Church Sunday, August 1969

It looks like these four have just come out of church services.  Their different styles show how younger and older women adapted to the big fashion shifts of this decade.

Even though her hair is still brown, I’m guessing that the woman in black is the oldest one of the bunch.  Her dress is the least “sixties” in its silhouette, following the lines of her body closely.  Although it’s hard to see, there may be a double line of buttons down the front, making it a much modified shirt waist.  It’s also longer than anyone else’s. The woman to her right has gray hair, but she looks much younger.  Is it her slimmer shape, shorter skirt, and shift dress?

Simplicity Pattern Book, Spring 1969. Vintage Patterns

The pair on the left are a fascinating study of style and age.  The younger woman in green wears a short, tight dress with a high waist. Her look is more contemporary than the other three, since by 1969 some styles were moving away from the shift and waistlines were moving up—see the Simplicity pattern above.  Her companion in pink looks much older. Even though her dress has one of those wonderful sixties collars, the dropped waist accents her belly and interrupts the sleek lines. To add to that, her little hat with a veil looks quite old fashioned.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know the actual ages of these women?  Was the one in green really all that much younger, or was she one of those forty-somethings who was criticized behind her back for dressing too young?

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One Response to Church Sunday, August 1969

  1. Nann says:

    Forensic photography is such fun! The belt on the pink dress is placed most unfortunately (for anyone, I’d think). The two older women are wearing white gloves which were pretty much out of style by the late 60’s. (Until the Internet/Amazon where you can buy anything, it was hard to find white gloves for many years. [In college I belonged to an organization that ushered at events–white gloves part of the uniform. I had one pair that I carefully washed and dried each time.])

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