FAVOURITE CLOTHES

Evening all! Looks like nobody has had anything to say since 14.12, so how about this?

It doesn’t matter which era, but I loved the ladies fashion back in the 60s when I was a teenager. The mini skirt came along and we girls welcomed them from the dowdy longer clothes we had to wear before then. It was a sort of freedom to express ourselves in our Mary Quant style black and white clothing and accessories.

Then there was the innovation of tights rather than the nylons or socks we had to wear before then. I particularly liked the hot pants, teamed up with high length white boots and, only being tiny, I could get away with that sort of thing, and we also wore smart suits for work, but also with a shorter skirt, and I was lucky enough for my mum to help me out with buying the latest - in fact, she loved “dressing me up” as that had been denied to her when she was a lass, but had excellent dress sense.

Which were yours - lads and lasses? You must have had favourite outfits.

I've never been a snappy dresser, I'll wear owt, I was brought up clothed from jumble sales and it stuck to me all my life, I'm like columbo and walk about like an unmade bed, I bought a suit from the charity shop on St Pauls drive for £3 and I've been to umpteen weddings funerals and christening in it,
I remember an instance on a building site once when 2 dollie birds came and offered cheap shirts in a suitcase, In my mind at the time was £1.99 but these shirts were £30, my reaction was, for £30 I'd want a full suit, shirt and tie and still feel ripped off,

Don't know what year that was, Tom, but £30 for a shirt was a lot of money years ago.

I know that a lot of men don't especially go in for fashion, but did you not wear bell-bottoms when you were in your teens? Or maybe the occasional Ben Sharman or two?

No Mollie, I've never bought ' labels' or fashion, from the age of 16 to 29 I was a biker, leathers, boots and castrol R for after shave, My motor bike was't a toy or hobby, it was my mode of transport, leisure and best friend and my life, then, Mrs Plum stopped my fun and tried to educate me into matching colours and styles but failed,,,,

Ah, so your missus thought she could change you, without success.

My hubby wasn't too good with matching colours as he was colour blind and, out of his uniform, he would have dressed like Coco the Clown if I hadn't taken him under my wing, but he was happy with that.

He once asked me where his brown cords were and I told him he didn't have any. He'd meant his dark green cords, but couldn't tell the difference, so you can imagine what mixed colours he'd use.

Well you've heard of folks having dressed with odd socks, well i have dressed with odd shoes because, in my biking days, I had one pair of boots and never needed to concentrate on which foot to put them on but, when Mrs Plum entered my life and attempted to, smarten me up, I had several pairs of foot wear and things got complicated,

And then you were spoiled for choice. I can understand the dilemma!

My favourite outfit was a white lurex trouser suit with flared trousers and a covered buttoned sleeveless top with a Mandarin collar. It was beautiful which my mum bought for me from C&A on Standishgate when I was 16. I often wonder what I did with some of those clothes, because I certainly didn't grow out of them. Mind you, I'd favver weel in it now at my age!

Yvonne used to wear a Cyclodelic orange cat suit and I used to laugh if she had to go to the loo because she would end up sat with only her bra on I still use a old jumper for jobbing in and I have photos of me wearing this jumper from over 10 years ago. They don't make cloths like that now.I don't possess a suit or a tie but have two pairs of trousers two nice shirts and a long cardigan for special occasions.You would normally find me in trackie bottoms and a jumper with the sleeves rolled up

I always wore mini skirts and after my youngest lad was born my mam brought me the most beautiful dress ..I always seemed to go back to my pre baby weight and this dress was out of this world..the material is hard to describe was very silky but not showy with lovely delicate roses on..I’ve never seen one like it since..of course it was mini skirted..the memories a strange thing isn’t it..I can still see her face as I put it on and looked in the mirror..big lump in my throat now.

I always wore mini skirts and after my youngest lad was born my mam brought me the most beautiful dress ..I always seemed to go back to my pre baby weight and this dress was out of this world..the material is hard to describe was very silky but not showy with lovely delicate roses on..I’ve never seen one like it since..of course it was mini skirted..the memories a strange thing isn’t it..I can still see her face as I put it on and looked in the mirror..big lump in my throat now.

Sorry for doubling up.?

I bet you looked lovely in your mini skirt, Maureen, but it must have been hard to get all those disapproving looks from some older women like they used to do.

Thank you Harold..and mollie..I’m sure you would still look good in whatever you wore.
Plus,I often wonder what I did with that dress.

Oh!!. The days of mini skirts and dresses. I loved them. I was a dedicated follower of fashion back in the day. I
My favourites were mini skirts and boots too.
I also loved the bell bottom jeans too.
We were never allowed to wear jeans or trousers at work. I never could understand why at the time
I was also very naive at that time.
Nowadays I wear whatever suits me but never, ever short skirts or dresses. I do admit to finding clothes a challenging. I like to dress nicely but need to go out of town to find stuff. The only decent shop in Wigan is River Island and even some of their clothing is a bit too outlandish for my taste. I am however a shoe freak.

As some of you may know I enjoyed cruise holidays, especially the evenings when we were asked to be a little bit dressy. That type of clothing I still have but will not be able to cruise again. Many happy memories hanging in the wardrobe.

Momac:

Thanks, but there's no way I'd be able to get away now with what I wore then. Mutton dressed as lamb comes to mind.

Jathbee:

When I started this topic, I didn't have shoes in mind, but I too was a shoe freak. I still have more pairs of shoes and boots in my wardrobe than I've counted for ages but, unfortunately I can no longer wear them as they have high heels, and I'd end up breaking my ankles if I tried walking in those again. Flatties aren't flattering, but they're more comfy, and a lot safer!

Anne:

I also used to love wearing long (skirts/dresses) required when there was a Mess Dinner. That was the dress code for the ladies, and Regimental Mess dress for the men. I have some lovely long skirts in my wardrobe for when I used to go out, which were appropriate for the place, but I no longer wear them, and haven't the heart to throw them out.

mollie m

Surely, now that female Officers and NCO's have equality in the armed forces with many now serving on the front line, they too should be wearing a dinner uniform at a mess dinner?

Forgive the oversight, Owd Codger. They do wear dinner uniform, like the men had to. Didn't come across many female Officers and NCOs at the dinners we went to as they may not have been part of the same Corps as my husband. I only knew one female SSgt who I worked with and who was in the Int Corps, so wasn't included in our Mess Dinners.

Yvonne loved her clothes and shoes and when she passed away I gave clothes and shoes to the Diamond Community Club still in their plastic wraps and some with the price tags on also stickers under her shoes never worn

OC How can spouses or partners wear a uniform if they are not in the armed forces?

That's not what he meant, Retep! He was talking about female members of the Armed Forces wearing dress uniform, not their spouses.

PeterP I was in the Diamond community centre today, they all made me very welcome. I had cheese and ham on toast and a nice cup of tea.
,

Of course he did mollie!!!

Posted by: PeterP (12206)
"Yvonne loved her clothes and shoes and when she passed away I gave clothes and shoes to the Diamond Community Club still in their plastic wraps and some with the price tags on also stickers under her shoes never worn"

I know how you must have felt when you were doing that, Peter. When my partner died I couldn't do that as it was too distressing, so a friend did it for me. Some of it was work clothes and he, having been a plasterer, which had to be binned. The rest of it were stylish as he took a lot of pride in how he looked, so they were given away to someone who was roughly his height and build.

Keep going with the head down Mollie...interesting posts you come up with...

Thank you Mr Biker. I do my best to think of different things every now and again. Not to everyone's taste, I admit, but not everyone bothers to start new threads, and some of those only like to be confrontational or pick holes in well-meaning discussions, which makes them look foolish. It don't bother me none.