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To contribute to this collective history project, send pictures and stories about the older women in your life to americanagefashion@gmail.com. The more information you can include (date, place, etc.), the better.-
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Tag Archives: pants
Two Sisters, Two Styles
A reader from Colorado sent this wonderful photo along with a story, my favorite kind of contribution. Center and right are two sisters, with facial shapes, hair styles and eye glasses looking very much the same. However, the similarity ends … Continue reading
The Woman Who Stayed In Style
One common assumption about older women is that they are much less likely to keep up with current clothing trends. I notice this in my own dress. There are lots of explanations for this phenomenon. Usually older women have discovered … Continue reading
The Woman Who Loved Pants
While it’s not hard to find photos of younger women in pants from the 1940s, older women are a different matter. This woman (I’m almost positive it’s the same one—or else a very close relative) might not yet be 50, … Continue reading
Stay Cool in Summer Shorts
What’s being featured here—the woman or the frig? It must be hot, because she has on a short sleeved shirt and shorts. That’s showing a lot of skin for an older woman, at least according to fashion advisors. The clothes … Continue reading
Finally Fashion Forward?
I used to think that I was the only woman in America who didn’t wear jeans, but maybe that is changing. The Washington Post recently featured an article on the decline of jeans sales during the pandemic. More and more … Continue reading
Anne Spencer in her Garden
When I began this project about ten years ago, I knew that it was a huge task to attempt to portray the dress of older American women in all their diversity. Although I’ve tried to include older women of color, … Continue reading
Lilly Daché in Pants, 1945
By the end of World War Two, French Born Lilly Daché had cemented her reputation as one of the premier milliners in the United States. As she prepared to visit France just after peace had been declared, Life magazine published … Continue reading
Glamorous Grandmas
Well, it’s not so hard to be a young looking grandmother if you are in fact young. Joan Bennett (1910-1990) was eighteen when she had her first child and all of 39 in the photo above. This LA Times article … Continue reading
Suiting Up
This older woman looks quite serious in her uniform, but what organization does she belong to? I thought at first that the triangle insignia represented a position in civilian defense, but quick research showed that those triangles go the other … Continue reading
On the Road
When ordinary Americans began buying cars in large numbers, car camping became a popular pastime. The first club devoted to this leisure time activity was formed in 1919. As we can see above, it was not just for the young. … Continue reading