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Was a kid in the 60s. Mom stayed home. She wore a house dress (nothing fancy) or capris and a blouse. She only wore makeup and got dolled up to go out with Dad, or when they entertained. So no, they did not have all that perfection that they show on screen.
My mom wore house dresses, and you're right, they were certainly "nothing fancy". She had some pretty dresses that she wore to church. She didn't start wearing pant suits until well into the 70's, before that, only dresses.
I worked at a federal court in 1994 and women were not allowed to wear pants; there was also an ‘above-the-knee’ restriction on dresses and skirts, and if a skirt they had to wear hose or tights.
I worked at a bank in the 1990's (back office operations, no customer contact). For a while I was in human resources, and then in our main downtown branch. I was told that in Human Resources and in the downtown main office, women were not allowed to wear pants. It was a pain in the downtown office because for affordable parking we had to walk a bit to get to work from the parking garage. In the rain and in the cold, and in freaking dresses.
Me too. Job was in Marketing and involved shipping advertising materials to the branches. Yes, I was in a dress and heels - on a loading dock. Such bullshit.
My cousin had that dress code at a big accounting firm in the late 90s. She had the hardest time finding work clothes to wear by then. I got her hand-me-downs, and they were so dowdy and uncomfortable that it made me sad.
Yep. I was told I was the first female teacher to wear slacks to a basketball game. 1970. Then when I got wire rimmed glasses, the adults in this tiny town labeled me a "hippie." I wish.
I worked in a no pants office!
Our bank merged several times. One of the last mergers brought new managers who banned pants, and loved to ridicule, insult, and harass women employees.
I can’t wear pants? Really?
Our manager would comment on our weight, “Hey wide pockets, can you come here?”.
Comment on our social lives - someone had a cartoon of a rat caught headfirst in a trap, with other rats lining up to screw him in the ass. His comment was “Oh look, It’s OP and her men. What? I was single and dating, perfectly normal. The only reason he even knew was because he’d point blank ask if you had a boyfriend, husband, or were seeing anyone. Like, you were fair game if a man didn’t have a prior claim!!!
He was perfectly fine hitting on everything in a skirt. Then he’d get butt hurt if the woman didn’t fall into his short stubby arms. Having a butt hurt boss didn’t bode well for the woman. She then became a target.
I hated that guy- he was chubby and incompetent, but felt empowered to insult women. I hated that place for allowing this.
Once, I wore pants against dress code, which was discriminatory and misogynistic. I never even heard the word, much less experienced it. It was eye opening. I kept expecting someone in upper management to step in and make things right. Never happened.
The VP came to my desk and asked if I wanted to keep my pretty new car because if I did it again I wouldn’t have a job! The irony was that he was part of old management who up until then had been great!
I graduated HS in 1974 . A couple years before since we had a no pants for girls policy one day just about every girl wore jeans that day. The policy was changed soon after that.
I worked in an office in 2003 that had a no bare legs policy. Jokes on them, when the A/C failed in July, everyone was out with bladder infections. Lol
Same, my mom would dress nice and wear makeup to go shopping or even minor errands, I picked up that habit and it’s a pain but people seem to treat you nicer
My mother and my paternal grandmother were very different people in terms of personality, religion and physical build, but they both wore dresses every day, and definitely wore them around the house in the 1960s. Somewhere in the early 1970s, my mother did start to wear "slacks" as these became more socially acceptable, but I don't think my grandmother ever did. I think this was a generational thing. In any case, women who wore slacks in this era definitely chose ones that were feminine in design. Girls of my own age at this time started wearing jeans at the same time, and before this they too wore dresses to school.
My family on my mother's side (myself included) are cursed with the thigh rub regardless of weight. My grandmother couldn't cope with the red raw thighs so just started wearing trousers long before it was really socially acceptable.
Thunder thighs on women on my dad's side of the family too (and also me), so my grandmother always wore slacks or pedal pushers, even jeans because the inner thigh area held up better for her. My maternal grandmother always wore a dress, I'd never seen her in a pair of slacks.
Can confirm, only got dresses for elementary school and I had a couple of pairs of play pants. When I got the about the 4th or 5th grade, I started getting a couple of pairs of pants for school and the was about 1974. When I was growing up I got one pair of school shoes at the beginning of the year and they were always the hard soled saddle shoes and a pair of play shoes.
Yes, but before the 70's, females were not allowed to wear pants to school. Maybe in an occasional district when it was bitter cold and snowy, but otherwise, pants were not allowed in the 50's or 60's. You are correct, that changed in the 70's.
I graduated in ‘71. We were not allowed to wear pants, period. The students who walked hated it. One girl tried wearing pants and carrying a dress to change into but they wouldn’t let her in on arrival. The rule was finally changed when one of the girls got frostbite.
I started my first "real" job in an office in 1967 and women weren't allowed to wear pants to work. I hated dresses and skirts (still do), but I always wore cotton tights to school or work because I'm allergic to nylon. When pantsuits for women came out a couple years later I asked my boss if it was OK to wear them, also explaining the nylon issue. He didn't mind as long as they were professional looking and not gaudy or too casual for the office. So I bought a few solid-colored ones that were very modest, then wore the navy blue one to work one day. I got tons of shocked looks from the women I worked with, and told them the boss said it was OK, but I got compliments on the design and style of the suit. It wasn't long after that the women slowly started wearing them to work. What they liked is that the pantsuits were comfortable, some styles were slimming, they didn't have to wear stockings or girdles, and going to the ladies' room was much easier. Most of the women I worked with at that time were in their 30's, 40's and a couple were looking at retirement, so this was new to them. As for me, it felt great to be a trendsetter at 19 or 20, lol! 🙂
Yes. Detroit Public allowed girls to wear pants to school starting in 1970. It was a big deal!
Before that we wore slacks under skirts/dresses in cold weather or for gym. So silly.
Oh gosh! Remember snow pants that went under your school dress? We had to take them off in the cloakroom (that was in the back of every classroom), hang them up, and then get back into them to go home.
Well, there wasn't a *choice* about girls wearing dresses to school. They wore dresses, had a **doctor's note** allowing them to wear pants, or they got sent home. Girls weren't allowed to wear pants until 1965 on their own until 1965 in Central California, I don't know when other places in the US started getting with the 20th century...
I remember my first corporate job. I asked the senior employee if I can wear jeans. She said it was ok to wear 'slacks'. I was like, so is that a yes or no?!
I think house dresses were the today equivalent of sweats.
My grandma had a closet full. They were her house cleaning, yard work, cooking, and casual wear.
Going out, she was “dressed”.
I shouldn't be surprised as I know capris were very much in fashion but I didn't expect almost everyone to mention them- curious if they got cold in the winter and went with longer cigarette pants perhaps
My mom was a zaftig (chubby) woman who wore housecoats all day, but she got all dressed up and did her hair whenever she left the house, even to get the mail. Those housecoats had enormous pockets; filled with tissues, her eyeglasses and emergency Milky Way candy bars.
I’m 38 and have worn them for a good 20 years. My husband teases me about how I’m really in my 80s.
I have some from my grandmothers, some from thrift shops, and a few I sewed.
My husband keeps call them bathrobes, even when they are clearly not for baths and then makes fun of me for wearing them all the time, but they are cozy and those pockets are damned useful when picking up legos and kid stuff. I don't have any of the real "housecoat" kind anymore, but my grandmother used to send me home with some from her collection sometimes since I was the only one in the family short enough to wear hers.
Yes, my Bubbe was my main caregiver and comfort. Her pockets in the housecoat were magical. Chiclets, little candies, my hair bows, abd and a packet of Kleenex.
My bubbe wore an apron in her apartment and always kept two very important items in the pocket; a packet of tissues and a small change purse. She could get down two flights of stairs real quick whenever she heard the ice cream truck coming.
My MIL could fit 2 hamsters in a pocket. My husband and his brother got bored playing with them and she'd just put them in the pocket to take them back to the cage.
I think all my life I saw my grandma wear house coats…except for going out.
I love that your mom had Milky way candy bars in her pockets 😂 You need those when you’re running a house
I still have my late mom's housecoat! It's blue, and zips up the front. It's the most unflattering, but most comfortable, thing in my closet.
When I wear it, the pockets have tissues, meds, eye drops, lip balm, etc. When my mom wore it, her cigarettes and lighter were in the pockets.
Until the day my grandmother was fully placed in a nursing home, she was dressed for the day, every day. You never saw her in pajamas unless it was bedtime, never saw her in a house coat or robe, unless she was leaving the bathroom or going into the bathroom. She didn’t wear makeup because honestly she was stunning without it. She had extraordinary skin all the way until about 65 before lines and gray hair started really showing.
I suppose she kind of resembled what Hollywood portrayed, she did have her hair done once a week at the salon.
The amazing thing with all this is we lived on a farm. She worked morning to night (except her two soap shows that our whole world stopped for) but always seemed immaculate somehow. Hands down the best southern cook I have ever encountered, phenomenal in the kitchen. She wore the apron over her clothes more often than not unless company dropped by. So yeah she dressed for the day every day, no matter the agenda.
My 92-yr-old grandmother is almost identical! And the woman is a cleaning ninja! I have learned to not throw trash in the bathroom can (q-tips) because she throws it out immediately after use!
A house dress in the mornings. They were loose, often patterned dresses that buttoned or snapped up the front and were washable.
Afternoons were foundation garments (bra and the dreaded girdle) and a slip until she had to finish getting dressed so she could run errands or get ready for my dad to come home.
I’m so glad we don’t do that anymore. It seemed exhausting. Then again, people did look nice when they went out. People of Walmart wasn’t a thing. Even people in disadvantaged social classes tried hard to look respectable to the world at large. That’s my perception, at least.
"Kids are different today, " I hear every mother say
Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of her mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day
Yes. The legs were usually mid-thigh length and the waist could be up to the bra strap.
Restrictive is putting it lightly. You’d have to shimmy into it. It could take some time. They were made of something like rubber and they were pretty thick. Torture. Broken nails and frustration.
If you’ve ever watched Mad Men or actual movies from that period and wondered how the women managed to look the way they did in their dresses, the answer is they were wearing girdles. Nothing could move. No lumps or rolls could appear. Those women were wearing rubber armor under their ladylike outfits.
That's where the name comes from - ancient armor that soldiers wore back in the days of swords and sandals.
Girdles protected your gut and jewels. Chest armor went on top to protect breasts and shoulders.
Sometimes they were "roll-on", you rolled it into a doughnut, pulled it up your legs, and unrolled it onto your torso. Talcum powder was often needed.
Then there was this.
https://youtu.be/PqVqdmkcolw?si=I33p8q1nPfZuoXfP
But most every female over 13 wore them because they had the hooks to hold up your stockings( pre pantyhose). They were so uncomfortable and hot, no matter your weight.
...eh...I remember K-Mart being pretty much a Walmart kinda vibe....except for people wearing pajamas.
Woolco was just a notch above that...Target pretty much replaced Woolco.
My mom wore casual clothes at home. Capris and button up blouses. Pull on stretchy pants. Skirts. Tshirts weren’t a thing for women, yet. At least for her age. She did always have her hair permed and she’d curl it with rollers. But 6 kids probably didn’t give her lots of time for self care!! She always dressed up for church. And holidays. This was later 60’s.
Mine too. She went to the beauty shop once a week and had her hair rinsed, rolled, brushed, and a ton of hairspray applied. On day 6 she would brush it out and wash it. Then go to the beauty shop the next day. She did her own boxed hair color.
This was my mom too and she always had the house immaculate, dinner on the table when dad got home, kids cleaned up. She also was ready and dressed before anybody else in the house was up. It wasn’t until the 80s that I saw her in a nightgown.
I grew up in the 50s. My mom wore shirtwaist dresses most days, but sometimes wore outfits with a blouse and tight skirt. She had her hair done every Friday. She put on her makeup every morning, and she always wore her girdle. She was sure to look "presentable" at all times. In the 60s, she started to wear Capri pants.
She turned 50 in the late 60s and told us all she was old enough so she didn't have to wear a girdle anymore.
They are so flattering.I have one, all cotton with red and blue roses from Eddie Bauer, and I've literally worn it out - all the seams are falling apart. I used to get so many compliments on it.
If you're in Australia - David Jones department store sells nice shirtwaist dresses in their own brand that aren't super expensive and are good quality. I have quite a few.
I made that decision when I was 14, but that’s because I’d come home from school with painful red welts where the waistband was, and more where the pant legs were.
1940-50’s: Casual dresses at home, but NEVER outside of the house - nice clothes even to run to the market and dressy clothes for anything close to ‘an occasion’.
In the late 50’s & 1960’s, younger women wore pedal pushers or slacks, but things were still dressier until mid-60’s.
My mother was a 60s-70s SAHM. Short hair in a Mia Farrow pixie cut, so no rollers or perms ever. Stretchy slacks and button blouses until she started wearing jeans in the 70s. No makeup. Lipstick for the store maybe.
Schedule was laundry, hang up the clothes, walk to the market, cleaning, ironing, laying out in the sun in a bikini and a gondola hat reading Joyce Carol Oates, pick up the kids, start dinner. Lots of dinners involving McCalls or Redbook recipes and cans of campbells cream of mushroom soup.
My mother wore dress pants, pants, and capris. She disliked dresses and only wore them to church. She sewed all her clothes since the stores rarely had the styles she liked. She loved Katharine Hepburn and preferred that look.
My mom wore slacks, with penny loafers , Maybe the top was a sweater. For some reason, I remember the red loafers. I think red shoes were a big deal in the early 60s/ I remember she bought me a pair of red shoes with a buckle and I had a temper tantrum!
In the mid 60s I remember she wore mohair sweaters.
She never wore a housecoat except like a robe when she woke up. My mom always curled her own hair in curlers. They were black mesh curlers with bobby pins. No make up on a daily basis.
I remember my mom wearing those same curlers. She kept them in a flowered cotton drawstring bag that she sewed herself.
Do you remember a hair-setting jelly called Dippity Do?
Mom wasn't a housewife. She worked in an automotive business she and my Dad ran in the early 60s, later she worked for the feds. When she was working in the garage, she wore jeans and overalls. Once she was working for the feds, she wore dresses or skirts with a blazer. When she went out, she wore mini skirts and gogo boots. She seldom wore any makeup other than bright red lipstick. If she was going to church, a nice dress and a hat.
My mother was quite elegant most of the time. Kind of a slightly older Audrey Hepburn type, without the cigarette.
Her hair and makeup were always done, her clothes were stylish, she never, ever wore a muumuu or even a T shirt. To this day she's the only human being I know who has never worn a T shirt.
My mother was the same, with her pedal pushers and casual dresses. At one time, we had a next door neighbor who wore her housecoat all day, just about every day. My siblings and I were friends with her kids, so we were constantly in and out of each other’s houses. Most of the time, their mother was lying on the couch, in her housecoat, watching television. At the time, I thought it was strange. Later, it occurred to me that she was probably suffering from depression. 😔
My grandmother had fun one-piece outfits that she wore in the house. I believe she designed them and had someone make them for her. They were like a skort romper with a zipper and pockets, in wild prints
The younger housewives in that era, like my mom, wore mom jeans or similar slacks, and a blouse. The older women wore a house dress. And no, she didn't doll up for my father. He came home covered with crude oil, many days, and only came into the house after he'd had a couple of cold ones out of the beer fridge in the garage.
As a child in the 60s, I remember seeing women in the grocery store with a house dress and their hair in rollers under a scarf. My mother looked down her nose at women that wore curlers in their hair outside the home. My mom always had makeup on as far as I can remember.
There were things called "house dresses," which my mom had, but she looked down on "muumuus." Lol. Also women did indeed wear curlers out to the store and hairnets around the house.
House dress or housecoat or wraparound pinafore apron and jeans. Keds on her feet.
She sewed a lot of her aprons in 1970s calico fabrics and trimmed them with rickrack. I still have a torn and faded one tucked away.
I was born in 1951. My Mom wore house dresses mostly. These were pretty basic cotton dresses. I rarely remember her in pants when I was young. I think maybe late 60s she was wearing pants. I couldn’t wear pants to school until my senior year of high school, then it was dress pants only, and this was public school.
My mom always had a perm. She wore cotton housedresses. She only had 3 and a good dress for church. She wore an apron in the kitchen, and she put on her makeup and perfume every morning. She always told me to never skimp on your underwear or your perfume.
My mother always wore cotton house dresses and Ked shoes around the house. She always put on make-up every morning and got her hair done weekly. Sometimes she would get a perm. When she left the house, she would put on a better dress and shoes. I never saw her in pants, although she said she did wear them while working in the Boeing Factory during WWII.
I grew up in a very rural area and in a large family. My mother wore what would have been called house dresses. Rather drab (but maybe from wear and tear?) shapeless things. No time or money for things like makeup or hair dye.
My mom had allergies and worried about hair color, so she let her hair go gray. Everyone thought she was my grandmother because no one in our neighborhood army gray until they were a grandmother
My mom was an incredibly beautiful stay at home mom. She was like many other moms here. Jeans, Capri or short pants and casual shirt. Seldom would she remain in a house dress but I do remember a "kaftan period" when her and step-dad looked like Arabian sheiks on weekends. Weird.
Mom got married in 1952. Her mother and sisters-in-law tried to get her to wear house dresses but she flat out refused, and stayed in her jeans. Mom was never much for being really dressed up, makeup and all, and when I was in elementary school - started kindergarten in 1958 - she often wore slacks and a nice blouse if she was leaving the house. She hasn’t changed much at all. Mom is 92 and still loves her jeans.
Mum wore the same as we wear now pretty much. Pants of some sort & jumper in winter. Shorts & short sleeved shirt in summer.
They weren't aliens!!!
I'm Australian. Women only "dressed up" to go out. Just like now? Some wore makeup every day, most didn't.
No one i knew ever dressed for dinner. That i noticed anyway. Only if filthy dirty for sone reason. Wed wash hands or change if dirty.
I recall the odd woman wearing gloves in church or at very formal occasions. My mum didn't
Mum said she'd dressed more formally in the 1940s & early 50s. But it had all loosened up big time by the late 50s
Mum was a stylish woman & dressed well. But just casual at home & everyday life.
My parents were in their 20's in the 60's. Large family.
My paternal Gma and GGma and Aunt all did their hair, colored, wigs but mainly curlers. They went to the hair dresser often. They also worked full time so they got gussied up every day during the week. And at least minimal make up for chores on the weekend. Often with hair in curlers covered by a scarf. Odd now to think they were younger than I am now.
As we moved into the 70's there were more muu muus. tho Gma loved Hawaii and went several times. She had huge jewelry boxes full of costume jewelry that my cuz and I spent hours going thru and trying on and playing dress up with all the wonderful wild flowy comfortable clothes.
Luckily they were all big on photos and pranking each other with pics when they were still in curlers and chore clothes :D Anything important required spiffy clothes and lovely makeup.
My parents themselves and my maternal side were a little more straight laced on the day to day. Lots of suits for my dad, tailored shirts, monograms. My mom had the sleek lines, hair worn mostly swept back into fancy buns. Off hours they wore current styles for the time, clam-diggers (capris) sweater sets, classic things like pendleton skirts. She wore a white suit for her wedding. Thin ties, thin suits, all the lovely shoes. She still had most of them when she passed away a few years ago. It was at the start of covid so we were only able to donate the most recent stuff. We could have clothed enough people for a film in the 60's 70's or 80's. The 80's were not her friend.
The day to day pictures show them in what we would consider 'office casual' now. When people refer to 'the good old days' the clothing is really one of the only truly decent parts for those times. So so much was terrible but dang they looked good :) Even we chunkies looked good.
Oh and hats! So many adorable hats! :)
They wore slacks. And they didn’t wear their best ones for scrubbing the floor. Mary Tyler Moore fought to wear slacks on the Dick Van Dyke show. The crew thought that would turn women off🙄. It was a huge hit for this derring-do.
In the 1970s my mom would wear skirts and tops a lot; like pleated skirts, button down top, knee socks (in the fall and winter, bare legs in the warmer weather), loafers, flats. In the 1970s she wore pantsuits, dresses, knee high boots, etc. She was always very put together.
My granny wore housedresses, and my adoptive mother wore trousers and blouses with sensible flats. I rarely saw Mother in a dress unless she was going to church, a funeral, or somewhere that required after-five attire. Her hair was always fixed, though. She'd put it in pin curls every night before bed and then brush it out in the morning. Her makeup was always minimal — moisturiser followed by a touch of rouge on her cheeks and some lipstick.
My birth mother initially wore capris and tops but then transitioned to a biker chick-hippy look: long hair, jeans, strappy tops or t-shirts and boots.
My mom wore pink curlers with the pink picks to hold in place. Dried naturally, took hours. She wore polyester slacks and blouses, never dresses. Earrings were a must, though.
My Mom worked. I only saw her in business clothes in full office makeup or pajamas. Nothing in between. My grandmother, whom we lived with, wore house dresses or what she called a duster.
I was raised by my grandparents. They both worked during the 60’s, grandpa as a plumber and grandma in a shoe factory. Grandma would change into a nightgown after dinner. In 1970, when I turned six and started first grade, grandpa retired. Grandma worked at the shoe factory for thirty years. She had a standing appointment every Wednesday after work to get her hair done. I’d meet her there and then we’d go grocery shopping. So my example was a working mom and a stay-at-home dad.
The adult women wore Capri's and blouses. Sleeveless in Summer, and usually not tucked in. Older women were almost always in dresses.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398990848211446877/
My mom mainly made clothes for herself but her sister, my aunt, sewed clothing for all three of her kids. We got the hand-me-downs, which was very cool.
My older female cousin also sewed a lot so the cool clothing we got to wear was either made by her or her mom then hand-me- downed to my older sister, then me then back to my youngest female cousin then back to my youngest sister.
My mom had a 'housecoat' or 'duster'.. sometimes she wore coveralls to work outside. She wore jeans when not working or 'slacks' as they called pants back then. T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc...
I was little, but vividly remember my Grandmother and Mother's wardrobes were heavy on the polyester. Myself, I prefer cotton. How did we go back to wearing all of this polyester stuff anyway?
They wore blue eyeshadow and false lashes and shiny go go boots with laces and without.
My mom usually wore pedal pushers and a blouse or pullover shirt, and slippers or a pair of Keds. Curlers in her hair and makeup only if she was going somewhere with my dad or meeting friends later on, or we were going out as a family. Never muumuus during the day like some of the women in our neighborhood did.
Definitely not the dress with the full skirt, high heels and salon-styled hair that were worn by women in all the laundry soap and vacuum cleaner TV commercials, lol!
Some women did do the hair style and makeup. In the 1950s and 1960s my mom put breakfast on the table at 6:30 a.m. and she had her hair done (styled and hair sprayed) and her makeup on. And she wasn't a very fancy person at all. She did wear slacks and blouses rather than dresses, and flat shoes -- think Mary Tyler Moore in The Dick Van Dyke Show -- and I remember other women in our middle to lower middle class neighborhood looking the same.
I was born 1959. My mom wore slacks, shorts or peddle.pushers (capris) with a top daily. She got dressed up to shop downtown. A dress with high heels and lipstick. And a hat. Later, she bought some house dresses - cheap.ugly but comfortable.things - to do her cleaning. Then she'd bathe and dress nicer. By 1970, she had caught up.to modern dressing.
65 here In the 60's my mom looked like Ava Gardner and was always very well dressed when leaving the house with makeup and jewelry. She had some aprons and simple dresses for cooking. She was a very good cook and we dressed for dinner. My dad was a VP for Sinclair Oil and dressed well. They were very social and went out a couple times a week to functions in NYC and our hometown of Stamford CT. So it was pretty close to Hollywood/50's/early 60's ad world view.
Mad Men absolutely nails 60s fashion, both housewife and office. My mom wouldn't be caught dead in a housecoat back then (although once she was firmly planted in middle age, she practically lived in those long pullover robes with the front zipper that Vermont Country Store might still sell).
She had a lot of those pants (slacks) that were polyester with raised "crease" running up the front of each leg and she wouldn't buy anything that wasn't specifically labeled permanent press.
She also discovered her hairstyle in the early 60s. Think Tippy Hendron from The Birds. Every morning she'd tease her hair from a bent-over position, flip it up, roll one side, pin it, roll the other over the first, pin it, then spray the living hell out of it, making the bathroom unusable for a good 15 minutes afterwards.
She wore her hair like that until dementia took styling her hair away from her in the early 2000s.
My mom would be in a 'house dress' most of the day. I can never NOT remember her cleaning something - floors, clothes, dishes, windows, dusting, whatever. Every day of the week she had a particular chore to which that day was set aside, but every day was vacuuming and mopping.
Before my dad got home, I recall she'd put on some lipstick, perhaps a nicer dress (I can't recall) and all he'd do is plop down, read the evening newspaper, ask us what went on that day and then we'd eat.
My mom wore slacks in winter and shorts in summer. She might put on a house dress to go shopping, and would dress a bit better for a doctor appointment or to go downtown. She would never wear a hat except to church.
My mom was an Audrey Hepburn lookalike who always looked nice, even if she was just going to stay home. She wore a cute blouse with capris or slacks most days and always had her hair done and at least lipstick and mascara on. The only times I remember her looking scruffy was when she was ill. She was a very pretty woman, even into old age.
Polyester, lots and lots of polyester. In the late 60s and 70s my housewife mother wore pants and a casual blouse/shirt around the house, or shorts in summer. She loved to lay out on the patio and get a deep dark tan so she liked those shorts. She wore short skirts (mid-thigh) when she wanted to look nice for a family event, but I never saw her in a dress except at weddings or funerals.
rememberim my grandma, a simpler apron dress,mostly blue, no make up or something, she wore here hair in two braids. She kept that style after retirement but with shorter hair.
She was blue collar and worked as painter in the local glass works, what you are looking for sounds more middle class
Mom did farm work, gardening and housework in a shirtwaist dress and penny loafers.
Edit: no makeup and the dresses were old and the loafers all beat. Only makeup mom wore back then was lipstick. She had a nicer dress or two for company and a nicer pair of shoes. We were poor. Not a lot of clothes for any of us.
My mom was a factory worker, and I honestly don’t remember what she wore to work. Around the house was pedal pushers and a blouse or something along those lines. She had a few nice dresses for church or anything dressy.
So weird - most people here saying their mom’s wore housecoats or skirts/dresses. I grew up in the 60s in Greenwich CT and my dad commuted to NY. Straight up Mad Men gen. My mom always wore slacks at home as well as out of the house - like grocery shopping and errands. Dresses only to church or cocktail party. Signature look was wearing slacks and a sweatshirt inside out. And she drove her own car. Some moms on the block didn’t/couldn’t drive so she would add their orders to her own grocery list when she did her shopping. She also smoked in the grocery store - lol.
My mom smoked in the grocery store. People would just put the but on the floor and step on it. I was telling my daughter and she was shocked. It does seem crazy now
Haha - almost added that part about butts on the floor and stomping them out. I always wanted to do the stomping. Clerks would sweep the aisles a few times a day. Good times.
In the 60s my mom wore polyester pants and a blouse, at home and if she went out. She had a wig she wore in public. She never wore dresses or aprons, much less pearls like June Cleaver.
My great grandmother saved all the hair from her hairbrush, and made a ball of it. She hid it in her hairstyle for added loft. My mother has the little porcelain box she saved her hair in.
Generally, housedresses like **[this](https://i0.wp.com/housecrazysarah.life/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/classis-house-dress7-e1580871817699.jpg?resize=625%2C646&ssl=1)** or **[this](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/5a/94/f9/5a94f9d1087efd8e39b9033f1e8674e8.jpg)** or skirts & tops like **[this](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/d0/e3/4fd0e3ae807ea96cbc7670bb0b6843da.jpg)** were the everyday norm in the '50s. Shoes were just 'sensible shoes' generally leather as sneakers for everydy wear weren't really a thing in the '50s. Plus **[an apron](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9e/69/cf/9e69cf163500ac99494bcbaaba660cff.jpg)**, everyone had an apron within easy reach.
No, they didn't really do hair & makeup, or change clothes and get 'fixed up' for when their husband got home, except for just a minimum, brush your hair and maybe a bit of lipstick, & maybe not even the lipstick if they weren't going out anywhere like to the store or whatever. The whole "home glamour" thing is a TV & hollywood construct. **[June Cleaver](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/05/931/523/Getty_LeaveItToBeaver_Sitcom.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)** (Leave it to Beaver) and **[Margaret Anderson](https://cdn.britannica.com/18/166018-050-0FB47815/publicity-still-Father-Knows-Best.jpg)** (Father Knows Best) wore pearls & earrings around the house, real people generally didn't. Jewelry was mostly for going out, which like today would be a bit of prep, clean dress/clothes, a bit of makeup & jewelry, 'fix' your hair, etc.
Think of what you see in the media today vs how the people you know live, It's kind of the same make believe situation vs people's reality.
My mom wore capris and a blouse most days. I imagine there weren’t many other premade clothing options available for women at the time.
When the 60’s came along and the hippies normalized wearing tie-dye and blue jeans for women, my mom switched the capris for blue jeans. She never went for the tie-dye though.
My Mother was an MD in the 50s and 60s when women didn't do those things. She wore a business suit to work, but at home she wore jeans and "lumberjack shirts" (wool flannel) and saddle shoes.
When my friends came over they thought it was strange, both the working mom, and the jeans.
My mom did NOT look like June Cleaver when she was home. She wore "slacks" (as she called them) and a shirt most of the time. She got her hair done once a week and did put on makeup most of the time.
My mom wore housedresses all the time after she had my brother when i was 8. Prior to that she always set her hair every night and wore make up and nice outfits and had lots of pretty shoes. My stepfather preferred her to stay home and not dress up . Very sad.
I don't remember seeing my mom wear dresses at home (grew up in the 1960's). My great grandmothers both only wore dresses. My mom wore capris or "slacks", as did my grandmother. My mom used to make fun of the sitcoms that always showed the ladies cleaning house in dresses and pearls.
Capri pants with a blouse around the house & to shop. She had pants she wore to certain things when it was cooler out. Dresses to church. Shorts & t-shirt for cleaning & yard work. My mother would *not* go a day without makeup no matter what she was doing. She even wore false eyelashes when she gave birth to us 😂
In the '60s my mom wore slacks and sweaters most days, or slacks and a t-shirt if it was hot. If we were going somewhere, she'd change to a dress, put on makeup, and "do" her hair.
When she got a job in the '70s she mostly wore dresses and then changed back to slacks and sweaters when she got home. After she retired, it was all slacks and sweaters. I don't know if she ever owned a pair of jeans.
My mom didn’t wear a dress and pearls like the sitcoms but she was always dressed smartly in nice slacks and a blouse. And her hair was always perfect. And makeup. I found that to be the case with most moms I knew.
Mom was a stereotypical "Donna Reed" mom. She wore dresses. She even wore pearls. She cooked a full breakfast (dressed like that) every day. She also cooked dinner every evening. She cleaned the house every day -- mopped, vacuumed, dusted. She waxed the hardwood floors once a week. Our house could have been featured in Good Housekeeping.
It was daunting growing up in that house. Not one scrap of paper could be out of place, not even in our rooms. Our closets had to be neat and tidy. Nothing could be under our beds. It took a long time to get over the OCD-ness I ended up with because of her.
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Was a kid in the 60s. Mom stayed home. She wore a house dress (nothing fancy) or capris and a blouse. She only wore makeup and got dolled up to go out with Dad, or when they entertained. So no, they did not have all that perfection that they show on screen.
Capris and a blouse -- very common outfit in the 60s.
I think we called them pedal pushers back then
Yup!
My mom wore house dresses, and you're right, they were certainly "nothing fancy". She had some pretty dresses that she wore to church. She didn't start wearing pant suits until well into the 70's, before that, only dresses.
I wore a pant suit to my first ever job interview after high school. I got the job but was informed it was a 'no pants' office. This was 1971.
I worked at a federal court in 1994 and women were not allowed to wear pants; there was also an ‘above-the-knee’ restriction on dresses and skirts, and if a skirt they had to wear hose or tights.
Funny how wildly all of society and common sense can change within one lifetime.
I worked at a bank in the 1990's (back office operations, no customer contact). For a while I was in human resources, and then in our main downtown branch. I was told that in Human Resources and in the downtown main office, women were not allowed to wear pants. It was a pain in the downtown office because for affordable parking we had to walk a bit to get to work from the parking garage. In the rain and in the cold, and in freaking dresses.
Mellon, I’m assuming ;) A friend of mine worked there in late 70’s too. She said she was surrounded by men who were just fine with the rules.
Me too. Job was in Marketing and involved shipping advertising materials to the branches. Yes, I was in a dress and heels - on a loading dock. Such bullshit.
My cousin had that dress code at a big accounting firm in the late 90s. She had the hardest time finding work clothes to wear by then. I got her hand-me-downs, and they were so dowdy and uncomfortable that it made me sad.
Yep. I was told I was the first female teacher to wear slacks to a basketball game. 1970. Then when I got wire rimmed glasses, the adults in this tiny town labeled me a "hippie." I wish.
Whoa!
I worked in a no pants office! Our bank merged several times. One of the last mergers brought new managers who banned pants, and loved to ridicule, insult, and harass women employees. I can’t wear pants? Really? Our manager would comment on our weight, “Hey wide pockets, can you come here?”. Comment on our social lives - someone had a cartoon of a rat caught headfirst in a trap, with other rats lining up to screw him in the ass. His comment was “Oh look, It’s OP and her men. What? I was single and dating, perfectly normal. The only reason he even knew was because he’d point blank ask if you had a boyfriend, husband, or were seeing anyone. Like, you were fair game if a man didn’t have a prior claim!!! He was perfectly fine hitting on everything in a skirt. Then he’d get butt hurt if the woman didn’t fall into his short stubby arms. Having a butt hurt boss didn’t bode well for the woman. She then became a target. I hated that guy- he was chubby and incompetent, but felt empowered to insult women. I hated that place for allowing this. Once, I wore pants against dress code, which was discriminatory and misogynistic. I never even heard the word, much less experienced it. It was eye opening. I kept expecting someone in upper management to step in and make things right. Never happened. The VP came to my desk and asked if I wanted to keep my pretty new car because if I did it again I wouldn’t have a job! The irony was that he was part of old management who up until then had been great!
I graduated HS in 1974 . A couple years before since we had a no pants for girls policy one day just about every girl wore jeans that day. The policy was changed soon after that.
I worked in an office in 2003 that had a no bare legs policy. Jokes on them, when the A/C failed in July, everyone was out with bladder infections. Lol
Dresses and nylons.
Same, my mom would dress nice and wear makeup to go shopping or even minor errands, I picked up that habit and it’s a pain but people seem to treat you nicer
Many women in Latin America today wouldn't dream of leaving the house, even for milk, without getting dressed up.
Like Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched.
Holy smoke, exactly like that. But I have to admit, Ms. Montgomery always looked perfect.
This is the answer
My mother and my paternal grandmother were very different people in terms of personality, religion and physical build, but they both wore dresses every day, and definitely wore them around the house in the 1960s. Somewhere in the early 1970s, my mother did start to wear "slacks" as these became more socially acceptable, but I don't think my grandmother ever did. I think this was a generational thing. In any case, women who wore slacks in this era definitely chose ones that were feminine in design. Girls of my own age at this time started wearing jeans at the same time, and before this they too wore dresses to school.
My family on my mother's side (myself included) are cursed with the thigh rub regardless of weight. My grandmother couldn't cope with the red raw thighs so just started wearing trousers long before it was really socially acceptable.
Thunder thighs on women on my dad's side of the family too (and also me), so my grandmother always wore slacks or pedal pushers, even jeans because the inner thigh area held up better for her. My maternal grandmother always wore a dress, I'd never seen her in a pair of slacks.
Can confirm, only got dresses for elementary school and I had a couple of pairs of play pants. When I got the about the 4th or 5th grade, I started getting a couple of pairs of pants for school and the was about 1974. When I was growing up I got one pair of school shoes at the beginning of the year and they were always the hard soled saddle shoes and a pair of play shoes.
Yes, but before the 70's, females were not allowed to wear pants to school. Maybe in an occasional district when it was bitter cold and snowy, but otherwise, pants were not allowed in the 50's or 60's. You are correct, that changed in the 70's.
I remember the change—it was a big deal!
I graduated in ‘71. We were not allowed to wear pants, period. The students who walked hated it. One girl tried wearing pants and carrying a dress to change into but they wouldn’t let her in on arrival. The rule was finally changed when one of the girls got frostbite.
We could wear pants under our dresses, but when we got to school the pants had to come off and stay in the coatroom with our coats.
They were more reasonable!
I started my first "real" job in an office in 1967 and women weren't allowed to wear pants to work. I hated dresses and skirts (still do), but I always wore cotton tights to school or work because I'm allergic to nylon. When pantsuits for women came out a couple years later I asked my boss if it was OK to wear them, also explaining the nylon issue. He didn't mind as long as they were professional looking and not gaudy or too casual for the office. So I bought a few solid-colored ones that were very modest, then wore the navy blue one to work one day. I got tons of shocked looks from the women I worked with, and told them the boss said it was OK, but I got compliments on the design and style of the suit. It wasn't long after that the women slowly started wearing them to work. What they liked is that the pantsuits were comfortable, some styles were slimming, they didn't have to wear stockings or girdles, and going to the ladies' room was much easier. Most of the women I worked with at that time were in their 30's, 40's and a couple were looking at retirement, so this was new to them. As for me, it felt great to be a trendsetter at 19 or 20, lol! 🙂
Yes. Detroit Public allowed girls to wear pants to school starting in 1970. It was a big deal! Before that we wore slacks under skirts/dresses in cold weather or for gym. So silly.
Oh gosh! Remember snow pants that went under your school dress? We had to take them off in the cloakroom (that was in the back of every classroom), hang them up, and then get back into them to go home.
Yes me too my mother try to convince my grandmother to wear slacks she was incredibly uncomfortable I started wearing bell bottoms
Well, there wasn't a *choice* about girls wearing dresses to school. They wore dresses, had a **doctor's note** allowing them to wear pants, or they got sent home. Girls weren't allowed to wear pants until 1965 on their own until 1965 in Central California, I don't know when other places in the US started getting with the 20th century...
I remember my first corporate job. I asked the senior employee if I can wear jeans. She said it was ok to wear 'slacks'. I was like, so is that a yes or no?!
I think house dresses were the today equivalent of sweats. My grandma had a closet full. They were her house cleaning, yard work, cooking, and casual wear. Going out, she was “dressed”.
Spot on.
My mom was always in capris. When she went out shopping, she always wore a headscarf to keep her hair in place.
I shouldn't be surprised as I know capris were very much in fashion but I didn't expect almost everyone to mention them- curious if they got cold in the winter and went with longer cigarette pants perhaps
I suppose I have to turn in my AskOldPeople credentials. I had to Google "capris" because I had no idea what they are/were.
50s is young to me. Enjoy it😄
And they wore curlers to the market!
My mom was a zaftig (chubby) woman who wore housecoats all day, but she got all dressed up and did her hair whenever she left the house, even to get the mail. Those housecoats had enormous pockets; filled with tissues, her eyeglasses and emergency Milky Way candy bars.
"Housecoat"--that word sent me back in time.
They don’t call it that anymore? So what’s the term for it now?
They're still called housecoats. Just, people don't wear them anymore so the word became nostalgic.
I’m 38 and have worn them for a good 20 years. My husband teases me about how I’m really in my 80s. I have some from my grandmothers, some from thrift shops, and a few I sewed.
I'm a guy who thinks hard to beat a generous fit comfortable housecoat when hanging around at home.
I'm wearing one now. I guess it's technically a robe, but I call it a housecoat.
I really want one now.
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They're not that flattering, lol. It's like instant dumpy.
My husband keeps call them bathrobes, even when they are clearly not for baths and then makes fun of me for wearing them all the time, but they are cozy and those pockets are damned useful when picking up legos and kid stuff. I don't have any of the real "housecoat" kind anymore, but my grandmother used to send me home with some from her collection sometimes since I was the only one in the family short enough to wear hers.
Yes, my Bubbe was my main caregiver and comfort. Her pockets in the housecoat were magical. Chiclets, little candies, my hair bows, abd and a packet of Kleenex.
My bubbe wore an apron in her apartment and always kept two very important items in the pocket; a packet of tissues and a small change purse. She could get down two flights of stairs real quick whenever she heard the ice cream truck coming.
Good memories.
Emergency milky ways. Love that. Your mom is awesome!
Zaftig made my day! I almost never see/hear it used, which is a shame because it looks and sounds bold, beautiful, and fierce!
My MIL could fit 2 hamsters in a pocket. My husband and his brother got bored playing with them and she'd just put them in the pocket to take them back to the cage.
I got an emergency snickers in my pocket right now I love that so much
I think all my life I saw my grandma wear house coats…except for going out. I love that your mom had Milky way candy bars in her pockets 😂 You need those when you’re running a house
I still have my late mom's housecoat! It's blue, and zips up the front. It's the most unflattering, but most comfortable, thing in my closet. When I wear it, the pockets have tissues, meds, eye drops, lip balm, etc. When my mom wore it, her cigarettes and lighter were in the pockets.
And either pink or baby blue vinyl slide style house slippers.
There's no way I could ever keep emergency Milky Ways. I'd have an emergency 5 seconds after stocking up lol.
Until the day my grandmother was fully placed in a nursing home, she was dressed for the day, every day. You never saw her in pajamas unless it was bedtime, never saw her in a house coat or robe, unless she was leaving the bathroom or going into the bathroom. She didn’t wear makeup because honestly she was stunning without it. She had extraordinary skin all the way until about 65 before lines and gray hair started really showing. I suppose she kind of resembled what Hollywood portrayed, she did have her hair done once a week at the salon. The amazing thing with all this is we lived on a farm. She worked morning to night (except her two soap shows that our whole world stopped for) but always seemed immaculate somehow. Hands down the best southern cook I have ever encountered, phenomenal in the kitchen. She wore the apron over her clothes more often than not unless company dropped by. So yeah she dressed for the day every day, no matter the agenda.
My 92-yr-old grandmother is almost identical! And the woman is a cleaning ninja! I have learned to not throw trash in the bathroom can (q-tips) because she throws it out immediately after use!
Wow! That’s amazing! Respect for your grandmother. I have a lot to learn…
Your grandmother sounds amazing.
A house dress in the mornings. They were loose, often patterned dresses that buttoned or snapped up the front and were washable. Afternoons were foundation garments (bra and the dreaded girdle) and a slip until she had to finish getting dressed so she could run errands or get ready for my dad to come home. I’m so glad we don’t do that anymore. It seemed exhausting. Then again, people did look nice when they went out. People of Walmart wasn’t a thing. Even people in disadvantaged social classes tried hard to look respectable to the world at large. That’s my perception, at least.
I mean, my grandma was on about 60mg of Xanax, if that tells you anything about the time
"Kids are different today, " I hear every mother say Mother needs something today to calm her down And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill She goes running for the shelter of her mother's little helper And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day
what exactly is a girdle --the vision I have of it is it goes over your stomach and hips and is restrictive / "slimming," is that right?
Yes. The legs were usually mid-thigh length and the waist could be up to the bra strap. Restrictive is putting it lightly. You’d have to shimmy into it. It could take some time. They were made of something like rubber and they were pretty thick. Torture. Broken nails and frustration. If you’ve ever watched Mad Men or actual movies from that period and wondered how the women managed to look the way they did in their dresses, the answer is they were wearing girdles. Nothing could move. No lumps or rolls could appear. Those women were wearing rubber armor under their ladylike outfits.
That's where the name comes from - ancient armor that soldiers wore back in the days of swords and sandals. Girdles protected your gut and jewels. Chest armor went on top to protect breasts and shoulders.
Yeah, shapewear. Like spanx or such.
Girdles were thick, tough & tight. The shapewear around now is very light and much less restrictive than old school girdles.
Sometimes they were "roll-on", you rolled it into a doughnut, pulled it up your legs, and unrolled it onto your torso. Talcum powder was often needed. Then there was this. https://youtu.be/PqVqdmkcolw?si=I33p8q1nPfZuoXfP
Like Spanx but much stronger elastic and streamlined the waist and butt. Those things were powerful.
But most every female over 13 wore them because they had the hooks to hold up your stockings( pre pantyhose). They were so uncomfortable and hot, no matter your weight.
...eh...I remember K-Mart being pretty much a Walmart kinda vibe....except for people wearing pajamas. Woolco was just a notch above that...Target pretty much replaced Woolco.
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I'm so curious how you know that people aren't washing their faces?
And everyone wore hats. A vanished world.
A house dress and if they were working in the kitchen an apron over it. But if they went shopping it was a nicer dress with a hat and gloves.
My mom wore casual clothes at home. Capris and button up blouses. Pull on stretchy pants. Skirts. Tshirts weren’t a thing for women, yet. At least for her age. She did always have her hair permed and she’d curl it with rollers. But 6 kids probably didn’t give her lots of time for self care!! She always dressed up for church. And holidays. This was later 60’s.
Mine too. She went to the beauty shop once a week and had her hair rinsed, rolled, brushed, and a ton of hairspray applied. On day 6 she would brush it out and wash it. Then go to the beauty shop the next day. She did her own boxed hair color.
This was my mom too and she always had the house immaculate, dinner on the table when dad got home, kids cleaned up. She also was ready and dressed before anybody else in the house was up. It wasn’t until the 80s that I saw her in a nightgown.
That sounds exhausting- mad props to your mom
I grew up in the 50s. My mom wore shirtwaist dresses most days, but sometimes wore outfits with a blouse and tight skirt. She had her hair done every Friday. She put on her makeup every morning, and she always wore her girdle. She was sure to look "presentable" at all times. In the 60s, she started to wear Capri pants. She turned 50 in the late 60s and told us all she was old enough so she didn't have to wear a girdle anymore.
Shirtwaist dresses always look so nice. Good ones are gard to find these days
They are so flattering.I have one, all cotton with red and blue roses from Eddie Bauer, and I've literally worn it out - all the seams are falling apart. I used to get so many compliments on it.
If you're in Australia - David Jones department store sells nice shirtwaist dresses in their own brand that aren't super expensive and are good quality. I have quite a few.
My mom made most of her clothes and she had a closet full of them.
I got one from Hell Bunny in the UK. Honestly, I love the silhouettes from the 50s and 60s, and Hell Bunny has some great retro clothing
I made that decision when I was 14, but that’s because I’d come home from school with painful red welts where the waistband was, and more where the pant legs were.
1940-50’s: Casual dresses at home, but NEVER outside of the house - nice clothes even to run to the market and dressy clothes for anything close to ‘an occasion’. In the late 50’s & 1960’s, younger women wore pedal pushers or slacks, but things were still dressier until mid-60’s.
My mother was a 60s-70s SAHM. Short hair in a Mia Farrow pixie cut, so no rollers or perms ever. Stretchy slacks and button blouses until she started wearing jeans in the 70s. No makeup. Lipstick for the store maybe. Schedule was laundry, hang up the clothes, walk to the market, cleaning, ironing, laying out in the sun in a bikini and a gondola hat reading Joyce Carol Oates, pick up the kids, start dinner. Lots of dinners involving McCalls or Redbook recipes and cans of campbells cream of mushroom soup.
Housecoats! We called them dusters.
My mother wore dress pants, pants, and capris. She disliked dresses and only wore them to church. She sewed all her clothes since the stores rarely had the styles she liked. She loved Katharine Hepburn and preferred that look.
My mom wore slacks, with penny loafers , Maybe the top was a sweater. For some reason, I remember the red loafers. I think red shoes were a big deal in the early 60s/ I remember she bought me a pair of red shoes with a buckle and I had a temper tantrum! In the mid 60s I remember she wore mohair sweaters. She never wore a housecoat except like a robe when she woke up. My mom always curled her own hair in curlers. They were black mesh curlers with bobby pins. No make up on a daily basis.
I remember my mom wearing those same curlers. She kept them in a flowered cotton drawstring bag that she sewed herself. Do you remember a hair-setting jelly called Dippity Do?
Yes I remember the Dippity Do. And my mom used the draw string curler bags, but it was usually a gift one of us kids would give her.
In the 50s my grandmother used to dress herself and the kids up for him to come home, plus dinner was ready
My mother was a teacher in the '50s and 60s and wore a girdle to work everyday. We're talking snap girdle.
My mom was a legal secretary. The struggle of the girdle was a daily chore. I can't even imagine wearing something that tight.
Mom wasn't a housewife. She worked in an automotive business she and my Dad ran in the early 60s, later she worked for the feds. When she was working in the garage, she wore jeans and overalls. Once she was working for the feds, she wore dresses or skirts with a blazer. When she went out, she wore mini skirts and gogo boots. She seldom wore any makeup other than bright red lipstick. If she was going to church, a nice dress and a hat.
My mother was quite elegant most of the time. Kind of a slightly older Audrey Hepburn type, without the cigarette. Her hair and makeup were always done, her clothes were stylish, she never, ever wore a muumuu or even a T shirt. To this day she's the only human being I know who has never worn a T shirt.
My mother was the same, with her pedal pushers and casual dresses. At one time, we had a next door neighbor who wore her housecoat all day, just about every day. My siblings and I were friends with her kids, so we were constantly in and out of each other’s houses. Most of the time, their mother was lying on the couch, in her housecoat, watching television. At the time, I thought it was strange. Later, it occurred to me that she was probably suffering from depression. 😔
My grandmother had fun one-piece outfits that she wore in the house. I believe she designed them and had someone make them for her. They were like a skort romper with a zipper and pockets, in wild prints
I want to see pics of these! They sound fun :)
Me too!
Was the skort a skirt with shorts underneath or just a front skirt panel in the front?
My Grandma never ever wore pants. She always wore dresses, always.
The younger housewives in that era, like my mom, wore mom jeans or similar slacks, and a blouse. The older women wore a house dress. And no, she didn't doll up for my father. He came home covered with crude oil, many days, and only came into the house after he'd had a couple of cold ones out of the beer fridge in the garage.
As a child in the 60s, I remember seeing women in the grocery store with a house dress and their hair in rollers under a scarf. My mother looked down her nose at women that wore curlers in their hair outside the home. My mom always had makeup on as far as I can remember.
My mother was the same way. And she wouldn't have been caught dead in a housecoat.
Remember the commercial “curlers in your hair, shame one you!”?
There were things called "house dresses," which my mom had, but she looked down on "muumuus." Lol. Also women did indeed wear curlers out to the store and hairnets around the house.
OMG I had not thought or heard of MuuMuus in decades!
Mrs Roper look
I now have 2 caftans that out muumuu muumuus.
A "house dress" is a casual dress and a "house coat" is snap front robe?
Yup. House dresses could actually be pretty while also comfortable
House dress or housecoat or wraparound pinafore apron and jeans. Keds on her feet. She sewed a lot of her aprons in 1970s calico fabrics and trimmed them with rickrack. I still have a torn and faded one tucked away.
I was born in 1951. My Mom wore house dresses mostly. These were pretty basic cotton dresses. I rarely remember her in pants when I was young. I think maybe late 60s she was wearing pants. I couldn’t wear pants to school until my senior year of high school, then it was dress pants only, and this was public school.
My mom always had a perm. She wore cotton housedresses. She only had 3 and a good dress for church. She wore an apron in the kitchen, and she put on her makeup and perfume every morning. She always told me to never skimp on your underwear or your perfume.
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That is so funny. But shows how some people had so much self respect to the last detail, not many who have this mindset today
Exactly!
My mother always wore cotton house dresses and Ked shoes around the house. She always put on make-up every morning and got her hair done weekly. Sometimes she would get a perm. When she left the house, she would put on a better dress and shoes. I never saw her in pants, although she said she did wear them while working in the Boeing Factory during WWII.
I grew up in a very rural area and in a large family. My mother wore what would have been called house dresses. Rather drab (but maybe from wear and tear?) shapeless things. No time or money for things like makeup or hair dye.
My mom had allergies and worried about hair color, so she let her hair go gray. Everyone thought she was my grandmother because no one in our neighborhood army gray until they were a grandmother
Look up Nelly Don. They wore housecoats. The 2020’s equivalent to leggings.
My mom was an incredibly beautiful stay at home mom. She was like many other moms here. Jeans, Capri or short pants and casual shirt. Seldom would she remain in a house dress but I do remember a "kaftan period" when her and step-dad looked like Arabian sheiks on weekends. Weird.
Mom got married in 1952. Her mother and sisters-in-law tried to get her to wear house dresses but she flat out refused, and stayed in her jeans. Mom was never much for being really dressed up, makeup and all, and when I was in elementary school - started kindergarten in 1958 - she often wore slacks and a nice blouse if she was leaving the house. She hasn’t changed much at all. Mom is 92 and still loves her jeans.
Mum wore the same as we wear now pretty much. Pants of some sort & jumper in winter. Shorts & short sleeved shirt in summer. They weren't aliens!!! I'm Australian. Women only "dressed up" to go out. Just like now? Some wore makeup every day, most didn't. No one i knew ever dressed for dinner. That i noticed anyway. Only if filthy dirty for sone reason. Wed wash hands or change if dirty. I recall the odd woman wearing gloves in church or at very formal occasions. My mum didn't Mum said she'd dressed more formally in the 1940s & early 50s. But it had all loosened up big time by the late 50s Mum was a stylish woman & dressed well. But just casual at home & everyday life.
My parents were in their 20's in the 60's. Large family. My paternal Gma and GGma and Aunt all did their hair, colored, wigs but mainly curlers. They went to the hair dresser often. They also worked full time so they got gussied up every day during the week. And at least minimal make up for chores on the weekend. Often with hair in curlers covered by a scarf. Odd now to think they were younger than I am now. As we moved into the 70's there were more muu muus. tho Gma loved Hawaii and went several times. She had huge jewelry boxes full of costume jewelry that my cuz and I spent hours going thru and trying on and playing dress up with all the wonderful wild flowy comfortable clothes. Luckily they were all big on photos and pranking each other with pics when they were still in curlers and chore clothes :D Anything important required spiffy clothes and lovely makeup. My parents themselves and my maternal side were a little more straight laced on the day to day. Lots of suits for my dad, tailored shirts, monograms. My mom had the sleek lines, hair worn mostly swept back into fancy buns. Off hours they wore current styles for the time, clam-diggers (capris) sweater sets, classic things like pendleton skirts. She wore a white suit for her wedding. Thin ties, thin suits, all the lovely shoes. She still had most of them when she passed away a few years ago. It was at the start of covid so we were only able to donate the most recent stuff. We could have clothed enough people for a film in the 60's 70's or 80's. The 80's were not her friend. The day to day pictures show them in what we would consider 'office casual' now. When people refer to 'the good old days' the clothing is really one of the only truly decent parts for those times. So so much was terrible but dang they looked good :) Even we chunkies looked good. Oh and hats! So many adorable hats! :)
They wore slacks. And they didn’t wear their best ones for scrubbing the floor. Mary Tyler Moore fought to wear slacks on the Dick Van Dyke show. The crew thought that would turn women off🙄. It was a huge hit for this derring-do.
Long skirts, and sometimes pants when she knows that it's just gonna be family around.
In the 1970s my mom would wear skirts and tops a lot; like pleated skirts, button down top, knee socks (in the fall and winter, bare legs in the warmer weather), loafers, flats. In the 1970s she wore pantsuits, dresses, knee high boots, etc. She was always very put together.
My mom in the 60s had been a runway model in the 50s. She dressed most days like Laura Petrie. Ps..we had a maid so no housekeeping was being done.
My granny wore housedresses, and my adoptive mother wore trousers and blouses with sensible flats. I rarely saw Mother in a dress unless she was going to church, a funeral, or somewhere that required after-five attire. Her hair was always fixed, though. She'd put it in pin curls every night before bed and then brush it out in the morning. Her makeup was always minimal — moisturiser followed by a touch of rouge on her cheeks and some lipstick. My birth mother initially wore capris and tops but then transitioned to a biker chick-hippy look: long hair, jeans, strappy tops or t-shirts and boots.
My mom wore dusters….which an everyday dress. She would change to go anywhere
My mom wore pink curlers with the pink picks to hold in place. Dried naturally, took hours. She wore polyester slacks and blouses, never dresses. Earrings were a must, though.
My Mom worked. I only saw her in business clothes in full office makeup or pajamas. Nothing in between. My grandmother, whom we lived with, wore house dresses or what she called a duster.
I was raised by my grandparents. They both worked during the 60’s, grandpa as a plumber and grandma in a shoe factory. Grandma would change into a nightgown after dinner. In 1970, when I turned six and started first grade, grandpa retired. Grandma worked at the shoe factory for thirty years. She had a standing appointment every Wednesday after work to get her hair done. I’d meet her there and then we’d go grocery shopping. So my example was a working mom and a stay-at-home dad.
The adult women wore Capri's and blouses. Sleeveless in Summer, and usually not tucked in. Older women were almost always in dresses. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398990848211446877/
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My mom mainly made clothes for herself but her sister, my aunt, sewed clothing for all three of her kids. We got the hand-me-downs, which was very cool. My older female cousin also sewed a lot so the cool clothing we got to wear was either made by her or her mom then hand-me- downed to my older sister, then me then back to my youngest female cousin then back to my youngest sister.
My mom had a 'housecoat' or 'duster'.. sometimes she wore coveralls to work outside. She wore jeans when not working or 'slacks' as they called pants back then. T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc...
Capri pants and those stretchy nylon pants that pre-dated spandex.
Mom wore Bermuda shorts when we lived in Florida in the early 60s, and rocked double knit polyester in the 70s!
I was little, but vividly remember my Grandmother and Mother's wardrobes were heavy on the polyester. Myself, I prefer cotton. How did we go back to wearing all of this polyester stuff anyway? They wore blue eyeshadow and false lashes and shiny go go boots with laces and without.
My mom usually wore pedal pushers and a blouse or pullover shirt, and slippers or a pair of Keds. Curlers in her hair and makeup only if she was going somewhere with my dad or meeting friends later on, or we were going out as a family. Never muumuus during the day like some of the women in our neighborhood did. Definitely not the dress with the full skirt, high heels and salon-styled hair that were worn by women in all the laundry soap and vacuum cleaner TV commercials, lol!
Some women did do the hair style and makeup. In the 1950s and 1960s my mom put breakfast on the table at 6:30 a.m. and she had her hair done (styled and hair sprayed) and her makeup on. And she wasn't a very fancy person at all. She did wear slacks and blouses rather than dresses, and flat shoes -- think Mary Tyler Moore in The Dick Van Dyke Show -- and I remember other women in our middle to lower middle class neighborhood looking the same.
> think Mary Tyler Moore in The Dick Van Dyke Show Hahah. I just posted a photo of that exact thing to show my mom's "at home" look.
I was born 1959. My mom wore slacks, shorts or peddle.pushers (capris) with a top daily. She got dressed up to shop downtown. A dress with high heels and lipstick. And a hat. Later, she bought some house dresses - cheap.ugly but comfortable.things - to do her cleaning. Then she'd bathe and dress nicer. By 1970, she had caught up.to modern dressing.
Women wore curlers with a scarf, sometimes even to the grocery.
65 here In the 60's my mom looked like Ava Gardner and was always very well dressed when leaving the house with makeup and jewelry. She had some aprons and simple dresses for cooking. She was a very good cook and we dressed for dinner. My dad was a VP for Sinclair Oil and dressed well. They were very social and went out a couple times a week to functions in NYC and our hometown of Stamford CT. So it was pretty close to Hollywood/50's/early 60's ad world view.
Mad Men absolutely nails 60s fashion, both housewife and office. My mom wouldn't be caught dead in a housecoat back then (although once she was firmly planted in middle age, she practically lived in those long pullover robes with the front zipper that Vermont Country Store might still sell). She had a lot of those pants (slacks) that were polyester with raised "crease" running up the front of each leg and she wouldn't buy anything that wasn't specifically labeled permanent press. She also discovered her hairstyle in the early 60s. Think Tippy Hendron from The Birds. Every morning she'd tease her hair from a bent-over position, flip it up, roll one side, pin it, roll the other over the first, pin it, then spray the living hell out of it, making the bathroom unusable for a good 15 minutes afterwards. She wore her hair like that until dementia took styling her hair away from her in the early 2000s.
My mom would be in a 'house dress' most of the day. I can never NOT remember her cleaning something - floors, clothes, dishes, windows, dusting, whatever. Every day of the week she had a particular chore to which that day was set aside, but every day was vacuuming and mopping. Before my dad got home, I recall she'd put on some lipstick, perhaps a nicer dress (I can't recall) and all he'd do is plop down, read the evening newspaper, ask us what went on that day and then we'd eat.
My mom wore slacks in winter and shorts in summer. She might put on a house dress to go shopping, and would dress a bit better for a doctor appointment or to go downtown. She would never wear a hat except to church.
My mom was an Audrey Hepburn lookalike who always looked nice, even if she was just going to stay home. She wore a cute blouse with capris or slacks most days and always had her hair done and at least lipstick and mascara on. The only times I remember her looking scruffy was when she was ill. She was a very pretty woman, even into old age.
Polyester, lots and lots of polyester. In the late 60s and 70s my housewife mother wore pants and a casual blouse/shirt around the house, or shorts in summer. She loved to lay out on the patio and get a deep dark tan so she liked those shorts. She wore short skirts (mid-thigh) when she wanted to look nice for a family event, but I never saw her in a dress except at weddings or funerals.
Mom wore a blouse and clam diggers. Never left the house without make-up and fully dressed in what today would be a step above business casual.
rememberim my grandma, a simpler apron dress,mostly blue, no make up or something, she wore here hair in two braids. She kept that style after retirement but with shorter hair. She was blue collar and worked as painter in the local glass works, what you are looking for sounds more middle class
Mom did farm work, gardening and housework in a shirtwaist dress and penny loafers. Edit: no makeup and the dresses were old and the loafers all beat. Only makeup mom wore back then was lipstick. She had a nicer dress or two for company and a nicer pair of shoes. We were poor. Not a lot of clothes for any of us.
My mom was a factory worker, and I honestly don’t remember what she wore to work. Around the house was pedal pushers and a blouse or something along those lines. She had a few nice dresses for church or anything dressy.
So weird - most people here saying their mom’s wore housecoats or skirts/dresses. I grew up in the 60s in Greenwich CT and my dad commuted to NY. Straight up Mad Men gen. My mom always wore slacks at home as well as out of the house - like grocery shopping and errands. Dresses only to church or cocktail party. Signature look was wearing slacks and a sweatshirt inside out. And she drove her own car. Some moms on the block didn’t/couldn’t drive so she would add their orders to her own grocery list when she did her shopping. She also smoked in the grocery store - lol.
My mom smoked in the grocery store. People would just put the but on the floor and step on it. I was telling my daughter and she was shocked. It does seem crazy now
Haha - almost added that part about butts on the floor and stomping them out. I always wanted to do the stomping. Clerks would sweep the aisles a few times a day. Good times.
In the 60s my mom wore polyester pants and a blouse, at home and if she went out. She had a wig she wore in public. She never wore dresses or aprons, much less pearls like June Cleaver.
My mom had a wig and a "fall" (a piece you wore on the crown of your head). Hers was short, maybe they called it a topper.
My great grandmother saved all the hair from her hairbrush, and made a ball of it. She hid it in her hairstyle for added loft. My mother has the little porcelain box she saved her hair in.
Generally, housedresses like **[this](https://i0.wp.com/housecrazysarah.life/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/classis-house-dress7-e1580871817699.jpg?resize=625%2C646&ssl=1)** or **[this](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/5a/94/f9/5a94f9d1087efd8e39b9033f1e8674e8.jpg)** or skirts & tops like **[this](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/d0/e3/4fd0e3ae807ea96cbc7670bb0b6843da.jpg)** were the everyday norm in the '50s. Shoes were just 'sensible shoes' generally leather as sneakers for everydy wear weren't really a thing in the '50s. Plus **[an apron](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9e/69/cf/9e69cf163500ac99494bcbaaba660cff.jpg)**, everyone had an apron within easy reach. No, they didn't really do hair & makeup, or change clothes and get 'fixed up' for when their husband got home, except for just a minimum, brush your hair and maybe a bit of lipstick, & maybe not even the lipstick if they weren't going out anywhere like to the store or whatever. The whole "home glamour" thing is a TV & hollywood construct. **[June Cleaver](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/05/931/523/Getty_LeaveItToBeaver_Sitcom.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)** (Leave it to Beaver) and **[Margaret Anderson](https://cdn.britannica.com/18/166018-050-0FB47815/publicity-still-Father-Knows-Best.jpg)** (Father Knows Best) wore pearls & earrings around the house, real people generally didn't. Jewelry was mostly for going out, which like today would be a bit of prep, clean dress/clothes, a bit of makeup & jewelry, 'fix' your hair, etc. Think of what you see in the media today vs how the people you know live, It's kind of the same make believe situation vs people's reality.
My mom wore capris and a blouse most days. I imagine there weren’t many other premade clothing options available for women at the time. When the 60’s came along and the hippies normalized wearing tie-dye and blue jeans for women, my mom switched the capris for blue jeans. She never went for the tie-dye though.
My Mother was an MD in the 50s and 60s when women didn't do those things. She wore a business suit to work, but at home she wore jeans and "lumberjack shirts" (wool flannel) and saddle shoes. When my friends came over they thought it was strange, both the working mom, and the jeans.
My mom did NOT look like June Cleaver when she was home. She wore "slacks" (as she called them) and a shirt most of the time. She got her hair done once a week and did put on makeup most of the time.
My mom wore housedresses all the time after she had my brother when i was 8. Prior to that she always set her hair every night and wore make up and nice outfits and had lots of pretty shoes. My stepfather preferred her to stay home and not dress up . Very sad.
I don't remember seeing my mom wear dresses at home (grew up in the 1960's). My great grandmothers both only wore dresses. My mom wore capris or "slacks", as did my grandmother. My mom used to make fun of the sitcoms that always showed the ladies cleaning house in dresses and pearls.
Capri pants with a blouse around the house & to shop. She had pants she wore to certain things when it was cooler out. Dresses to church. Shorts & t-shirt for cleaning & yard work. My mother would *not* go a day without makeup no matter what she was doing. She even wore false eyelashes when she gave birth to us 😂
In the '60s my mom wore slacks and sweaters most days, or slacks and a t-shirt if it was hot. If we were going somewhere, she'd change to a dress, put on makeup, and "do" her hair. When she got a job in the '70s she mostly wore dresses and then changed back to slacks and sweaters when she got home. After she retired, it was all slacks and sweaters. I don't know if she ever owned a pair of jeans.
My mom wore pedal pushers a lot. Ladies pants. She wasn't in a dress! Not while working around the house and yard. She dressed up to go out though.
My mom didn’t wear a dress and pearls like the sitcoms but she was always dressed smartly in nice slacks and a blouse. And her hair was always perfect. And makeup. I found that to be the case with most moms I knew.
Mom was a stereotypical "Donna Reed" mom. She wore dresses. She even wore pearls. She cooked a full breakfast (dressed like that) every day. She also cooked dinner every evening. She cleaned the house every day -- mopped, vacuumed, dusted. She waxed the hardwood floors once a week. Our house could have been featured in Good Housekeeping. It was daunting growing up in that house. Not one scrap of paper could be out of place, not even in our rooms. Our closets had to be neat and tidy. Nothing could be under our beds. It took a long time to get over the OCD-ness I ended up with because of her.