[h-cost] Dressing like an American
Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Dressing like an American
When I was 14 (1967) I went to Europe. School trip. We were told NO pants. I just remember wearing my light blue raincoat ALL the time. Of course it came in handy in the rain in Rome. Monica Monica E. Spence MA, MA, BA Lead Instructor, Fashion Department Art Institute of New York City 11 Beach Street New York, New York 10013 212-226-5500 Home: 631-665-9505 cell: 516-635-1839 monicaspe...@optonline.net -Original Message- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Claire Clarke Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 8:17 AM To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Dressing like an American Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Dressing like an American
Presumably you've already considered religious differences in dress, gender differences, local fashion trends and the fact that NYC or LA ready to wear wasnt necessarily available thruout the region. I tried asking my Israeli spouse, but he made a face said I have no idea. For my part, when when my family lived in Athens in the 70s, dressing like an American meant those women who were wearing pants particularly jeans. We Americans also tended to be more casual in our dress whether at school or the American Club, but most especially for going out to dinner. We wore bikinis to the beach, but no Greek woman or girl did. My high school had 40-some different nationalities attending. Many you could pick out as different from their clothes alone. What was available in shops locally was not at all what was shown in the US teen fashion mags. The fabric designs, the default colorways, the cuts were all different. (Try on a pair of med to high end Euro style dress slacks compare with similar US dress slacks - you'll find the crotch length is much shorter in Euro styles.) Shoes were different. Jewelry hairstyles were different. The famous faces to emulate were different. It's the whole look that's different. Imagine my teenage angst at the horror of having to choose a prom dress from either a US catalog, a local shop or homemade. For us, dressing in the styles we were accustomed to, was definitely a statement of belonging to our own culture while surrounded by foreigners. The downside of that was of course that it made us targets for envy, ridicule, political controversy and teenage gang fights in Kefalari park. Just some random thoughts, --cin Cynthia Barnes cinbar...@gmail.com Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Dressing like an American
I can only offer anecdotal evidence: I grew up in a firmly middle-class, Midwestern, WASP family... in 1968, when I was 13, we went to Europe for several weeks in the summer because my father was attending a conference in Switzerland and then visiting some colleagues in southern Germany, with a brief stop in England on the way home. Everyone said that I should only pack dresses and dressy accessories (anyone remember how awful pantyhose were back then?) because no one in Europe dressed casually as Americans do. And then I was miserable the whole time because I was the *only* person my age who wasn't attired comfortably in jeans! As I recall, the only other fashion victims we encountered were middle-aged South Africans... it seemed like the entire world had adopted my home dress code but I was prevented from being part of it due to other peoples' assumptions about appropriate dress. I even remember a German woman telling us that I should learn to relax and wear looser clothing! I'll have to ask my mother what she remembers from that trip By the time we hit London at the end of July I was too grumpy to see what was English about the people around me. (I just wanted to get home and ditch the patent leather dress shoes and handbag. Shudder.) If The Gabriel Hounds was published in 1967, as Amazondotcom tells me, then I'm at a loss to know what the author meant! I don't remember anyone in Michigan wearing Liberty prints but that's about the only difference I can come up with. Maybe there was a difference in acceptable skirt lengths? That was no help at all, was it?? Suzanne On Apr 26, 2009, at 1:00 PM, h-costume-requ...@indra.com wrote: From: Claire Clarke angha...@adam.com.au Date: April 26, 2009 7:16:58 AM CDT To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Dressing like an American Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Dressing like an American
One of my favorite authors. Graduated high school in '64. I think shge may be referring to the more casual style of dress the Americans had even then. Pants instead of skirts or dresses. My cousin went to South America to visit classmates, and they were much more formal/conservative in their fashions. Genie in St Louis, MO. -Original Message- From: Claire Clarke angha...@adam.com.au Sent: Apr 26, 2009 7:16 AM To: h-costume@mail.indra.com Subject: [h-cost] Dressing like an American Hi all, Some of you who were alive back then might not consider this historic costume, but I thought this was a good place to ask this question. I was recently reading 'The Gabriel Hounds' by Mary Stewart, which is set in Lebanon in, I think the '60's (1960's that is). The narrator is English but has been living in America and at one point describes herself as 'dressing like an American'. I was curious how differently American and English women might have dressed at this time. Is this another way of saying that she dressed informally? Or wore trousers a lot? Claire ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
