Although Vogue editor Diana Vreeland didn’t invent the term “youth quake” until 1965, clothing styles had begun changing in favor of the young and slim already by the turn of the decade. What would the not-so-young and not-so-slim woman wear now?
This woman, officiating at a bowling banquet (I kid you not—it is written on the back of the photo) wears a mix of old and new. The top of her dress is fitted like a then-stylish sheath, while the bottom is fuller and features voluminous pockets. It’s too bad that we can’t see how long her skirt is. Her hair looks dyed and elaborately permed and she has a set of pearls at her throat. She not at all afraid to show her toned, tanned arms.
She looks like someone who had a lot of fun with her clothes. Doesn’t that print look a little like bowling balls?
Bowling balls, indeed. You made me smile!
Bowling balls? I think you got my chuckle for the day with that observation. Actually, I really like this sun dress with it’s huge and serviceable pockets, bowling balls included.
The permed and bleached hair immediately made me think of my mother who did both. Her naturally brown hair was soft and wavy but she wanted to create a look and didn’t mind that it required weekly visits to the hairdresser to have it washed and set. I still can’t believe it. Mine is cut fairly frequently now it is short but has never been permed and I am glad I gave up on the bleach. But I think in the 1960s women just felt they had to.