I especially liked watching women in this short documentary: not only they managed to do all sorts of things while looking like women, but apparently, Patriarchy let them out of the house!
And suitcases seemed to be rather small. Back then people didn't just dress better, but they did it with smaller wardrobes. What an irony. Now we have full wardrobes and nothing to wear.
I would love to see some old list for lady's "basic wardrobe". I have seen modern lists of minimum wardrobe or such, but they are always, always jeans-and-t-shirt -based.
Well, according to what I read, a basic wardrobe back then consisted of a couple of skirts (dark-coloured, woolen for winter and cotton for summer), with an amount of twin sets (a blouse + a cardigan), a sturdy skirt or two for doing housework, a couple of formal dresses and/or suits (a skirt+a jacket), probably a couple of frilly summer dressers.
However, I´m not sure they all had few clothes (may be, in Europe which was rather poor after the war). After all, nearly half of all the jokes in I Love Lucy are about her buying tons of new clothes every month or so:)
Dresses and hats. Mens with ties. Times have certainly changed! We do not have nude beaches in Canada - we do feel the dutch are very immodest that way.
In my travels of Holland, I found it very fascinating how the cultures and norms changed from town to town. I found some towns still had women wearing the dutch costume clothes and some towns very modern. This is intriguing because Holland is not a large country and yet so much diversity in it's styles. Some of the churches that I went to had women wearing only dresses and then in others, I saw very casual clothing. I loved seeing the girls in very stylish skirts and scarves.
I may shock you, but I have never watched it:) I´m very selective with what I watch and I find modern British TV series disappointing, to say the least. My mother is a fan, though. I like Poirot, but then they started filming it in the 1990s.
You have missed nothing! :-) I was full of hope when I began to hear about the hype around it - hats! tea parties! old-fashioned charm! - but the serie is VERY disappointing, imo. I have given it a try for 2,5 episodes, but now I'm done. It's like you are watching a tabloid becoming alive in a beginning of the 20th century scene.
Marietta, the coastal area is very liberal. The places where most women still wear skirts are in the `Bible belt`. There is also class distinction, upper classes women are better dressed, on the whole, and look more feminine.
I had to watch that video again just to admire clothes. Skirts and dresses are so much more "forgiving" when you are older and maybe a bit heavier lady. I payed special attention to sleeves since my arms are quite big. Well, the older ladies in this video had mostly almost elbow-lenght, rahter loose sleeves when the sleeve was short. So much more flattering than those skimpy sleeves they sell nowadays. Even sleeveless shirt is better than skimpy "sleeves".
Beaches: when I see people at beach, I always remember how monsieur Poirot said in "Evil under the Sun" that sunbathing people reminded him of morgue of Paris. Person in swimming suit, lying still, is just flesh. There is no personality. I think that is so very true.
And I could survive without seeing so much of other peoples flesh. ;) Somehow when people are haf-naked it forces more intimacy that I would like, if you get my point. Obviously most people don't think their flesh is intimate at all. Some of them won't leave the house without makeup, nobody can see their bare face, but everybody can see their bare body. That is weird.
And suitcases seemed to be rather small. Back then people didn't just dress better, but they did it with smaller wardrobes. What an irony. Now we have full wardrobes and nothing to wear.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see some old list for lady's "basic wardrobe". I have seen modern lists of minimum wardrobe or such, but they are always, always jeans-and-t-shirt -based.
Well, according to what I read, a basic wardrobe back then consisted of a couple of skirts (dark-coloured, woolen for winter and cotton for summer), with an amount of twin sets (a blouse + a cardigan), a sturdy skirt or two for doing housework, a couple of formal dresses and/or suits (a skirt+a jacket), probably a couple of frilly summer dressers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I´m not sure they all had few clothes (may be, in Europe which was rather poor after the war). After all, nearly half of all the jokes in I Love Lucy are about her buying tons of new clothes every month or so:)
Wait!
ReplyDeleteDid I just see ladies on the beach with clothes on!!??
What a pretty sight!
Yeah, I noticed it, too! Proves that it´s possible:)
ReplyDeleteDresses and hats. Mens with ties. Times have certainly changed! We do not have nude beaches in Canada - we do feel the dutch are very immodest that way.
ReplyDeleteIn my neck of woods older women often dress worse than younger women, who are still trying to look pretty. They are also overall more feminist.
ReplyDeleteAbout nude beaches, I think what Miriam meant was that there were (older) ladies fully dressed. Nude beaches here are separate from `normal` beaches.
ReplyDeleteExactly :-)
DeleteIn my travels of Holland, I found it very fascinating how the cultures and norms changed from town to town. I found some towns still had women wearing the dutch costume clothes and some towns very modern. This is intriguing because Holland is not a large country and yet so much diversity in it's styles. Some of the churches that I went to had women wearing only dresses and then in others, I saw very casual clothing. I loved seeing the girls in very stylish skirts and scarves.
ReplyDelete...and baseball caps :-/
ReplyDeleteBtw, Sanne, are you a fan of Downtown Abbey?
ReplyDeleteI may shock you, but I have never watched it:) I´m very selective with what I watch and I find modern British TV series disappointing, to say the least. My mother is a fan, though. I like Poirot, but then they started filming it in the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteYou have missed nothing! :-) I was full of hope when I began to hear about the hype around it - hats! tea parties! old-fashioned charm! - but the serie is VERY disappointing, imo. I have given it a try for 2,5 episodes, but now I'm done. It's like you are watching a tabloid becoming alive in a beginning of the 20th century scene.
DeleteA big dislike.
Marietta, the coastal area is very liberal. The places where most women still wear skirts are in the `Bible belt`. There is also class distinction, upper classes women are better dressed, on the whole, and look more feminine.
ReplyDeleteI had to watch that video again just to admire clothes. Skirts and dresses are so much more "forgiving" when you are older and maybe a bit heavier lady. I payed special attention to sleeves since my arms are quite big. Well, the older ladies in this video had mostly almost elbow-lenght, rahter loose sleeves when the sleeve was short. So much more flattering than those skimpy sleeves they sell nowadays. Even sleeveless shirt is better than skimpy "sleeves".
ReplyDeleteBeaches: when I see people at beach, I always remember how monsieur Poirot said in "Evil under the Sun" that sunbathing people reminded him of morgue of Paris. Person in swimming suit, lying still, is just flesh. There is no personality. I think that is so very true.
And I could survive without seeing so much of other peoples flesh. ;) Somehow when people are haf-naked it forces more intimacy that I would like, if you get my point. Obviously most people don't think their flesh is intimate at all. Some of them won't leave the house without makeup, nobody can see their bare face, but everybody can see their bare body. That is weird.