# Did People REALLY Dress Up This Much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908 "2006-08-08T20:07:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dpimi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Dpimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dpimi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/1 "2006-08-08T20:07:20Z")
I imagine this is a photo opportunity. I saw a picture of former president Warren G Harding. It has him fishing. He is wearing a suit. The hip boots are covering his pants in the water but he has on a coat, a vest, a tie and a derby. I can’t believe anyone would dress like that to go fishing in real life? But I have seen photos of men wearing suits at Baseball games and such. I even recall an old episode of “I Love Lucy,” where Ethel says “I have never been on the subway in blue jeans and I am not going to start now.” As if to wear jeans on the subway was a crime. Did people really “dress up,” like that or were those photo shots just exaggerated? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/2 "2006-08-08T20:30:50Z")
People would dress up for a photograph, in the days before cheap box cameras became widespread and you had to visit a photographer’s studio. But even their “everyday” clothes were more formal than today. T-shirts are a modern invention; jeans were working clothes for manual labourers. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/3 "2006-08-08T20:34:25Z")
> [@Dpimi](#): > > I imagine this is a photo opportunity. I saw a picture of former president Warren G Harding. It has him fishing. He is wearing a suit. The hip boots are covering his pants in the water but he has on a coat, a vest, a tie and a derby. > > I can’t believe anyone would dress like that to go fishing in real life? > > But I have seen photos of men wearing suits at Baseball games and such. > > I even recall an old episode of “I Love Lucy,” where Ethel says “I have never been on the subway in blue jeans and I am not going to start now.” As if to wear jeans on the subway was a crime. > > Did people really “dress up,” like that or were those photo shots just exaggerated? When I first flew on airplanes in the 60s, people often dressed up to do so. My parent smade me. (Sorry no cite. 🙂 Many pictures or films I’ve seen of baseball games from the 50s and earlier show a crowd that dressed up in this sense. These are clearly actual pictures and films of games and not just photo opportunities. It is possible, the photos tend to be from World Series games and people might have thougth of them as dressier occasions than regular season games. I do not recall dresing up personally to go to baseball games as a child. Earlier than the 50s, I suspect the tendency to “dress up” was even more pronounced. My grandparents dressed for dinner in their own house growing up on a regular basis. That is they as children did not wear their play clothes to teh dinner table. I suspect (but this is just IMO) that Ethel (on Lucy) meant not that she should dress to go on the subway, but that she would not wear jeans to go out any place. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/4 "2006-08-08T20:36:16Z")
Also, baseball games were in the day, and people skipped out of work to go to them sometimes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/5 "2006-08-08T20:41:23Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > When I first flew on airplanes in the 60s, people often dressed up to do so. My parent smade me. Some people still do. My friend’s English father came to our house wearing a suit on a Sunday after getting off the plane from England. I asked him why he was wearing a suit. He said, matter-of-factly, that people should always dress up when flying. I stopped asking him questions once he gave me the staredown after my asking if he at least loosened his tie. As if a 6 hour flight isn’t uncomfortable enough. One thing I noticed when looking at old photos of crowds is that men always wore hats. Thank god we put an end to all that. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/6 "2006-08-08T20:51:41Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > One thing I noticed when looking at old photos of crowds is that men always wore hats. Thank god we put an end to all that. And in photos taken around 100 years ago all the men are wearing jackets, collars and ties, with very few exceptions. This would include many who would have dressed much less formally when at work, e.g., as a mechanic, but who dressed up when off work but out in public. And I remember back 50 years ago it was the normal thing for university students to wear at least suits and ties when at university. (I started at university in Australia just 44 years ago, and that normal style of dress had only gone out of style very shortly before I started.) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/7 "2006-08-08T21:03:47Z")
Watch a few episodes of Father Knows Best sometime. [The man puts on a suit and tie to eat dinner with his own family](http://www.patrickswan.com/images/father%20knows%20best.jpg). On Sundays the really get wild - long sleeve shirt and sweater vest, and I’m pretty sure a tie, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/8 "2006-08-08T21:56:36Z")
As a child of the 1950s, I can clearly remember my mother dressing us up to: A) Shop – including grocery shopping B) Visit the doctor C) Travel. In fact, I remember being crushed by the crinoline petticoats my sisters wore on a cross-country vacation. D) Meet with teachers E) Go to church F) Entertain, as in have people over to our house for dinner or a party. In fact, pretty much the only times I _don’t_ remember my mother getting dressed up to go out in public was when she was just jumping in the car to pick up or drop off one of the kids, and didn’t expect to stop anywhere. And my mother’s side of the family was pretty informal. I remember my father’s parents, after they retired to Florida, taking us to the beach. My grandmother wore a dress. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/9 "2006-08-08T22:14:21Z")
It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the dress code was relaxed enough at state universities to allow women to attend class in anything other than a skirt or dress. When attending the (live) theatre, men were expected to wear a suit and tie and women were expected to wear dresses. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/10 "2006-08-08T22:22:16Z")
Going back to the 40s and earlier, all men and teens wore suits whenever they were in public – going to school, for instance. There are some nice pictures of Isaac Asimov and various other science fiction fans of the late 30s, all wearing suits and ties, even when meeting informally in someone’s home. Harry Goldin wrote about a boy getting his first suit when he was young, which would have put it around 1910. Photos of men during the Depression usually show them in suits everywhere – except for laborers. All men wore hats, too. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/11 "2006-08-08T22:22:24Z")
Heck, look at comedians like the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, W. C. Fields, or Charlie Chaplin. All of them wore suit-like objects. They’re not quite suits, since they’re supposed to look funny and obviously tag the wearer as not being a normal person, but all were variants on coats and ties. Unless you were a laborer, literally the type to dig in the earth or the equivalent and so a blatant member of the lower or working class, you were expected to wear a suit every day of your life, and most certainly if you did anything in the public sphere. Women had equivalent and equally strict dress codes. This was a major reason why the flappers of the 1920s were considered so incredibly shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/12 "2006-08-08T22:32:05Z")
If I am not mistaken, John F. Kennedy put an end to hats when he declined to wear a hat at his inauguration, thus starting a hatless trend which endures to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/13 "2006-08-08T22:36:16Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > Thank god we put an end to all that. Who is “we”, kemosabe? Do you mean in general, or just hats? In general, on the downside, everyone is subject to “relaxed grooming standards” in ways that aren’t always so… nice. Like people shopping in spandex or pajamas, looking pretty rough. I think showing a little self-respect and pride, if you will - in personal appearance is a good thing, and manifests itself in terms of _behavior_ as well. Oddly enough, people’s manners improve as their dress code improves. Or maybe it’s the other way around - but you get the idea. Little anecdote - once, on a looong flight - I was “bumped” or upgraded to first class for reasons unknown. One might say “big deal” but it’s about $3-5k difference in price, and not a little more comfortable way to fly. Reflecting back, I was dressed business casual - khakis, decent shoes, nice shirt, etc, haircut, and so on. I’ve no doubt that were I not dressed at least presentable, or wearing a “suck this” T-shirt, - forget it. Additionally, people’s perception of others is based largely on first impressions, rightly or wrongly. I truly believe that “fortune is infatutated with the efficient” and so on - just making the counterpoint that while dressing like slobs might be considered some sort of progress, not everyone feels that way and there are good arguments against doing so. .02c. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/14 "2006-08-08T22:38:05Z")
The Kennedy inaugeration in 1961 sparked a controversy. Kennedy did not normally wear a hat and there was speculation as to whether he would wear one at his inaugeration. He did wear a tophat. Here is a Snopes article about the event: [Kennedy’s tophat](http://www.snopes.com/history/american/jfkhat.htm) The situation in the Snopes article is a chicken/egg question. Snopes accurately shows that the Kennedy inaugeration did not “kill” men’s hat sales. However, the fact that Kennedy, for the most part, only wore a hat for that one event signified the trend towards more casual dress standards. It was said that Kennedy wore the tophat in deference to the hat manufacturers, not because he felt comfortable with it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/15 "2006-08-08T22:46:11Z")
> [@Common Tater](#): > > Who is “we”, kemosabe? Do you mean in general, or just hats? In general, on the downside, everyone is subject to “relaxed grooming standards” in ways that aren’t always so… nice. Like people shopping in spandex or pajamas, looking pretty rough. I think showing a little self-respect and pride, if you will - in personal appearance is a good thing, and manifests itself in terms of _behavior_ as well. Well said. Like Ethel Mertz, I _still_ will not ride the subway (or go outside to pick up the paper) in jeans. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/16 "2006-08-08T23:06:25Z")
I volunteer at a “living history farm”, so I’ve had some exposure to clothing standards for the period discussed by the OP, and somewhat before. One thing to keep in mind that dress customs in that era were almost the reverse of what they were in (for example) the 1980’s (before offices went business casual). By the 1980’s, _most_ older adults had office jobs for which they were required to dress up at work. On their own time, they dressed more casually and comfortably. Whereas, one hundred years ago, most people had manual or farm jobs and wore denims at work. On their own time, for a change of pace (and to emphasize their respectable status), they dressed up. One hundred years ago, respectable members of the middle class wore suits in public–period. If a man was in town wearing overalls, he was probably a laborer shopping for work supplies. Nobody wants to look like that on their day off, so they dressed up. And people _always_ dressed up for pictures. Having your picture taken was a special event, and you wanted to look good. Now I have to say, even for that era, that dressing up to _fish_ was a little unusual. But then, so was having your picture taken while fishing. As the OP says, it was a photo op. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/17 "2006-08-08T23:50:14Z")
Nashville’s female teachers weren’t allowed to wear slacks until the early 1970’s. Even then, we were restricted to pant suits – no casual slacks or jeans. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/18 "2006-08-09T00:15:25Z")
I can’t remember the name of the movie in question (about an aspect of the civil rights movement) set in the 50’s or 60’s but I’ll always remember the scene of a large number of FBI agents searching (waist deep) through a swamp _in shirt and tie_. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/19 "2006-08-09T00:16:45Z")
Of course, I remembered the name about 2 seconds after hitting “submit”: _Mississippi Burning_. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908/20 "2006-08-09T00:52:26Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Heck, look at comedians like the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, W. C. Fields, or Charlie Chaplin. All of them wore suit-like objects. They’re not quite suits, since they’re supposed to look funny and obviously tag the wearer as not being a normal person, but all were variants on coats and ties. I took out an anthology of old Harold Lloyd films from the library yesterday. The one we watched last night, _Safety Last_, revolves around his “career” in a department store. In one spot he is dressed down and almost fired for “working in his shirt sleeves”. After all, this is “a respectable store”. There are only a handful of persons who are shown in the film, from 1923, who are not dressed in a suit or very nice dress. One thing I’ve always wondered, from this and previous times… how did they handle the heat in those clothes, particularly pre-airconditioning? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-really-dress-up-this-much/367908.md?page=2)