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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: shoes
Redhead and Friends, early to mid-1960s
More big red hair! This was a lucky eBay find. If you’re interested in discovering your own treasures, the best search term is “beehive.” The updo is similar to the last one—a big pile of curls on top of the … Continue reading
Spring in Central Park, April 1960
If you can look past the two doormen at the center of this picture, it offers an interesting overview of different clothing styles adapted by a set of older women in New York at the dawn of the 1960s. Starting … Continue reading
The Gracious Lady in Polka Dots, 1938
I’m not surprised to see the “Gracious Lady,” Sears’ euphemistic attempt to address the older woman, wearing a polka dot dress! A very popular print in the 1930s, polka dots were even more common for the older set. In their … Continue reading
Matchy Matchy in the Sixties
Renewed attention to Queen Elizabeth’s fashion choices has brought “monochromatic style” back into the fashion discussion. There is a less flattering term for it, however–“matchy matchy.” These days it’s often used as an insult for women without enough imagination to … Continue reading
Auntie Chris at Jones Beach, 1955
My husband comes from a small family, so he doesn’t have a vast supply of stories about wacky relatives to enliven dinner parties. One exception is his great aunt, Edith Christine Smith (1888-1968), known to the family as Auntie Chris. … Continue reading
The Dog Days of Summer
When it’s hot out I tend to cover up in loose clothing, choosing baggy pants and long sleeved cotton shirts. The older woman above takes the opposite approach. She opens up her body to the breeze with a sleeveless top, … Continue reading
Mutton Dressed as Lamb–Helen Hokinson’s View
According to Alison Lurie’s inventive book about fashion, The Language of Clothes, trying to dress younger than you are has long been regarded as a bad fashion move. “Since classical times, literature has been full of elderly and not-so-elderly comic … Continue reading
Family Road Trip
In honor of summer holidays, I give you this photo of what I’m guessing was a family road trip. It could just be a Sunday outing, but only the son with his tie looks dressed up enough to have come … Continue reading
Irene Salce de Urbina in Dress-Up Sneakers, 1986
Born in Mexico in 1908, Irene Salce de Urbina moved to Texas in the 1940s with her husband and seven children. She became a US citizen in 1963. Her husband, a minister in the Mexican Baptist Church, died in 1967. … Continue reading
A Very Colorful Kitchen
For those fond of pattern mixing, here is one for you! We have plaids and geometrics on the walls and floors, flowers on the table and apron, a paisley dress, and a figurative drawing on the curtains. In short, there … Continue reading