Middle Aged Memories

desdemona222b

I tried to get my dad to buy me one of those True Story magazines instead of a comic book on a trip once and he said, "No, Becky, you're not going to read trash."  I thought to myself, "How is this trash?" but you didn't argue with Dad.

We were only allowed to wear pants at school if it was snowing outside when I was a kid.  I do remember being able to wear pants in high school at will.  I went to LSU, which had a super conservative Dean of Women, and coeds there couldn't wear pants on campus until 1969!  By the time I got there in 1972, it was all hippied out and the girls ran around the sweltering campus in shorts and tube tops. 

Duct tape and Elmer's, Elimar?  Dang you were desperate!

desdemona222b

Talk about your kids thinking you're making things up, my dad had a bunch of old film spliced together and put on tape several years ago for a Christmas present.  Every single birthday party, Christmas, and Easter was on there from the time I was in first grade up until I was about 12.  Vacations, too. My kids are sitting there watching my sister and me prancing around in those silly-looking school dresses and petticoats we used to wear back then, the birthday parties, all that, and finally my son said, "Whoa, was it ALWAYS that way when you were a kid?"  I was kinda like, "Uh, yeah."

elimar86861

I know!  When Marybe metioned those patent leather shoes before, I remembered I got a new pair every Easter, plus little gloves to wear also.  If I got a white pair of patent leather shoes, it did not take long to mark them up with black scuff streaks.  Do you remember what cleaned those off?   You could use alcohol and scrub, scrub, scrub, but what worked the best was lighter fluid.

desdemona222b

LOL.  Don't forget the HATS.  There's one particular Easter on that tape I was talking about that is so funny to watch because we're at my grandparents' house and Dad is filming from just a short ways from the front porch.  So there's a procession of people who emerge.  First my grandpa, then me, then my sister, and then - the grand finale - Granny and Mom coming out in these hats that were just montrosities.  Mom's looked like one of those baskets that a plant comes in!

susu1976

Growing up Catholic I was forced to wear a hat and gloves to church every Sunday (and a dress, of course--NO PANTS).  I didn't wear pants to church until I was about 15 or so.  I hated the chin straps on those hats--the elastic that hurt your ears and was too tight.  Ow.  Every Easter my mom, me, and my sister got orchid corsages to wear.  I thought it was neat then, but it is so corny to me now.  LOL.  We weren't allowed to wear pants to elementary school, but we could wear shorts under our skirts for gym, and we were allowed to wear snowpants or leggings in the winter and then change into skirts (we walked to school).  I was so happy when they invented pantyhose!  I hated the stockings and garter belts.  Luckily, I only had to wear those for a year or two before the pantyhose came out.

Anonymous

Going to Catholic school, we were supposed to have our beanies (in the younger grades) or chapel veils (for the upper grades) with us at all times just in case the teachers decided that we needed to do something in the chapel at some point during the school day.  Girls who "forgot" their headgear had to use (clean) Kleenex.  I'm not sure how reverent that was.

Wonderland

I tell my dd how lucky she is to have panty hose! We were not allowed to wear pants to school. In junior high we all started wearing hose. How I hated that garter belt! I even had a girdle like older women wore. On PE days I usually wore knee socks because they were easier and quicker to put on than the garter belt and hose.

Speaking of belts, what about those sanitary napkin belts?!?! Days when I wore the sanitary napkin belt AND my garter belt were torture.

One more junior high memory - when one of my friends or I had our periods, we would sing the song "This Girl is a Woman Now." I laugh everytime I heard it on the radio!

NativeMainer

I remember wearing dresses and skirts to school--could wear pants UNDER the dress when it was very cold.  I was in 7th or 8th grade before we were allowed to wear pants to school.  My mother allowed me to wear pants to school 1 day a week, and it couldn't be jeans.  That winter it got bitterly cold and stayed that way, so she bought me a couple of pant suits and let me wear those.  They were polyester, ugly as sin, but I thought they were the wonderful!  Sanitary napkin belts certainly were not wonderful.  That whole rig was uncomfortable!  I missed the garter belt/stocking thing, fortunately. 

Meece

I guess I am old fashioned, but the women out her rarely wear panty hose anymore, they go bare legged.  I just don't think I personally look that good barelegged.

hmm

It is the same here with most bare legged. When we do have chilly days then it is often boots of some kind . When I wear my boots I usually have trouser socks on.

Pat

Meece

If I am in a longer skirt with my boots, I put the pantyhose on for extra warmth.  But I will go bare knee-ed if the skirt is shorter.

Wonderland

I'm with you on the panty hose. I mostly wear pants now so rarely do I wear them.

I wrote that my dd was lucky because she has panty hose to wear instead of stockings and a garter belt. Well, she rarely wears them also and prefers to go barelegged.

Maybe one day in the future she will tell her dd what women had to wear for hose and that one day women decided to rebel against them and that's why there are none left in the world!

(I think that's what happened to the sanitary napkin belt!)

Meece

Aren't you glad they invented the adhessive for the sanitary napkins before someone decided to use Duct Tape.

Marybe, my dad loves Red Green.  He got the series on DVD and subjected us to three hours non-stop on our last visit.  It can be funny...in moderation.

karen1956

I can't stand panty hose.....too hot!!!  I go bare legged...I'm probably the only mother of the bride who did not wear stockings with her formal dress!!! bare legged!!!!.I'm not a big boot person either, so unless its bitter cold out, not boots....and when I wear them, I have little socks on. 

Oh yes, I remember garter belts, sanitary napkin belts (those were awful)....

And thank you ..... yes quisonaire (sp) rods.....and SRA boxes were also in the back (or side) of my classrooms too.

Has someone yet mentioned crinolines under our dresses....they were so scratchy and uncomfortable...

I couldn't wear pants in high school till 10th grade and even longer till jeans.

elimar86861

By the time I went to high school, the "dress code" didn't even exist anymore.  We had been repressed for so long, we all gravitated toward the exact opposite:  Halters, hot pants, sheer muslin shirts, sizzlers, super low 3" zipper) elephant bells,  wild dashikis, giant platform shoes, huarachis, lace-up boots, suede fringe jackets, fringe purses, giant cowl neck sweaters, clothing that looked like the flag, etc. 

Considering all that was now allowed, it was strange that I once got sent home for wearing a short "culotte" skirt.  I guess the "no culottes" rule was still on the books.  By college, it was all overalls and Earth shoes.  That was definitely a fashion one-eighty.

gillyone

I wore a uniform every day in secondary school (which covered junior high and high school years) which included a tie!!! (Not sure my boys even know how to tie a tie.) Pants were not allowed - ever. Though stockings then pantihose were allowed, I wore knee socks every day until I was 17.

MTG

Our secondary school dress code - no jeans, overly short skirts, or clogs; Tuesdays required suits and ties for boys, skirts or dresses for girls. And for the first few years we had this horrible zip up shorts onesy (the top had stripes and the attached bottom was navy blue) for gym class....I still shudder thinking of it !!!!

Meece

When I was little I loved crinolines because I felt so dressy.  Never wore school niforms,  I never even owned a pair of blue jeans until I was in 6th gr.ade

Wonderland

MTG - We wore the same outfit for PE class except it was all white. We called it our monkey suit!

Meece

I got to high school just a few years after they discontinued the  monkey suits.  We had bright blue shorts that snapped on the side and a white short sleeved that snapped up the front.  I doubt kids today even have uniforms for p.e.

susu1976

We wore the zip up gym suit (stripes on top, navy on the bottom) starting in 7th grade.  By freshman year, we could wear whatever we wanted for gym, but had the "standard" tank suit for swimming (all blue, no shelf bra inside--which was hell for us with actual boobs).

I loved the crinolines too, but they really scratched my legs because I was wearing ankle socks and no slip.  Geez, do young women even wear slips anymore?  I have two or three and I wear them whenever I wear a dress or skirt, which isn't often.  I'm guessing if they don't wear pantyhose, they don't wear slips either.  I would never wear a skirt without pantyhose--it just wouldn't feel right.

OG56

Ohhh slips, I still love them, though I am sure no one wears them anymore, my memories are of crinolines of many colors, petti pants, culotte slips, and then full slips for just plain sexy..I found my Mom's perfectly perserved full and half slips, very lacy and either red or black and my DH think's their the best and they hide a few flaws too..

Meece

Oh, petti pants, another item that used to make me feel so girly!  I was dressing for a funeral last week and put on a lined skirt.  I got almost out the door and went back and added a half slip.  It just felt right.  It is amazing, out here in sunny CA, to see the young women who probably don't know what a slip is.  All you have to do is have them stand between you and the sunlight.

susu1976

I had pettipants that had rows of lace on each leg--they were adorable and I loved wearing them.  I remember my mother ironing her slips until they were smooth and crisp.  They don't make them like that any more--the polyester or nylon or whatever is kind of limp and lifeless.  I know some of mom's were cotton, but I think the others were rayon, or a blend with rayon?

Meece

I remember how girly I felt when I finally got the rayon slips instead of plain cotton.  My petti pants had the rows of lace on them, too.  I have to admit, I no longer have a full slip, but my half slips do fine with a camisole.

mthomp2020

A little late to the party, here, but I did get quite a few chuckles. I didn't read through the whole thread, though - 23 pages would take a while! So I'm not sure if any of these have been mentioned:

Dr. Scholl's clogs. Remember those? Wood with a strap across the instep. I remember all too often having one start to come off and then stepping on it sideways - can you say bruised arch? OUCH!! Didn't stop me from wearing them, though!

Ginny dolls. Revlon dolls, precursors to Barbie. Back in the 50's. The clothes were really very high quality. The Revlon dolls were shaped more like real women. My grandmother would sew matching outfits for our Ginny dolls and my sister and me.

Patty Play Pal, which was big enough to dress in regular girl's clothing, and could walk if you held her hand and walked forward with her. I had the Patty Play Pal, my sister had Ruthie Walker.

Toni (or was it Tony?) home permanents - how I hated those! I had long, straight hair, and my mom would give me a permanent. Every time my hair was washed, my mom or dad would comb it out and I'd cry because of all the tangles, since they didn't use a cream rinse on it. But boy did I have ringlets! Of course, when I was in high school, everyone asked me how I got my hair so straight. Everyone else was ironing it, or putting it up on juice can rollers to get it straight. Me? I just simply washed and dried it!

I went to Catholic schools, so always wore uniforms. My sister and I didn't exactly have an extensive wardrobe. I graduated in 71. I had to buy my own jeans with my own money, as my parents wouldn't buy them for me. I was soooo proud of my first pair of Levi bell bottoms!

As an extension of wearing uniforms - Villager wool cardigans to wear with our uniform skirts were THE sweater to have. And Bass Weejuns for shoes, either the loafers or the tie oxfords with the leather tassels on the laces. And saddle shoes actually made a comeback, though we did draw and write on them. Hey, when you have to wear a uniform, ya gotta do something to make a fashion statement!

Meece

I remember Toni permanents and my mother liked the Lilt brand.  Nasty smell!  Ewwww!

susu1976

Never had the home perm because I had naturally curly hair.  However, my mother made me get a pixie haircut in about 6th grade, which I HATED.  After that, I didn't cut my hair again until I was out of high school.

Meece

I think we discussed those pixie haircuts early on in this thread, or maybe in it's mother-thread

elimar86861

Meece, I think the pixie haircuts were a topic in the Mid-Age thread before the spin off of the Memories thread.  Or maybe I am just thinking of the "shortest bangs contest" with photos!   That haircut was so popular it could have it's own spin off thread almost every girl I know had to suffer the indignity.  And who actually looked good in it?  Mary Martin and Twiggy, that's all.  I got hair butchered in the third grade myself   I had a boy tell me it looked cute, but it was the wrong boy, not the one I liked.  See how awful the pixie cut is!!!