Myself and three friends dressed up for a holiday party
Most women of a certain age remember when fashion was fun. Even as teenagers, we’d read our mothers’ magazines, like Vogue, Good Housekeeping, and McCall’s.
In August we’d scour our teen magazines to see what would be in style for the upcoming season. Proper school dress was mandatory. We went through the ritual of shopping for clothes or selecting fabric for our mothers to make our dresses—remember Betsy McCall?—and we had to wait until school started to wear our new apparel. My parochial school friends wore uniforms, which I thought were classy, but they hated them. The nuns used to measure the girls’ skirts to be sure they were a proper, lady-like length. However, after getting measured, the girls would roll their skirts up at the waistband.
In public school in Santa Monica, California, we had uniforms for our gym class. They consisted of navy-blue cotton shorts with stiff white blouses, no t-shirts. T-shirts were something our fathers and brothers wore under their dress shirts. In our swim class, we were forced to wear those dreadful cotton bathing suits that sagged when you got them wet. When school was over, though, we’d go home and change into our bikinis and head for the beach. We were truly scandalous. Specific uniforms were required for after-school activities, too. Our cheerleading outfits consisted of long-sleeved, royal-blue knit sweaters and knee-length wool skirts with contrasting blue and gold panels. We wore Keds sneakers with white folded bobby socks. At the time, I thought our uniforms were adorable.
My grandmothers, who set the fashion bar high!
When we arrived home from school, we changed into play clothes to keep our school dresses fresh. Our after-school wear consisted of blue jeans and one of our father’s old white dress shirts, which was a very cool look at the time. Then on holidays and special occasions we wore our cute little ballet flats and party dresses. For prom night, we wore formals in the Grace Kelly style.
Later, when we began our chosen professions, we often wore uniforms, but if we worked in offices, we wore business attire, suits and dresses. Who can forget Della Street’s beautiful wardrobe and famous Springolators on the courtroom drama series Perry Mason?
The uniforms we wore for sports activities back then led to my Lululemons of today. When I put on my workout outfits, I’m ready to go for a run, lift weights, or do yoga. Then come my cocktail dresses. What makes a woman of a certain age feel sexier than a low-cut cocktail dress and high heels? Although, these days the cut might not be quite so low and the high heels may have been replaced by flats.
In my Court Reporter Mystery Series, set in Santa Monica in the 1990s, my protagonist, Addie, has an outfit for every occasion, as does her mother, Vesta, a woman of a certain age and a former Vogue model. In my Sorority Sisters Mysteries, set in 1941, Vesta is a college student and part-time model. In the opening scene of the first book, Vesta is modeling the new and ever so fashionable rompers. I love retro! The clothes from the 1940s were stunning, the 1950s were feminine, the 1960s were outrageously colorful and very hippie. Then there was the stylish Jacqueline Kennedy look with the pillbox hats. I have pieces in my wardrobe from all those years just because they’re so much fun to wear.
A friend and me, about to head to the opera
Nowadays I own a B&B in Ashland, Oregon, and I’m a writer, so my wardrobe is very relaxed. I don casual wear during the day, but I often change into elegant loungewear for the twilight hours. It gives me a feeling of transitioning from work to a relaxing evening. Ashland is home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as well as the Oregon Cabaret Theatre and many local playhouses. I seldom wear one of my beautiful cocktail dresses from my years of attending theatre in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but when I do go to a production, I enjoy wearing fashionable sundresses with cute little sandals in the summer and wool skirts and sweaters with boots in the winter.
My daughter and granddaughter recently visited. In readying for the theatre, my granddaughter wore a light-pink cotton skirt with an adorable lacey, white halter top blouse. When my daughter asked her where she got the outfit, she answered that the blouse was purchased in Spain last year. About the pink skirt, my granddaughter, who calls me Aunie, said, “I went shopping in Aunie’s closet!” We had a good laugh, but I was flattered that my granddaughter enjoys wearing my clothes.
My granddaughter as a toddler, looking adorably retro
Now, tell me your thoughts on remembering fashion and fashion of today. Did you read fashion, teen, and movie magazines? Perhaps you grew up in a rural area where overalls were popular. Overalls were fashionable during WWII and came back into vogue in the 1970s. If you lived in a big city, you may have worn hats and gloves. In my little beach city, capris and flip-flops were all the rage.
All of us have a different view on keeping up with new trends and reliving old ones. Sometimes it just feels good to hang out in sweats. I have to admit, I often sit down at my computer to write in the mornings while still wearing my pajamas. I will add, though, that my slippers always match!
Cheers!