Generational Fashion

In an interview with my grandmother and mother, I learned about what fashion was like growing up (ages 18- mid-20s) through the eyes of two women close to me. My grandmother specifically focused on fashion from the late 60s to 1972, whereas my mother focused mainly on the years 1989 to the late 1990s.

The Interview

Q: Growing up, what was fashion like? Was it a form of expression or more of a “wear what you wear” vibe?

My grandmother’s response shocked me with how far we have come in women’s fashion. She recalls never being able to show her bare legs, with A-line minidresses with nylon tights and knee socks being a popular “uniform”. Later in her 20s, the world saw the trend of women wearing bell-bottom pants and platform shoes. Fashion as a form of expression didn’t come about until the mid-70s for my grandma, especially living in a small town in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts. There was more of a push for everyone to dress “proper”; even seeing someone wearing sneakers outside of the gym would be a rare occurrence. She recalls there being a lack of individuality, something we see having blossomed today.

My grandmother’s response shocked me with how far we have come in women’s fashion. She recalls never being able to show her bare legs, with A-line minidresses with nylon tights and knee socks being a popular “uniform”. Later in her 20s, the world saw the trend of women wearing bell-bottom pants and platform shoes.

 My grandmother in the late 60s, with skin colored nylon tights and a crisp-looking dress. 

Fashion as a form of expression didn’t come about until the mid-70s for my grandma, especially living in a small town in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts. There was more of a push for everyone to dress “proper”; even seeing someone wearing sneakers outside of the gym would be a rare occurrence. She recalls there being a lack of individuality, something we see having blossomed today.

My mother’s answer was almost the complete opposite. She explains that when she was a young teenager, fashion was most definitely a form of expression, as it reflected people's personalities so outwardly to the point you could probably guess what type of music they listened to based on their clothing style.

Q: Where did you mainly shop?

Most of the stores my grandmother mentions, I’ve never heard of, which made me wonder what will happen to current brands that we know and love in 50 years. She recalls Essex Street in Lawrence, MA, being quite popular, a small family-owned business called “Russums” being the main shop she remembers.

Essex Street from 1950-63 from the Lawrence History Center Photograph Collection

She said, “Nobody was interested in shopping by designer or brand names”, and I couldn’t help but wonder  when that shift happened. She added that Jordan Marsh, now known as Macy’s,  was one of the more popular brands. 

In my mothers teen years, she shopped at 5-7-9 and major department stores like JCPenney, Filenes, and Filene's basement (which I have never heard of). 5-7-9 was a very stylish store that catered to a specific body type, especially petite girls. My mom notes that she loved their style of clothes because they “actually fit”. In her twenties, she shopped more at upscale dress stores like Petite Sophisticate, as she was working in a corporate office that required a business dress. (She had a fluorescent teal suit, which is iconic if you ask me).

Q: What was the biggest trend, and did you participate? Would you bring one back if you could?

For my grandma, Jackie Kennedy's classic look was the biggest trend: neat and tailored. It was the early 70s when my grandmother said the  “wild stuff” came in. My grandmother liked Kennedy’s simple look, but had a harder time adapting to that notable 70’s style.

It broke rules, and brought out the wild child in everyone; a complete switch from the comfortable rules she always had. In terms of bringing back old styles, she would love to see the return of “picture hats” (sunhats). More frequently seen in the 60s due to the fashion norm being more dressy, there has been a decline in sunhats that I also hope will be back on the rise soon. Something about them screams elegance, adding that elevated look to a beach day at the Cape.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 1960s Style File From the Archives: Fairchild Archive on WWD.com

Though my mother doesn’t recall the “big” style of that time, her favorite was the 80’s Madonna vibe: dark patterned clothes and lipstick paired with chunky jewelry and big hair.

Mondadori Portfolio//Getty Images

My mom tried dressing like her, but it never stuck. She ended up liking just plain regular clothes - my tapered jeans with a nice colorful sweater. Very “plain Jane”, she puts it. Though she couldn’t name a style that we should “bring back”, she is very adamant about perhaps rethinking spandex pants.

A Quick Style Tip From the Generations

Grandma: “Basics are important, and you’ll be better off investing in those than fashion fads. And, now that I’m a runner…my biggest tip is you can never have too many sneakers!

Mom: Dress like Jennifer Aniston. You’ll never look silly and regret your earlier fashion choices because her style is classic!”

Sustainability

When I asked both of these women if sustainability was something they had even heard about while shopping for clothes, both of them said no. My mom explained that she hadn’t even heard the word sustainability used in fashion until a few years ago, and my grandmother said that there was not even a single thought of that, other than people like her mother who explained that she should wear more classic styles so she didn’t have to keep buying clothes.

A Personal Reflection

I think everybody has at least one moment of“ooooh why did I wear that?” growing up, but that’s the fun of it all. Seeing how women’s fashion has evolved generationally through my own family brought light to just how much the world has evolved. Even in my grandmothers time period, where she explains that fashion wasn’t a form of expression, it still represented the time period and mirrored what was going on in the world (especially with the shift in women being able to wear pants, the women's rights movement can be seen through that!). Though this interview left me with answers to my questions, it also left lingering questions about how my own style will represent the world in 10-20 years.