusted friend would iron the hair in one inch sections, the process taking up to an hour. The girls had to be careful, however, not to iron the hair for too long of a period of time as that could leave burn marks in the hair or could make the hair too dry or brittle. The fad diminished in the early seventies as other styles became the vogue. I remember the trauma of having naturally curly hair when the style was long and straight. That ironing board sure hurt my neck. --- Margie - Dallas, TX (previously Flushing, NY) 1951 Sunday Best My memories are of my fancy "Sunday" dresses with stiff crinoline slips. Accompanying them would be my black patent-leather Mary Jane shoes. In the winter, there was the wool fancy Sunday coat and matching hat. Back then, there weren't jeans------we had DUNGAREES! --- Mary, Little Neck, NY, 1950 Paper Dresses I remember paper dresses. I had several. To hem them, just cut the bottom off! Also, I remember the first time I saw velcro-I was about 8 years old and my cousin had a blouse on and told me it was held together by magic and I believed her!! --- Bev., New Canaan, Ct 1947 Angora Sweaters Remember Angora sweaters and tailor made, kick pleated skirts? We also used Angora to wrap around our boyfriend's class ring. --- Sandi, Canton, Ohio 1948 Engineer Boots Do you remember guys wearing engineer boots? Sometimes we would attach heel clips made from metal or if you REALLY wanted to be kool you would use horse shoes made for ponys. Every time you took a step, you would make this clicking noise. At night these pony shoes would look especially fine if you would put your feet on the pavement while riding your bicycle. The little kids loved the spark shower. Do you remember the black shoes with the external tongue? They had a wire type device on the back of tongue that would slide shut and hold shoe on your foot. Do you remember the black slacks with the cloth belt and buckle sewn onto the back side? These were especially kool worn with one of those thin belts that had two buckles. --- Dave, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1946 Name Brand Recollections Remember Madras wrap-around skirts and Bermuda bags to match? (We had to wash them in cold salt water because it kept the "bleeding" at a minimum.)Then, in that whole Ivy league (now called preppy) look in the early '60s, we saved every penny to buy Villager shirtwaist dresses, John Meyer sweater/skirt sets and Weejun by Bass. Add to those: Circle pins, peter pan collar blouses, Pappagallo flats, Capezio anything (back when the company still made things of leather, not plastic), sterling charm bracelets; pastel-colored angora oversized sweaters with VERY tight slacks; loden green suede 7/8 length winter coats with 3/4 sleeves and racoon collars; hose that always matched the winter skirt colors; Gant shirts for guys; white sail cloth pleated skirts for summer; scarab bracelets and summer Espadrilles! --- Kaye Elliott, Virginia, 1947 Earth Shoes How about Earth Shoes! They are back too. --- Jan, Carlsbad, CA, 1956 Yeah! Earth Shoes - I wore them waitering in the early 70's. The theory was that when you walked in them it was the same effect as walking on a sandy beach (your heel was lower than the rest of your foot). I remember getting shin splints while getting used to them. --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953 Granny Glasses, etc. Remember granny glasses, saftey pin piercings, clogs, Frye boots, Beatle boots and hi-heel sneakers? --- Lance, WPB, Fl., 1956 Hiphuggers, bell-bottoms (the really, really big bells!), Beatle wigs, wide belts, fringed leather jackets, and beads everywhere! --- Mike, San Angelo, TX 1956 How about poor boy sweaters and mini-skirts? Also, falls to turn short haired gals into long-haired babes. --- Andrea, Indiana, 1951 Fishnets Fishnet stockings were the absolute rage! It really didn't matter what color they were either. Mine were green and they matched a dress with a green fishnet collar! Man I thought it didn't stink when I wore this outfit! Nowadays, I'm laughing on the outside about it and on the inside seriously hoping that NO ONE has a picture of me back then! UGH! --- Susan, Panama City, Florida, 1955 Nehru Jackets and "Dickies" I performed a magic show with a friend in junior high. Our costume consisted of gold Nehru jackets under which we wore black turtle neck "dickies" (just the collar and a tab that hung down in the front and back). We were SOOO groovy! - Tim, Shoreview, Minnesota, 1953RETRO TO '60'S FASHION?Is there really a mid-'60s pop culture revival going on, or is it just being foisted on us? Tune in to prime time shows any day and see a Target ad promoting their red-and-white bullseye brand, sung to Petula Clark's "Sign of the Times;" a series of Sears clothing ads sung to Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" and Flexon eyeglasses twisted in time to The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." But what's next?Ads and commericials today going retro - '60's Nehru jackes and '60's rock music promoting clothing and other products Surely not Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully" for Nair? "Under the Boardwalk" for Truly Nolen? Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" for Viagra? Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" for surge protectors? "If I Had a Hammer" for Home Depot? "Surf City" for Yahoo? "Little Honda" for...well, we could go on, but we know that many of you are eating lunch. But take heart: the minute we see those annoying Gap kids doing the jerk in their khakis, it'll be almost over. Platform Shoes We would wear platform shoes with such high elevations that we felt as if we were on stilts! Now, my teenaged daughter wears the same type shoes AND CLOTHES. - Gayle, Texline, TX 1956 Dress Codes Saddle Oxfords and Bobbie Socks were the only thing allowed in school with only skirts and blouses. All skirts had to be no higher then the knee. Jeans, slacks were unheard of unless you worked in you yard. --- Alice, Gladwin, MI, 1946 I remember the "greasers" at our school used to wear black boots that were "illegal" and confiscated if they were over the ankle. --- Sharon, St. Paul, MN 1954 Hot Pants and... Hot pants were the rage in the early 1970s having found great popularity years earlier among European prostitutes. Hot pants were the successor to the miniskirt, succeeding in showing more leg, more cheek and more attitude than had been previously displayed. While very popular among many young women (and most young men,) they were frowned upon in the workplace as well as in many social arenas (a number of prominent restaurants forbade them from being worn by patrons.) Some businesses took full advantage of the fad (notably Allegheny airlines, even made them a part of the company uniform.) Surprisingly, this fad only lasted during colder months and faded before the warm weather came, perhaps because showing legs was more titillating during the winter months when they weren't expected. How about Hot Pants, Platform Shoes, and long flowered nylon dresses. Eee Gads. Isn't it funny how fashions repeat themselves. Kids today are wearing the same things we did, only we did it first. - Lore, Chicago, 1958 Clam Diggers In junior high (1965+) we wore 'clam diggers' which were kind of like Capri pants for guys. They were calf-high and had a little V-shaped slit on the outside of the leg. It was part of beach culture.Thank you, BBHQ and contributors!
In ' 63-' 64 the big fad in the Northeast was the MOHAIR SWEATER! They came in pullover, vest and cardigan styles. These oversized fluffy sweaters came in a range of colors -baby blue, baby pink, baby lilac, baby orange, baby yellow...and you HAD to have more than one! --- Hannah, Norwalk, CT, 1948
THE PILLBOX HAT
Of all the fashion trends set by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, she will be remembered most for her trademark pillbox hat. It was called a pillbox hat because it looked as if it was designed to hold pills. While Mrs. Kennedy is credited with bringing the hat to the masses, the hat had existed in different forms since the 1930s. In fact, Mrs. Kennedy was not even the first "First Lady" to wear one, as the First Lady of Mexico preceded her by a year or so.
By 1963, interest in wearing the pillbox hat had already begun to fade but came to a sudden halt when Mrs. Kennedy, wearing a pink pillbox hat, cradled the President's head in her lap after he was struck down by assassin's bullets.
LEISURE SUITS, n (1975) : a suit consisting of a shirt jacket and matching trousers for informal wear - Websters Dictionary Leisure suits first originated in Europe in the 1700s but the 1970s saw the emergence of the polyester version, sported by lounge lizards across the United States. While acting as an informal alternative to sports coats or suits, the leisure suit eventually because a cause ridicule, with certain restaurants and businesses going so far to ban them from being worn in their establishments.
Long Fringe-ware
I remember purple bell-bottom jeans and suede jackets with long, long fringe on the body and sleeves. The longer the fringe was, the cooler you were. If you had a purple long-fringe jacket, you were about he coolest person on the planet. The whole purple thing was launched by Jimi Hendrix and "Purple Haze." --- Lynn, Chicago, 1954
Side Belt Buckles
I think I remember why many guys wore their belt buckles on the side. I believe the trend was started by mechanics moving the buckle aside so they wouldn't scratch the paint job on their cars as they leaned into the engine compartment of their 57 Chevys, T-Birds, Vettes, etc. --- Greg, Milton, DE, 1952
Halter Tops and Tie Dyes
I remember when I was a kid wearing halter tops and platform shoes to make me taller and also the Earth Shoes were the hot new new shoes to wear. Bell bottoms and later straight leg pants began to come into style.The boys wore silk fancy tie dyed shirts and white tee shirts with blue jeans. Disco clothes were in too. --- Melody, Virginia Beach, VA,1958
I remember making our own tie dyed t-shirts in college. We made a mess out of the laundry room.
Tie-dye colored the '60's. You still see 'em on the streets.
No knowing how to "set" the color in the shirt, the first time I wore mine I had bright green arm pits for a week! --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953
Pink and Black Shoes
In 1957 the color rage was pink and black. Wishing to be a trendsetter I wanted pink and black saddle oxfords but, of course, there were no pink shoes then. The only pink thing in the house was Pepo-Bismol so I polished my shoes with it, becoming the talk of school-until it rained! It was great fun. --- Miki J., Miami, FL, 1940
Hair Fashion, Spray on Shampoo, All things hair... I used to iron my hair to get it straight in the late sixties. Then in the early seventies, I'd use soup cans (empty) to set it with. Does anyone remember spray on or shake on dry shampoo? --- Julie, Sturgeon Bay, WI 1953 Was the spray on shampoo called Pssst? or some such thing? --- Pam, League City, Texas - 1961 Editor note: it was called Psssssst (with that many S's). I remembered the commercial thanks to your prodding, Pam. Hip Huggers and Palazzo Pants ......especially in HOT PINK and ORANGE or PURPLEs and TURQUOISE. The brighter the better! Speaking about FISH NET stockings - I remember the FISH-NET VESTS. Real cool with GRANNY-GLASSES and HIGH BOOTS. There was also a time when putting "taps" on heels was the thing. (Am I giving away my age?). --- Norma; W. Palm Beach; FL,1946 Elephant Leg Pants Remember the HUGE elephant leg pants. A lot like the extremely large baggy jeans kids wear today, but ours stayed up without a belt. --- Pam, League City, Texas, 1961 Pointed Shoes My fond memory was the pointed shoes of the sixties. As I had size 12 feet imagine how long the shoes were with the point, they looked like snow skis. --- John, Adelaide South Australia 1950 JAZZED UP JEANSAlthough not as popular as poodle skirts and cardigans, jazzed up jeans have made a lasting impression on fashion. Teenage girls started the trend in the 1940's by adding everything from studs, paint, and patches to their jeans. The most common artwork to find on these jeans were collages of their favorite rock idols. In the early sixties, these jazzy jeans made a comeback with the flower children. Men and women both became slave to this fashion by spending weeks to get their jeans to look perfect - skintight and faded. Unlike the decals of the forties, jeans from the disco era had a more drug-oriented flavor, as leafy hemp plants and cigarette logos graces thousands of legs. The trend slowly started to exit the fashion scene around 1974 with the introduction of one person into the fashion arena- Levi Strauss - who introduced designers to the jeans craze. Breaking in Blue Jeans A cheap pair of stiff blue jeans had to be worked on to get them into shape in the days before bell bottoms. So in 1965 while on holiday I was persuaded that the thing to do was to soak them and wear them until they fitted. Duly, before breakfast I strapped the jeans on, jumped into the swimming pool and walked soggily around all day until they had dried out. They still looked awful, I got blue legs and I think a cold. --- John Culyer, born in Brentwood, England, 1950 Belt Fashions Nobody ever talked about it, but most of the boys wore their belt buckles on the side of their pants. If you wore Levis, you wore your wide Garrison black belt, with its big silver buckle on the side of your jeans. On kahkis or dress pants, you wore a skinny belt with your buckle on the side, too. Some girls wore their big buckles on the backside of their clothes. Yet nobody ever talke about this fad, most just did it. TV stars like Ricky Nelson and Wally on Leave it to Beaver wore it that way, too, as did many of the rock stars. A few of us still wear side buckles today. ---Dennis, Stratford, CT, 1943THE DA [DUCK'S ASS] HAIRCUT The D.A. (short for Ducks Ass) was the haircut of the 1950s for cool white males. Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it with place with hair grease (hence the term greasers), the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and musical stars. The popularity of the haircut was accented by the fact that several versions of it were spun off in the United States and Great Britain, but faded with the coming of the British invasion of the United States in the early 1960s. COWBOY BELTS - I remember it being cool if you had a cowboy belt (early junior high), then later in junior high and high school it was a thinner brown belt with side stitching and a simple brass U-shaped buckle. Also, when "Clam Diggers" were in, a white cotton rope was the belt. --- Jeff, St. Paul, MN 1954 X-Ray Shoe Machines I remember those x-ray machines in the shoe stores....try on a pair of shoes...put your feet in and look down to view your own bones rattling inside those new penny loafers. --- Phil Morris, Lenox, IA, 1951 Cha Cha Blouses and Modrian Dresses We all wore those short white ruffle blouses. Very cha-cha ish ! They also came in longer renditions. I had them both. I also had this ugly dress styled after a Mondrian geometric design. It's a wonder I became an artist. When I was in high school, all the Juniors wore their hair in a flip. We couldn't wait to be Junior's, so we could wear the Junior flip, as my friend Janet so aptly put it. --- Phyllis, Baldwin, NY 1950 Peasant Blouses In Schenectady, New York, in the middle 1970's, every high school girl looked the same. It was as if we wore a uniform in expressing "our freedom." Straight long hair parted in the mddle, faded, worn jeans, men's work shoes, silver and turquoise jewelry, shiny lip gloss,... and the ever present peasant blouse. Fashion seems to be repeating itself. Most of these styles are back. --- Maria Martin, Schenectady, New York, 1958 GOGO BOOTS
Was the spray on shampoo called Pssst? or some such thing? --- Pam, League City, Texas - 1961
Editor note: it was called Psssssst (with that many S's). I remembered the commercial thanks to your prodding, Pam.
Hip Huggers and Palazzo Pants
......especially in HOT PINK and ORANGE or PURPLEs and TURQUOISE. The brighter the better! Speaking about FISH NET stockings - I remember the FISH-NET VESTS. Real cool with GRANNY-GLASSES and HIGH BOOTS. There was also a time when putting "taps" on heels was the thing. (Am I giving away my age?). --- Norma; W. Palm Beach; FL,1946
Elephant Leg Pants
Remember the HUGE elephant leg pants. A lot like the extremely large baggy jeans kids wear today, but ours stayed up without a belt. --- Pam, League City, Texas, 1961
Pointed Shoes
My fond memory was the pointed shoes of the sixties. As I had size 12 feet imagine how long the shoes were with the point, they looked like snow skis. --- John, Adelaide South Australia 1950
JAZZED UP JEANS
Although not as popular as poodle skirts and cardigans, jazzed up jeans have made a lasting impression on fashion. Teenage girls started the trend in the 1940's by adding everything from studs, paint, and patches to their jeans. The most common artwork to find on these jeans were collages of their favorite rock idols.
In the early sixties, these jazzy jeans made a comeback with the flower children. Men and women both became slave to this fashion by spending weeks to get their jeans to look perfect - skintight and faded. Unlike the decals of the forties, jeans from the disco era had a more drug-oriented flavor, as leafy hemp plants and cigarette logos graces thousands of legs.
The trend slowly started to exit the fashion scene around 1974 with the introduction of one person into the fashion arena- Levi Strauss - who introduced designers to the jeans craze.
Breaking in Blue Jeans
A cheap pair of stiff blue jeans had to be worked on to get them into shape in the days before bell bottoms. So in 1965 while on holiday I was persuaded that the thing to do was to soak them and wear them until they fitted. Duly, before breakfast I strapped the jeans on, jumped into the swimming pool and walked soggily around all day until they had dried out. They still looked awful, I got blue legs and I think a cold. --- John Culyer, born in Brentwood, England, 1950
Belt Fashions
Nobody ever talked about it, but most of the boys wore their belt buckles on the side of their pants. If you wore Levis, you wore your wide Garrison black belt, with its big silver buckle on the side of your jeans. On kahkis or dress pants, you wore a skinny belt with your buckle on the side, too. Some girls wore their big buckles on the backside of their clothes. Yet nobody ever talke about this fad, most just did it. TV stars like Ricky Nelson and Wally on Leave it to Beaver wore it that way, too, as did many of the rock stars. A few of us still wear side buckles today. ---Dennis, Stratford, CT, 1943
THE DA [DUCK'S ASS] HAIRCUT
The D.A. (short for Ducks Ass) was the haircut of the 1950s for cool white males. Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it with place with hair grease (hence the term greasers), the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and musical stars. The popularity of the haircut was accented by the fact that several versions of it were spun off in the United States and Great Britain, but faded with the coming of the British invasion of the United States in the early 1960s. COWBOY BELTS - I remember it being cool if you had a cowboy belt (early junior high), then later in junior high and high school it was a thinner brown belt with side stitching and a simple brass U-shaped buckle. Also, when "Clam Diggers" were in, a white cotton rope was the belt. --- Jeff, St. Paul, MN 1954
X-Ray Shoe Machines
I remember those x-ray machines in the shoe stores....try on a pair of shoes...put your feet in and look down to view your own bones rattling inside those new penny loafers. --- Phil Morris, Lenox, IA, 1951
Cha Cha Blouses and Modrian Dresses
We all wore those short white ruffle blouses. Very cha-cha ish ! They also came in longer renditions. I had them both. I also had this ugly dress styled after a Mondrian geometric design. It's a wonder I became an artist. When I was in high school, all the Juniors wore their hair in a flip. We couldn't wait to be Junior's, so we could wear the Junior flip, as my friend Janet so aptly put it. --- Phyllis, Baldwin, NY 1950
Peasant Blouses
In Schenectady, New York, in the middle 1970's, every high school girl looked the same. It was as if we wore a uniform in expressing "our freedom." Straight long hair parted in the mddle, faded, worn jeans, men's work shoes, silver and turquoise jewelry, shiny lip gloss,... and the ever present peasant blouse. Fashion seems to be repeating itself. Most of these styles are back. --- Maria Martin, Schenectady, New York, 1958
GOGO BOOTS
In 1965, Los Angeles and New York discos were infiltrated with women dressed in thigh high dresses and go-go boots. Go-Go boots were calf level boots with a broad heel that were either bright while leather or vinyl.
GOGO boots and hot pants! Who lovd 'em most - the chicks or the dudes?
They originated from the collection of Andre Courreges, a Parisian. His collection introduced white dresses three inches above the knee coupled with white mid-calf boots - called "kid boots". That year his collection overshadowed such seasoned designers as Coco Chanel. In 1965, Nancy Sinatra topped music charts with her smash hit "These Boots Are Made For Walking." The record sold almost 4 million copies -- she will forever be the poster child for go-go boots. By the spring of 1965, go-go boots began to fall out of fashion with designers showing shorter skirts and higher boots. I remember wearing white go-go boots and dancing on top of garbage cans singing "These Boots were made for walking" by Nancy Sinatra. --- Gayle Rhodes, Corinth, MS '59
Gum Wrapper Belts
I remember making gum wrapper belts after chewing our gum we would fold the wrappers together (sort of like weaving) they were stretchy too. You used the silver part for disposal of gum. It was the neatest thing to have a gum wrapper belt around your waist. The longer the better. Funny thing is I can't remember how to do it now. --- Virginia, Orange Springs, Florida, 1950
Ironing Hair
In an attempt to revolt against the complexity of the such styles as the bouffant hairdo, Northeastern girls began ironing their hair in an attempt to make it as straight and natural as possible. In order to get this look, young girls would simply lie their head on an ironing board while a trusted friend would iron the hair in one inch sections, the process taking up to an hour. The girls had to be careful, however, not to iron the hair for too long of a period of time as that could leave burn marks in the hair or could make the hair too dry or brittle. The fad diminished in the early seventies as other styles became the vogue.
I remember the trauma of having naturally curly hair when the style was long and straight. That ironing board sure hurt my neck. --- Margie - Dallas, TX (previously Flushing, NY) 1951
Sunday Best
My memories are of my fancy "Sunday" dresses with stiff crinoline slips. Accompanying them would be my black patent-leather Mary Jane shoes. In the winter, there was the wool fancy Sunday coat and matching hat. Back then, there weren't jeans------we had DUNGAREES! --- Mary, Little Neck, NY, 1950
Paper Dresses
I remember paper dresses. I had several. To hem them, just cut the bottom off! Also, I remember the first time I saw velcro-I was about 8 years old and my cousin had a blouse on and told me it was held together by magic and I believed her!! --- Bev., New Canaan, Ct 1947
Angora Sweaters
Remember Angora sweaters and tailor made, kick pleated skirts? We also used Angora to wrap around our boyfriend's class ring. --- Sandi, Canton, Ohio 1948
Engineer Boots
Do you remember guys wearing engineer boots? Sometimes we would attach heel clips made from metal or if you REALLY wanted to be kool you would use horse shoes made for ponys. Every time you took a step, you would make this clicking noise. At night these pony shoes would look especially fine if you would put your feet on the pavement while riding your bicycle.
The little kids loved the spark shower. Do you remember the black shoes with the external tongue? They had a wire type device on the back of tongue that would slide shut and hold shoe on your foot. Do you remember the black slacks with the cloth belt and buckle sewn onto the back side? These were especially kool worn with one of those thin belts that had two buckles. --- Dave, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1946
Name Brand Recollections
Remember Madras wrap-around skirts and Bermuda bags to match? (We had to wash them in cold salt water because it kept the "bleeding" at a minimum.)Then, in that whole Ivy league (now called preppy) look in the early '60s, we saved every penny to buy Villager shirtwaist dresses, John Meyer sweater/skirt sets and Weejun by Bass.
Add to those: Circle pins, peter pan collar blouses, Pappagallo flats, Capezio anything (back when the company still made things of leather, not plastic), sterling charm bracelets; pastel-colored angora oversized sweaters with VERY tight slacks; loden green suede 7/8 length winter coats with 3/4 sleeves and racoon collars; hose that always matched the winter skirt colors; Gant shirts for guys; white sail cloth pleated skirts for summer; scarab bracelets and summer Espadrilles! --- Kaye Elliott, Virginia, 1947
Earth Shoes
How about Earth Shoes! They are back too. --- Jan, Carlsbad, CA, 1956 Yeah! Earth Shoes - I wore them waitering in the early 70's. The theory was that when you walked in them it was the same effect as walking on a sandy beach (your heel was lower than the rest of your foot). I remember getting shin splints while getting used to them. --- Tim, Shoreview, MN 1953
Granny Glasses, etc.
Remember granny glasses, saftey pin piercings, clogs, Frye boots, Beatle boots and hi-heel sneakers? --- Lance, WPB, Fl., 1956
Hiphuggers, bell-bottoms (the really, really big bells!), Beatle wigs, wide belts, fringed leather jackets, and beads everywhere! --- Mike, San Angelo, TX 1956
How about poor boy sweaters and mini-skirts? Also, falls to turn short haired gals into long-haired babes. --- Andrea, Indiana, 1951
Fishnets
Fishnet stockings were the absolute rage! It really didn't matter what color they were either. Mine were green and they matched a dress with a green fishnet collar! Man I thought it didn't stink when I wore this outfit! Nowadays, I'm laughing on the outside about it and on the inside seriously hoping that NO ONE has a picture of me back then! UGH! --- Susan, Panama City, Florida, 1955
Nehru Jackets and "Dickies"
I performed a magic show with a friend in junior high. Our costume consisted of gold Nehru jackets under which we wore black turtle neck "dickies" (just the collar and a tab that hung down in the front and back). We were SOOO groovy! - Tim, Shoreview, Minnesota, 1953
RETRO TO '60'S FASHION?
Is there really a mid-'60s pop culture revival going on, or is it just being foisted on us? Tune in to prime time shows any day and see a Target ad promoting their red-and-white bullseye brand, sung to Petula Clark's "Sign of the Times;" a series of Sears clothing ads sung to Herman's Hermits' "Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good;" and Flexon eyeglasses twisted in time to The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." But what's next?
Ads and commericials today going retro - '60's Nehru jackes and '60's rock music promoting clothing and other products
Surely not Sam the Sham's "Wooly Bully" for Nair? "Under the Boardwalk" for Truly Nolen? Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" for Viagra? Lou Christie's "Lightning Strikes" for surge protectors? "If I Had a Hammer" for Home Depot? "Surf City" for Yahoo? "Little Honda" for...well, we could go on, but we know that many of you are eating lunch. But take heart: the minute we see those annoying Gap kids doing the jerk in their khakis, it'll be almost over.
Platform Shoes
We would wear platform shoes with such high elevations that we felt as if we were on stilts! Now, my teenaged daughter wears the same type shoes AND CLOTHES. - Gayle, Texline, TX 1956
Dress Codes
Saddle Oxfords and Bobbie Socks were the only thing allowed in school with only skirts and blouses. All skirts had to be no higher then the knee. Jeans, slacks were unheard of unless you worked in you yard. --- Alice, Gladwin, MI, 1946
I remember the "greasers" at our school used to wear black boots that were "illegal" and confiscated if they were over the ankle. --- Sharon, St. Paul, MN 1954
Hot Pants and...
Hot pants were the rage in the early 1970s having found great popularity years earlier among European prostitutes. Hot pants were the successor to the miniskirt, succeeding in showing more leg, more cheek and more attitude than had been previously displayed. While very popular among many young women (and most young men,) they were frowned upon in the workplace as well as in many social arenas (a number of prominent restaurants forbade them from being worn by patrons.) Some businesses took full advantage of the fad (notably Allegheny airlines, even made them a part of the company uniform.) Surprisingly, this fad only lasted during colder months and faded before the warm weather came, perhaps because showing legs was more titillating during the winter months when they weren't expected.
How about Hot Pants, Platform Shoes, and long flowered nylon dresses. Eee Gads. Isn't it funny how fashions repeat themselves. Kids today are wearing the same things we did, only we did it first. - Lore, Chicago, 1958
Clam Diggers
In junior high (1965+) we wore 'clam diggers' which were kind of like Capri pants for guys. They were calf-high and had a little V-shaped slit on the outside of the leg. It was part of beach culture.
