…..I’ll start with one......how about a grey wool flannel, sleeveless sheath dress, with a wide, foldover, stand-up collar, and matching bolero swing coat.

Only to modernize it, add Lycra to the weave for stretch and a sleek fit (and don’t forget to add Lycra to the lining, or what’s the point!)

(There are so many great fashions in the movies of that era, and just one that comes to mind is Tippi Hedren's wardrobe in The Birds.)

I just love all the '60's styles...almost...I could live without the double knit that we all thought was so great at the time, however. I do love the Chanel suits (or were they more from the 50's?) and the gorgeous fabrics back then.

As for whether I am a Betty or a Joan...a Joan (I have the red hair, fair skin, (plus have brown not blue eyes) and her general shape..but not quite the gorgeous/voluptuous top measurement!) Close, though!

Hate to admit it, but I recognize items from both ladies that I used to wear.......and wore them for years........they knew how to make clothes back then.

I still have a black sequined, sleeveless blouse that I thought was so glamorous.......plus a mink collared, cashmere coat that I saved so hard to buy.........they were special....also have a short fur coat we called a 'car-coat'....for driving. Oh, yes, and my trench coat will never go out of style...all good memories.

Those Were The Good Old Days My Friends........we thought they'd never end......

I'm a Joan. I'm a Joan. I'm a Joan!!!!
Hi Dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a Joan,,,overblown.

I loved the links and the Revue for the upteenth time and the fashion photos!!!!
Thanks, Dry Manhattan.
You always have great,informative threads and haven't heard from you in a long long time!!!

Dry Manhattan, thank you so very much for sharing this! I was smiling so big my husband asked what was going on.

I loved the real blouses. My mother had so many pretty white, off white and cream bouuses. One was sleeveless and it buttoned in the back and the buttons looked like round pearls. There is something about buttons in the back that makes me feel sexy.

I do not know what some of the fabrics were, but many were dry cleaned. Who cares! They were perfect and went with almost all her skirt and jacket sets.

I also would love to have some dresses with the light weight coat to match. I love that look.

I am the country casual type. I like Betty's riding habit. Adore that big bag we posted about once. What does that make me?

I had forgotten all about car coats! Now, every time I try to buckle my seat belt over my bulky Winter coat, I'll think of them. And miss them.

I tried to dress like Jackie for work and like Joan for dates.

Oh yes, 57chevy, I looooved and still love those "That Girl" coat-dress combos. Remember watching her every week so we'd know what was cool to wear? lol

Sandy, I too miss car coats...my mom had one that wascamel and red plaid with sweater knit cuffs that came out from the elbows of the flared sleeves (sounds weird, but it was chic and pretty)

Wonder why car coats went by the wayside?

What color is "wascamel" ???

Hell, by now you all know I type too fast! lol

wascamel was the best color for wascashmere! I still have my mother's. I have had it relined three times. I don't care what anyone thinks, that coat will always be in style.

That Girl's Ann Marie was the best dressed ever. She wore what Twiggy modeled. Made the mod colors and designs come to life. By the time I was 21 it was 1978 and fashion was taking a turn for the '80's. Not that the '70's were better. We felt okay about both eras at the time I suppose.

I remember a well dressed teen at my school still wore bass shoes. Of course one had to have keds sneakers and deck shoes. I still wear bass weejuns. Love them.

Remember when we wore those weejuns (penny loafers)...but you could NOT have a penny in them... that would be sooooo un-cool!

I'm old enough to recall those white "go-go" boots we all had to have, too.

I was reading an article about how Mad Men has made some impact on the fashion world and influenced fashion designers, Michael Kors to name one. It's only a matter of time where those styles are mass produced and made available at a lower price point.
I was in Marshall's (Yes,I can't resist a bargain) and on the racks were spring dresses that were definitely 60's influenced a la Mad Men.One of the dresses was a ringer for a Betty type of look.It was the same style as her famous "polka dot clown dress"
except it came with a little cardigan to cover up the bodice and had a narrow black patten leather belt. The other dress was a "Joan" type of sheath look. I'd have to be encased in Spanx to wear something that fitted.
It was pretty cool to see these fashions that are affordable
(29.99) and to know that they had their inspiration from
Mad Men. Talk about being a cultural phenomenon!

I heard this - and it sounds plausable - that when clothing workers in the USA unionized, the cost of making clothes went up. So a dress had to be made more simple, so it took less time to turn out as a product. Hence, the pretty tucks, pleats and details so nice back then are completely missing today, unless you move up to pricier clothing.

The very simple lines of the sheath, trapeze and shift were not only populatized by Jackie's designers, they cost much less to make. Suddenly fashion was very affordable. (And they were super easy to sew at home, too.)

Today most of our clothes are made outside the country. I just checked my labels and I am wearing pants made in Mexico, a top from Israel and a scarf from India. I'm a walking United Nations! But the idea of fast-produced, simply made clothing has stuck. In mainstream off the
rack, at least.

"populatized"?? I think I made up a new word there.

Join the types-too-fast club, flower...I should know. lol

Thanks Dry for the link. I would have loved to go to Vegas to see the revue. Janie has really turned the fashion industry on to the 60's again. Hollywood and the designers are really taking notice. they have been into vintage for a while but Janie's MM clothes have been a real inspiration. I would love to wear her fashions.

…..SCfan…..Chanel…..sigh….Correct me if I labor under misimpression, but wasn’t it generally thought that, in the pre-70s, any of the synthetic fibers were considered sort of “cheap?”

One thing I can remember is the stories of the BEAUTIFUL suits and dresses and coats made in the natural fibers of wool, cashmere, linen and silk.

HOWEVER…..The story goes that every single item in blue, whether it be teal, blue-green, “Alice” blue, “Dutch” blue, “Royal” blue, “French” blue, or any other hue, all the blue dyes were volatile and all turned brown, eventually.

If you lived at the beach, whole wardrobes, including furs, at significant expense, would be destroyed within a couple of years…..

Anyone?

SCfan – I would never have pictured you as a “Joan!” Ha! Loved Marlo Thomas – who didn’t want to be Anne-Marie??

SCfan and 57…..And? “Wascamel wascashmere” is one of the top staples!

Silver – The Car Coat is one of the most lady-like of the lost fashion statements.

Hey Norita – Que Paso? I’m here – where are you 

Sandy – Good strategy! I’m a tangled web of Betty and Joan. I look and feel a lot like Betty, but men treat me like a Joan. It’s infuriating, confusing and stressful, but maybe it’s just a case that I haven’t connected with my inner “Joan!”

“Thank you, Warren!”

57 and SCfan…..Tsk! Weejuns???? The ones without “sox?” Dear Lord, we have to get you to a de-programming center ASAP.

Madmanfan4ever…..It does seem like lots of people are jumping on that bandwagon…..as I said, I’ve been waiting for years for the good taste of the 60s to make a splash. It’s about time!!

BTW - That polka-dot dress has been unofficially christened “The Wonder Bread Dress,” in case you were curious.

And? That Spanx lady started with a cut-off pair of pantyhose, and is now a BILLIONAIRE! Damnit!!

Flowerpower…..Fascinating commentary…..I agree. Also, “populatized” simplimentarily embodifies the strategerie of your united states of Benetton!

Ho…..Me too. I’ve read extensively, and apparently the Na was a highlight in terms of annual industry events.

I’ll reserve commentary to another time, but I would not be shy in saying this is a definitive time for TV in general…..

What a fun thread!

Thanks you guys!!

SCfan, your Mom's car coat sounds fabulous. I would have loved it.

As far as TV stars go, I always thought Mary Tyler Moore dressed really sharp, too, on her series.

Yes, Sandy, she was a stylish, chic lady...she looked great in that car coat with her black capris ("ski pants"...whatever they were called, the skin- tight "Laura Petrie" slacks from the '60's) and black flats with a cream silk turtle neck...one hot mama for sure!

I was talking about my mom, but, it applies to MTM as well as I re-read it! lol

.....Laura Petrie was always very fashionable and a great example of Glamour "Dos" from the 60s.

Audrey Hepburn, among many others, also always got my attention in terms of her various fashion-forward statements.

Seems like she seldom struck a sour note, but was also one of the first actresses to employ the European haute couture......

That Givenchy gown in Sabrina was pretty smashing, and I believe the short hair was kind of a statement at that time, also.

I loved Laura Petrie, she wore pedal pushers now called capri pants. I see so many women wear capri's and they can make women look so hippy if not worn properly. Laura wore ballet flats too. That look will be around for a while even Manolo had to jump on that band wagon or lose sales. Ballet flats are so comfortable most women I know have more than one pair.
Ok, about the fiber thing. There was a time the word polyester was so groan. Remember the pantsuit. Hillary does. The deal is poly could resemble so many different fibers, silk, linen when mixed with rayon. Poly was ,and still is cheaper and easier to take care of (very little wrinkling) than many natural fibers
it dyes so well with very little fading (blue included)but the down side is that it's hot and it pills. (fuzz balls). Dry, your so right about natural fibers they don't hold up as well as man made fibers that's why blends have been so popular. I still love natural fibers, high tread count cotton sheets and silk clothes just feel sooo good. Ok, so maybe I was a clothing and textiles major in college, ya think!!!

Interesting post, holotta,I agree that the natural fiber clothing was soooo great looking but held up not so great. The dry cleaning bills were staggering.

I wish they still made sheets that feel like the "percale" ones we used to be able to buy...so buttery soft and smooth and nothing like the high thread count stuff of todayin "hand". I don't care how hight the thread count is, they just don't feel like the old percales did to me. JMHO

Now, this is getting ridiculous!

thread count stuff of "today in "hand" I meant to say!

(think that refers to the "feel" of the fabric, right?)

Oh Dry, just curious:

"SCfan, I would never have pictured you as a "Joan!"

Who would you picture me as?--------- Betty??

(I wish!) lol

Remember linen? Nothing looked better on a hangar, and nothing looked worse when you sat down in it just once!

.....SCfan.....Hilarious - and stop with the textile talk.

Actually...now that you mention it - maybe possibly you are a Betty! I mean, would YOU go straight from Sandra Dee to Christina Hendricks?

I think not! Let us not get into a "Joan" pissing contest. There is plenty of time for that later.

When I figure out if I'm a "Betty" "Joan" or "Peggy," I will let you know!

Heeee!

.....Sandy.....Someone very close to me once (okay, a man) said,

"It's the expensive wrinkle....."

Hmmm OOOOHHH Rrrrooooobb. I loved it when Laura Petrie said that. SCfan you can't really like percale sheets they are sooo scratchy. When I bought my first set of Egyptian cotton 300 thread count sheets from Target I was hooked and became an official sheet snob!

Well, let's see,Dry...I have the hair color (from a box these days---or there'd be more grey than red!) of a "Joan", and the skin of a "Joan" (typical redhead combo) and the face of a Sandra Dee/Colleen Corby---or how they'd look at 58, that is! lol But, they weren't ever employed at Sterling Cooper....oh well.

wow...a "Betty???...in my dreams!

And, Chelsea, I think you're thinking of muslin sheets maybe. The percale kind were never ever scratchy. I will give those 300 thead count sheets a try, though...Target huh?

Dry Manhatten, I am guilty of still purchasing bass weejuns and I am a tassel girl. But I do only wear them with trousers and trouser socks.

When I was young someone said I looked like Ann Margret. At the time I was offended because I thought she was old. I was around 22, it was '78.
Someone else was convinced I looked like Barbarella. I wish on both.

I love these talk forums and how one subject morphs to another! It's like listening in on my mom's coffee klatch (now I'm old enough to be in one!).
Anyway, in the late 60's until mid 70's I worked for the home sewing division of a textile company that produced polyester double-knits and wow was that a booming business.
The reasons why polyester double-knits were such a hit were they were inexpensive, easy to care for and an infinite variety of colors. A receptionist making a $100 a week could afford, as Matt Werner said, more than “six” outfits.
Now polyester double-knits and fabric stores chains are in the back of our minds with the coffee klatch and percale sheets.

Sandy & Dry love linen but I stay away from the light colors. I had a pair of black linen pants and wore them for years. The dark colors don't show the wrinkles as much. Have you ever seen a woman wearing linen drawstring waist pants once the wrinkles come they make your butt look huge. Ya gotta be thin for those guys.
SCFan once you try those sheets you'll never go back to blends. I live in a warm climate, no air conditioning or heating just open windows and ceiling fans for the last 20 years. 100% cotton sheets are a requirement. Don't go think'in that the 600 count or greater is better, the threads are so close together they're actually hotter.

.....57.....How funny, and that is a great mental visual I will keep of you then!

In spite of the issues of coloring, I kind of feel like the essence of Joan or Betty isn't as much about color is it is attitude, and possibly the curves thing.

Two very different brands of sexuality.....

Wow, 57... what gorgeousness...Ann-Margret and Jane Fonda (hated her politics, but she was beautiful!)

You must be a hot combo!

Dry, so right about the "different brands of sexuality" of Betty and Joan.

Just like Paul said...Marilyn or Jackie (or in Betty's case, Grace Kelly!)

Not so hot now, but I can see it in old pictures. I can see it in one of my daughters. I always felt I was plain, but I suppose that is better than being conceited. I use to feel that plain was good, it was a blank canvas. The Lexington area of Kentucky was full of beauties and someone like me really did not stand out.

I say might in writing, because to me may can mean giving permission. What am I doing that is wrong? Can not find it in S&S handbook.

Some homeowners might decide to use designer paint.... Professor says it is fine, writing center says it should be may not might. I say I am the author..LOL!

@Dry Manhattan. Hi stranger and thank you very much for the insightful fashion commentary and links. The Wonder bread dress....ya gotta love it! I have loved every outfit Betty has worn EXCEPT her housecoat and the the black merrywidow she wore on Valentines Day to entice Don.I love her riding ensemble,because I'm a Hermes fan.
My mother had this killer jersey dress that had the full skirt and fitted bodice,she wore it with this wide brimmed straw hat and her prim little white gloves.I would love to have had this piece in my closet.It had an abstract print that was green squiggles on a ivory background.
One of my customers here in ATL is vice president of sales for Spanx which has it's headquarters here.It was very interesting talking to her about the origins of the company and Sarah's vision. I can remember those nylon stockings that came in the box that my mother wore. She must have been the last woman to convert to panty hose.If she was alive today,maybe she'd be in the Spanx?

I'm the same way, 57chevy,...never could see the huge resemblance to Sandra Dee OR Colleen Corby (the 'other one' people kept insisting I looked "just like")---I see it more now in old pics...and still in the mirror quite a bit...back then I just didn't appreciate it, I guess...took it for granted.

I suppose there are worse folks to resemble! LOL

Do you think you look like Judy Dench (sp?) as much as people say, zerelda?

Even children dressed elegantly back then. When I was about 10, in 1963, I had a pair of red leather shoes that tied across the top; I think they were called ghillies. I thought they were the most gorgeous things in the world and wore them constantly. I also had a wool black and white houndstooth check car coat. Also about that time I wanted to be Shirley McClaine in "Irma la Douce" but of course, never having seen the movie, I didn't realize she was a prostitute. That year for Halloween, I wore a turtleneck, little scarf tied around my neck, a black half-slip, black tights and some high heels my mother had given me for dress-up. Lord knows what people thought when I trick or treated.

A few years later I thought Emma Peel in the "Avengers" and Audrey Hepburn in "Two For the Road" were the epitome of glamour. Of course, being in junior high at the time I wore matching sweater and skirt sets with Peter Pan blouses. I also remember it being a big deal when to switch your wardrobe from one season to the next. For some reason, it was humiliating to be the first and only one in wool when everyone else in school was still wearing cotton shirtdresses. I grew up in Alabama, and some years it was mid-November until it was cool enough to wear wool, so there were weeks of indecision. Was it that way for anyone else?

Thanks, Dry, for the thread and also the info on boldfacing!

Back to MTM. I think Mary continued her style on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". She had some great outfits. And do you all remember how wonderful Doris Day looked in her movies when Edith Head was the costume designer? I watched "Pillow Talk" the other night and thought of all the conversations we have had about the really sharp clothes "back when".

I always thought Audrey Hepburn was the most stylish gal ever. Thinness certainly helps (think Diana, too) but good design is so important!

SCfan, no, I don't think I look like her except for my hair and blue eyes. Also, I have a dimple in my cheek which she does not. My sisters all maintain I look just like her, but I can't see it at all. Sisters can be so kind.

I mainly use Dame Judi's picture because she is a favorite actress of mine. I love her in "As Time Goes By." It is rare to find good love stories involving folks my age. It is a delightful romance between two older adults. Though made in the 90s, it holds up very well. I expect to be enjoying it just as much 20 years from now.

Yes, Mambo Deb, it was a definite embarassment to jump into the next season too soon on one's wardrobe...also "to wear white shoes before Easter"! Ha...remember that one?
Oh how gorgeous Diana Rigg was as Emma Peel...who didn't want to be her? (or Audrey...so unconventional and unique and beautiful!)...we all went around in our tight turtlenecks and skirts and dark tights...or begged for those bodysuits and told no.

Yes, Sandy...I just love Doris Day, too. I loooove her in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" sooooo hilarious and cute. I love the scene where she's trying to get ready to meet David Niven for dinner and having to do it amid the chaos of those 3 monster sons of hers. She is great.

.....Hi Suzanne! Great fashion stories all.... love these.....And apparently we all share the same fashion idols of the sixties and seventies.

I was thinking of that movie "Two For The Road" also, partly because Audrey Hepburn tastefully nailed so many of the top looks over the 15 or 20 years of that marriage, or whatever it was.

Sometimes, it seems like the 70s period shows being created now overdo it in terms of the trends. Everyone seems so "costumey." Everyone has Earth Shoes and a mood ring, and cartoon hair.

Really, most people had much better taste than that, and when they model these series wardrobes, they should probably take a page from people like Mary Tyler Moore, Audrey Hepburn, and Diana Rigg, who always looked good, even now, and seldom faddish.

And I agree about Doris Day, Sandy. I would watch her movies for the clothes alone, even if she weren't so adorable.

SC you were lucky, we had a no white before May or something . All white had to be gone after Labor Day.

Emma Peel, I had forgotten her and I was one of those gilrs that longed to look like her. Seems like we had an Emma Peel camp vs the Peggy Lipton character from Mod Squad. I thought the woman on Perry Mason was beautiful too.

Edith Head was just great. I never realized it until I finally started to pay attention to credits on movies.

I remember when the dresses that looked like the Partrige Family bus were out for the adult women. My mother was exercising and dieting like mad. I do remember it was lined and wonder what it was . Hers was in creams and browns. It was the '60's, Mod, and not mom looking.

Mambo Deb, now that I live in SW Oklahoma I can see how those rules would be hard to follow. It can be in the 80's here at almost anytime.

Hey 57 Chevy, do you mean the Mondrian dresses that looked like the Partridge bus, all straight lines and squares of color? I had forgotten those too! I loved those dresses, you wore them with go-go boots, right? And fishnest stockings. (Mondrian was an artist and those dresses were copied from his paintings)

Those were the dresses. My mother wore hers with shoes that went with the purse. But is was still strange to me. The figue was never going to look like she wanted in that blocked dress.

I find the browns and cream interesting reading about Mondrian, he seems to use color.

Hey if you look like Ann Margaret, count your blessings she was gorgeous and she aged well. Sandra Dee was also very pretty but in her older years didn't she get ill and very thin? I think if you are very thin when you get older you don't look so good. When I was younger people told me I looked like Genie Francis or Melanie Griffith also Brittney Spears when she was pregnant.... ahhh thanks sister. I don't see it. One thing I like about the older cloths were the gloves the ladies wore with their dresses....how classy wish we still did today. My Mom had a whole drawer filled with gloves.

The discussion about the Mondrian dresses inspired me to use a picture of one with my name. I may have to tweak it, though, it's cropped badly.

Chelsea, yeah, Sandra got a little drawn up and thin there at the last, I think, bless her heart.

I do NOT have that problem...have a Joan body with SD/Colleen Corby's (combo) face...at 58, remember, not when they were in their primes...but, I'm told I look much younger than my years...don't see that, myself, either...I think I look at least 50...but, it's nice to hear, anyway.

Looking like Genie Francis or Melanie Griffith is definitely NOT shabby, that's for sure...both beauties (but, alas, I guess we all do have to add "when I was younger"...such is life, I suppose)

Funny, how none of us thought we looked like the people we were told we did when we were younger, but looking at old pics, we finally see the resemblance! Why is that, do you think?

Has anyone seen my ban-lon polo? I wore it to the barbecue last week, unfortunately I had too many crown and sevens and fell next to the grill and melted the shirt to my chest! Oh well, at least it was flesh colored

Has anyone seen my ban-lon polo? I wore it to the barbecue last week, unfortunately I had too many crown and sevens and fell next to the grill and melted the shirt to my chest! Oh well, at least it was flesh colored

Oh hell, doing things twice here already, is my dimentia showing, sorry

liquor, DD borrowed your polo remember? ... he wore it to the country club with Betty and forgot to return it...but tat one wasn't the flesh colored one, though, was it?

well, now....... this misspelling (typing too fast, as usual) of mine is getting very tiresome....that not tat............ sigh.........

(Is that how you spell misspell???..........lol)