# Why was everyone in the past so well-dressed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819 "2019-11-22T15:57:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/41 "2019-11-23T18:45:02Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > What always astonishes me about old photos and films, up to about the early 60s, is the virtual absence of overweight people. It’s like we’ve become a different species. I just watched it through again; and I think there are a number of people in that video who would meet modern definitions of “overweight”. The clothes are cut to hide details of body shape rather than to show them off, and most of the women are corseted, producing the appearance of a relatively narrow waist, so it doesn’t show up as much. ETA: note the pedestrians routinely all over the middle of the streets. Car traffic hadn’t yet driven foot traffic into restricted areas. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/42 "2019-11-23T22:11:28Z")
I was in Catholic high school 1967 - 1971. We wore uniforms. The girls wore the school jumper with a blue cardigan. The boys wore grey flannel slacks, a solid colored shirt with a necktie and the blue cardigan. Once a month or so, one could pay fifty cents to the mission fund and get a pass for “Casual Day.” One casual day, I wore a tie dyed tee shirt, cut off jeans and sandals. Sister Mary Corona sent me home saying that the idea behind casual day was to wear your nicest clothes. I told her that our definitions of “casual” were different. I ended up in more trouble when I came back wearing the uniform and stopped at her office to ask for my fifty cents back… ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/43 "2019-11-23T22:23:50Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Clothes were expensive, and most people had very few changes of clothing. > > So you could tell how wealthy a person was by the way they dressed. > > You could tell if a person was a manual worker or an office worker. You could sometimes tell their profession. You could judge the quality of fabric, and if they went to a fancy tailor or dressmaker. > > This meant that everyone wanted to look as good as possible. Dressing down would have been like saying, “I’m poor, I can’t afford anything better.” I came here to say what GreenWyvern said. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/44 "2019-11-23T22:38:06Z")
That must be the ferry to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. “Gimme five bees for a quarter,” you’d say. Now where were we… ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/45 "2019-11-23T22:39:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe 18 years ago I bagged up all my ties in a lawn/leaf bag (I had tons of ties) and took them to Goodwill. Later I took my suits. When I told my gf what I was doing, she thought I was exaggerating and was merely updating my wardrobe. > > The next wedding we attended she saw I was wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt and she thought I was kidding. She actually searched my closets and was shocked that I had zero “dress” clothes. We almost didn’t go to the wedding, she was that flustered, but when we arrived she saw I was one of six “non-traditionally dressed” guys in attendance. I went to a college prep high school that had a dress code for the guys of blazer, dress shirt and tie, no “uniform” per se, you could wear any B/DS/T, but you _WERE_ FORCED to wear that crap, and punished with detention if you broke “dress code” coincidentally, that’s where my deep-seated loathing of “dress clothes/businesswear” came from once I graduated from high school, I also took all my hangmans nooses, err, ties, and bagged them up, went down to the outdoor fireplace with a can of lighter fluid and a lighter, saturated the accursed nooses, and set them ablaze! DIE, you horrible strangulation devices, DIE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Marcus\_Flavius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@Marcus\_Flavius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marcus_Flavius)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/46 "2019-11-24T04:14:01Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I just watched it through again; and I think there are a number of people in that video who would meet modern definitions of “overweight”. The clothes are cut to hide details of body shape rather than to show them off, and most of the women are corseted, producing the appearance of a relatively narrow waist, so it doesn’t show up as much. > > **ETA: note the pedestrians routinely all over the middle of the streets. Car traffic hadn’t yet driven foot traffic into restricted areas.** The streets should be for people, not cars. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/47 "2019-11-24T08:08:26Z")
I’m thankful for the yoga pants, daily showers, and indoor plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/48 "2019-11-24T08:45:46Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > That must be the ferry to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. “Gimme five bees for a quarter,” you’d say. Now where were we… I believe the important thing was that you were wearing an onion on your belt, as was the style at the time. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/49 "2019-11-24T09:57:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I believe the important thing was that you were wearing an onion on your belt, as was the style at the time. Can you get white onions yet? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/50 "2019-11-24T10:05:51Z")
Times change. I remember as a child, taking a train trip across Canada with my parents. This would have been the early 1960s. In our compartment, anything went; but if we were venturing outside it, to the dining car, for example, then my Dad was in a suit and tie, Mom was in a suitable dress (or top-and-skirt combo), and I was in a blazer, tie, and short pants with kneesocks and Oxford shoes. Why? Because every other man, woman, and child on the train was dressed the same. That was normal for 1964. A few years later, in 1967, our family went from Toronto to Montreal on the train. For me, it was again a sport coat, tie, long pants this time, and Oxford shoes. Dad was in a suit and tie, Mom wore a pretty dress and heels. That was normal for 1967. But like I said, times change. I took another cross-Canada train trip in 2003. I did not bring along any jackets, ties, or dress pants or shoes. Neither did anybody else. We still got great food and service in the dining car and in the bar car. Like I said, times changed, and they changed a lot, dress-wise, in forty years. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/51 "2019-11-24T15:45:53Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Standards of dress always evolve, or perhaps devolve. In 1911, at least in Britain, what we think of as a man’s suit was still called a “lounge suit” and was considered fairly casual – something you would wear during the day if you wanted more to be comfortable than to be well-dressed. It was certainly not OK during any evening event. I think this lasted until WWI, after which standards were more casual. Standards got more casual again after WWII. Possibly the great traumas and loss of life in those wars led people to be less fussy about such trivia as clothing. > > Then in the 60’s was the great cultural revolution against war and it’s comrade, comformity, when in some circles the weirder the clothing you wore the better. (The irony was that if you didn’t conform to non-conformity, you were a social pariah.) There was some backlash in the Reagan years, but freedom, once tasted, can’t really be taken back, and it’s been a pretty steady trend towards the casual ever since. “Devolve” is a pretty good description of where we are now. In the last 10-15 years, large portions of society have blown right through “casual and comfortable” into “sloppy.” I’m not old, but I can remember a time when wearing jeans with rips or holes meant that you were extremely poor – so poor that you couldn’t even afford second-hand clothes. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/52 "2019-11-24T16:13:55Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > “Devolve” is a pretty good description of where we are now. In the last 10-15 years, large portions of society have blown right through “casual and comfortable” into “sloppy.” > > I’m not old, but I can remember a time when wearing jeans with rips or holes meant that you were extremely poor – so poor that you couldn’t even afford second-hand clothes. you know what rebellion is, right? ripped jeans were in style for a bit precisely because of your attitude. it’s funny watching Boomers complain about this stuff. Your parents were horrified that you wore frilly clothes and had long hair instead of keeping it in a manly high-and-tight, regular cut, or pompadour. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/53 "2019-11-24T16:16:07Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I suspect the general worldwide optimism was reflected by the attire. Times were good and people dressed to flaunt the new era. It was the start of a new century and events like WWI and The Great Depression hadn’t been experienced. An interesting theory, but what we’d now consider formal wear was standard practice long after WWI and the Depression. I remember seeing an old home movie showing my parents on a driving tour of parts of the South down to New Orleans (a real expedition in the days before Interstate highways). In spite of long warm days in the car, my father wore a coat and tie while my mother was attired in formal-looking dresses. No jeans or short sleeves. Times have changed. We’re a lot more informal/casual/sloppy in our dress, and I’m as ‘‘guilty’’ as most. I’ve long been basically living in jeans when off work. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/54 "2019-11-24T16:26:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \ I remember seeing an old home movie showing my parents on a driving tour of parts of the South down to New Orleans (a real expedition in **the days before Interstate highways** ). \ (bolding mine) You aren’t just whistling “Dixie.” 🙂 We used to drive from Baltimore to Northern Alabama to visit my mother’s kin. As recently as 1969, it took 22 hours to make the trip; Tennessee was the worst. Now it takes my folks roughly 12 hours with pit stops. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/55 "2019-11-24T16:46:59Z")
In the early 1950’s my father was an auto mechanic, he came home from work everyday showered and put on a suit and tie. The men in the neighborhood would congregate in the front yards and talk for a while and then he would come in and strip down to his boxer shorts for the rest of the evening. By the middle 1950’s he no longer did that. He was born in 1916 and all of his photos show him in a suit and tie. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/56 "2019-11-24T17:37:04Z")
The past truly is a different world. Or take your choice of different pasts and worlds, still normal in places. But for most, it was worse then than now. I wonder how informal dress correlates with improved plumbing and sanitation. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/57 "2019-11-24T17:48:37Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Personally, the sooner mens neckwear (any and all kinds) dies a horrible screaming death the better, don’t give me the bovine excrement excuse that “your collar isn’t fitted right”, I simply find neckwear _uncomfortable_, just as I find turtlenecks uncomfortable (even if they’re tactical, and slightly darker black… 😉 > > neckwear serves no _functional_ purpose and is nothing more than useless cosmetic frippery and/or a sign of mindless conformity > > If I ever gain possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, or get the powers of the “Q” Continuum, I will “Snap” 100% of the neckwear in the multiverse and all parallel dimensions out of existence. > > the move towards casual clothing is a _good_ thing. You cad and/or bounder! After I adjust my monocle, I will give you the thrashing with my walking stick you have earned! ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/58 "2019-11-24T17:57:23Z")
To be clear, it is the thrashing, not the walking stick, you have earned. The obtuse construction was the result of my having to adjust my spats while composing ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/59 "2019-11-26T06:22:31Z")
Why the neat clothing? 1. Primary reason: culture. They wore that because that is what people wore. I know that sound like a circular argument, but it is the core reason. 2. Deodorant. The lack thereof. With less showers available, washing was less frequent. With less showers and no aircon and no deodorant, everyone had body odor. It was normal. The clothing provides a neat _appearance_ which shows that one is still taking care of one’s appearance, despite smelling like the south end of a northbound hog. and 3) Cellphones. No seriously, listen to me. Why do you feel safe to go out today wearing clothing that is disrespectful to those around you? Why do they not just kick the shit out of you? Because you have an instant means to summon help, including police help. The ease and speed of access to outside help has made our culture immensely safer, so there is _much_ less incentive to conform with the public image, because you don’t have to conform to survive any more. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819/60 "2019-11-26T06:38:01Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > 1. Deodorant. The lack thereof. With less showers available, washing was less frequent. With less showers and no aircon and no deodorant, everyone had body odor. It was normal. The clothing provides a neat _appearance_ which shows that one is still taking care of one’s appearance, despite smelling like the south end of a northbound hog. Myth about the past #876 > [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > 1. Cellphones. > No seriously, listen to me. > Why do you feel safe to go out today wearing clothing that is disrespectful to those around you? Why do they not just kick the shit out of you? > Because you have an instant means to summon help, including police help. > The ease and speed of access to outside help has made our culture immensely safer, so there is _much_ less incentive to conform with the public image, because you don’t have to conform to survive any more. Gee, I wondered why that guy in the formal suit didn’t kick the shit out of me yesterday for walking along the street wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Now I know. It was because I had a cellphone! 🤣 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-everyone-in-the-past-so-well-dressed/843819.md?page=4)