Contact me
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.-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Bob Moeller on Florida Retirement Hotels in the 1970s
- Bob Moeller on Native Daughters of the Golden West
- Bob Moeller on Fashioning San Francisco
- Marianne on Grannies on the Red Carpet, 2024
- Nann on Duchess of Windsor Patterns
Categories
Tags
- About Me
- advertising
- advice literature
- African American
- Asian American
- book review
- California
- Chicana Latina
- coats
- colors
- comparative
- designers
- Florida
- fur
- generations
- glasses
- hair
- half sizes
- hats/headcoverings
- Illinois
- jewelry
- lace
- Mrs. Exeter
- New Look
- New York
- pants
- pantsuits
- photographer
- popular culture
- power dressing
- sewing
- sheath dress
- shirtwaist
- shoes
- sizes
- special occasion
- sportswear
- Texas
- textile patterns
- textile prints
- textiles
- Washington DC
- women's organizations
- World War One
- World War Two
Meta
Reference Links
Tag Archives: sportswear
Summer at Martha’s Vineyard, 1950s
It is the wrong season for this picture, but I couldn’t resist since it contains some of my favorite elements—the many kinds of pants and shorts worn in the 1950s and a stark generational contrast between the old and young. … Continue reading
Posted in 1940s, 1950s
Tagged African American, generations, Massachusetts, pants, shoes, sportswear
Leave a comment
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
Mismatched Pair, 1958
Before the summer passes us by, I thought it was high time for some bathing suits. At first I guessed this might be a Mother-Daughter snap shot, but someone has helpfully written on the back, “Mother and Etta Doey at … 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
Happy Camper
Did she go into the water with this suit? It looks to be wool and mighty stretchy. In fact, maybe she knit it herself. Note that the straps on left and right appear to be two different widths. The texture … Continue reading
In the Swim, 1940s
It’s not easy to find vintage photos of older women in swim wear. Like me, perhaps many were adverse to pictures with too much skin exposed. But this smiling woman shows no such compunction. It’s hard to guess her age–her … Continue reading
The Sporting Life, 1923
According to fashion historians, women’s participation in sports was perhaps the biggest engine driving the change to ever more casual clothing in the twentieth century. Serious sportswomen wanted more range of movement than conventional clothing allowed. Skirts got shorter, fabric … Continue reading
Home on the Range, 1948
What to wear on vacation? The high summer issue of Vogue Pattern Book in 1948 tackled this very question. It presented four different holiday scenarios—a weekend at the shore, a week on a ranch, a two weeks’ cruise, and a … Continue reading
On the Go, 1976
During the 1970s, it became more frequent for older American women to wear pants. Obviously that was not the case for the white haired woman on the left, who kept on her dress for a spin on an adult tricycle. … Continue reading
Bowling Club, 1962
“Members of the Fifty and Over Bowling Club cheer as team member Ann Queen makes her strike.” So read the caption in the Herald Examiner newspaper when this photo as published in 1962. There’s lots to see here. The women … Continue reading