DRESSING UP AND DRESSING DOWN

By Rose M Colombo

Dressing Up and Dressing Down in America captures the lifestyle and fashions from the "Leave It to Beaver" days that led Americans to dress up, but as time went by, they left the dress codes behind. Enjoy a blast from the past when Americans lived in safe neighborhoods and behind secure borders. A time wh

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Regency Publishers
• Release date: Mar 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781961096134

Rose M Colombo

ROSE COLOMBO, a multi-talented author who is only 1 of 2 authors to win the sought after prestigious international Irwin Award in 46 years from the Book Publicists of So. Ca. The Motion Picture Council honored her with the Jeannie Angel Award for her contributions to the media as a producer and host of am-FM radio shows heard on KIEV, KORG, KWNK, KYMS and Salem KGER and Cox cable TV shows she created, Women Fight Back and Issues of the Day interviewing victims of injustices, lawyers and politicians. Colombo has been quoted, featured, and her articles published in magazines, Veterans News, Daily Journal, L.A. Times, OC Register, Boston Globe, Denver Post, and more. She led a grassroots movement and coaches victims of legal abuse to become survivors. She even helped save a judge from being recalled. She's been seen in the news, TV, cable, and interviewed on national radio as a "Crusader for Justice" for 30 years. She won the City News Service award for a local column she created, "One Woman's Opinion" by unanimous vote. The Noble House, London-England chose her for the prestigious Fellow Poet award, "There is a Mountain." The International Library of Poetry presented her with bronze medals for Poet of Merit and Poet Scholar. Colombo's bio can be seen in Marquis Who's Who in the World, Women, and America. Listen to a live Podcast every Wed. at noon: Colombo's Chronicles and The Justice Club.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

After WWII ended in 1945, Americans celebrated Freedom. The economy was booming and more young couples married. This caused an increased boom in natural-born American babies. The family unit is the foundation of a civilized nation. Americans and Europeans, and Jews, were grateful that the U.S. Military defeated Hitler and the Nazi regime in 1945. The King of Rock, Elvis Presley, took the nation by storm in 1955. Country Music was moving up in popuarity with stars such as Johnny Cash. The new generation was named Baby Boomers. They are parents and grandparents today. They are fathers, uncles, and fellow Americans who are veterans and served the country to save Europe from communism with Honor. After the war Americans were ready to move on and shed the fashions of the, the 1940’s. Americans demanded new designs and embraced designers such as Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and that demand for changing trends continues in America from generation to generation. New designs were created for the 1950s to the present day. Clothing can make kids, teens, men and women feel good about themselves and express themselves. Clothing reflects the culture and its political and economic status and that causes Americans to decide if they will be dressing up or dressing down. This book begins with an era when movie stars were glamorous and fans could not wait to see the beautiful fashion designs they wore to events on TV when Americans dressed up.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my mother and father, Jim and Maria Colombo, and grandparents, who helped raise me, Phillip Joseph and Annmarie Colombo, and their strong family values. They survived the depression with 8 little kids after coming to the USA from Italy on a boat. My dad and uncles served America during WW II alongside fellow U.S. Military Heroes. God Bless these brave men and women who saved America, Europe, and the Jews by ending the goals of an evil man, Adolph Hitler, and his Nazi regime..

Chapter 1

1950s Rock N Roll

On sunny days during the summer months, sunglasses were popular. everyone wore sunglasses which reminds me of the classic movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.. Females wore shorts or pedal pushers. Sandals. Tennis shoes. It was common for females to cover their heads with colorful scarves, while riding in a convertible car, with the wind blowing in their hair. Females wore scarves or hats for church services. In fact, women out shopping in high end department stores wore hats and gloves to accessorize their dresses, suits, pencil skirts with cashmere sweaters or blouses, sun dresses or sack dresses. Females at the poolside or beach wore one or two-piece bathing suits. Rolled up jeans at the ankle. Blouses tied in front in a knot under their breasts to show off the waist. Guys wore cuffed stiff Levi’s. White t-shirts with slightly rolled up sleeves. Ivy League pants and shirts. The boys wore school jackets or leather jackets. Businesspeople wore suits, ties, and hats to work.

Other items popular during these eras included aprons. Nylons. Girdles. Garter Belts. Bras. Petticoats. Saddleback shoes. Mary Jane shoes. Flat shoes. Tennis shoes. 3-inch-high heels. Sandals. Angora Socks. Fur Coats. Swing Coats. Belts. Girls accented their waist with silver chain belts or leather belts. Flair or tight-fitting or pleated skirts. Sack Dresses. Evening Gowns. After 5 cocktail dresses. In fact, both girls and guys wore Calypso pattern shorts and blouses. In the 60s and 70s, they would wear Bell Bottom pants. Crop tops. Mini Skirts. White or Black knee-high Boots. Hairdos included: Ponytails. The Flip. The Bubble. Curls. French Roll. The Nest. Big hair or straight hair. Most girls rolled their hair in curlers at night.

In the 50s, 60s, 70s, and eighties, Catholic females wore scarves over their heads, or hats, to church on Sundays. The Catholic Church denied entry to females who did not wear a head covering. If females decided to shop downtown, they would not wear shorts, bathing suits, or bikinis, except at the pool, beach, or in the yard. Prior to the 1970s, most girls felt uncomfortable if they wore bathing suits without a covering off the beach or swimming pool area. There were rules that included dress codes. In the future and in the year 2000, girls strolled on the beach or through beach towns wearing G-strings which exposes more than the mindset of each generation that threw modesty and dress codes out the window.

If the females shopped in a major department store, as I stated, females might wear tight-fitting dresses or sack dresses which had no fitted waistline. Or choose to wear a pencil skirt which is a tight-fitting wool skirt and matching sweater or a dress, but they did not wear jeans, pants, or shorts in department stores until that rule began to change in the 1970s. States such as Colorado, or Bible Belt states, enacted stiffer dress codes more stringent than California.

The flared poodle skirts went out in the late 1950’s. Fortunately, the feminine spaghetti strap summer dresses never went out of style except for a short while but always seem to come back even through the present time. The adult females wore nylons with seams until the 1960’s when fashion designers offered seamless nylons. If females worked in an office, they were required to wear skirts or dresses, nylons, and fashionable shoes until the 1980s. My mother was thrilled when she no longer had to ask if the seams on her nylons were straight. Females wore girdles or garter belts that held up the nylons. Pantaloons. Camisoles.

In the 1950s, the females wore girdles and petticoats underneath their flared poodle skirts and certain dresses. Females enjoyed shopping at major department stores such as May Company, Macy’s, Buffum’s, and Bullocks. Major department stores considered high-end stores were popular. Some boutique stores and major department stores invited adult females to sit down in a small room and models would walk around wearing the expensive clothing.

Most wives did not work, but they could dream. In the 1960s, females tossed out the nylons with seams, garter belts, girdles, and petticoats, when they produced pantyhose. In the 1960’s, slips, camisoles, and pantaloons were nearly obsolete. American females were the leaders in rebelling against all the clothing required before putting on a dress or blouse or skirt or an evening gown.

Women would eventually throw away the girdles and the garter belts. They would eventually stop buying camisoles, nylons with seams and then nylons without seams turned into pantyhose. They would toss out the pantaloons and the full slips and half-slips. The petticoats would go and the belts around dresses and skirts would diminish in popularity. Females would eventually toss the gloves except for incredibly special occasions or winter months as well as hats, but still people today wear a diverse style of hats, baseball caps, and dress hats for special occasions where required or desired to give an extra edge for a special occasion.

In the 1960s, most young people did not smoke marijuana, except for the Liberal hippies. In fact, most schools were not experiencing violence in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s, or 1980s unless it was racial tension in the inner cities. Racism was a fundamental problem as most schools did not have Black Americans or gang members, I am not sure, but the hippie movement did not include Black Americans. There were also cults known as the Moonies, Hare Krishna, and Jim Jones. Other cults popped up and the leaders called themselves prophets or claimed to be a religion. Ironically, there are former hippies who may have become the leaders in the White House or congress or other public offices in the USA. There are former hippies who became career politicians and remain in public office for 25, 30, 40, or 50 plus years. Two Presidents of the USA admitted to smoking pot and having used drugs and both men remained in office for two terms each. Since the hippie days, the dress codes for public schools have reflected the extreme of dressing down. The biggest issue at parties on the weekends up through the early 1970s was boys who brought beer to a party or spiked the punch but changed to cocaine and crack.

Furthermore, home deliveries are not new in today’s world. Until about 1970, stay-at-home wives watched for the Helms man, Milkman, Good Humor Ice Cream truck, Ice Man, and the vegetable farmer’s truck, or Fuller Brush man, and Avon Lady who rang the doorbell. The home deliveries drove through the neighborhoods ringing their individual sounding bells so the stay-at-home spouses could come out to the curb and purchase whatever they needed from the trucks. Today, we can order groceries and household items, clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and car washers, window washers, landscapers, painters, by phone or online and they will come to our homes to perform those services. In the past, Americans performed most chores themselves.

The hippie movement did not just smoke marijuana, but got high on LSD thanks to Professor, Timothy Leary who introduced it as experimental in the 1960s and 1970s. Elvis was concerned about the teenagers and young adults who were super excited over the Beatles because he was concerned about their songs that he felt would influence kids through the lyrics. Americans embraced the Beatles, but we were also super fans of the British singers. We were excited about their fashion designs that they wore as well as the straight hair. The Brits wore boots and vests and crafted headbands and jewelry and much more. Elvis took America by storm in 1955 and not quite 10 years later, the Beatles took America by storm in the 1960s.

During the 50s and 60s, if a female had a luncheon date downtown, they would make reservations at the Brown Derby in Beverly Hills where the movie stars frequented or downtown at the famous Clifton’s Cafeteria or Macy’s. Kids loved whenever their parents would splurge and take the family To eat at Clifton’s. It was a two-story restaurant with a huge treasure chest where kids could pick out a toy. It was certainly a real treat that is memorable. Clifton’s is still a landmark, but it has changed over the years. I visited this landmark with my family in 2018.

If people wanted to meet for a quick lunch in their city, they usually went to Bob’s Big Boy or Woolworth’s or Schwab’s in Hollywood where Lana Turner, the classic movie Star was discovered. Woolworths remained open from 1912 – 1997. It is still active in Australia known as Woolies. Woolworths had a long lunch counter. Teens and adults ordered hamburgers, French Fries, Malts, A&W Root Beer Floats, Hot Fudge Sundays, or a Banana Split. They could also ask for a sandwich and a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. It was very popular. My mother was a young feminist and ahead of her time and she worked part-time job at Woolworth. My mom and Godmother retired from Woolworths when they shut their doors.

The other popular drug store was Schwab’s in Hollywood where Stars stopped by for lunch. The other two stores that were all-American stores that families frequented for about one-hundred years was Sears and Roebuck and J.C. Penney. Sears and Roebuck are currently out-of-business. J.C. Penney is more than one-hundred years in operation as an all-American department store, but the pandemic in 2019 made it tough on department stores such as J.C. Penney and Macy’s. The fashion world felt the loss of profit after the housing crisis began and inflation hit the USA in 2008. Discount stores were popping up and China was importing more products and clothing into the USA. And after the New Millennium, online shopping was becoming popular in the year 2009. Today online shopping generates billions of dollars.

So, between the open border policies at the L.B. Naval Base and Port accessed by China importing products, China had a foot inside our nation. U.S. products exported to China from the USA were stamped "made