# Your Favorite Era in Fashion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937 "2003-05-13T13:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/1 "2003-05-13T13:13:17Z")
I have two, really . . . **Edwardian**. I love the elegance of the [early Edwardian](http://www.mauritia.de/en/belle/belle2.html) period, with the Gibson Girl hairdos, sweeping skirts, Gainsborough hats. And the [late Edwardian](http://www.mauritia.de/en/belle/belle2_2.html) period, with the slim Irene Castle look: corset-heeled shoes, ankle-length skirts. Very chic. **Kennedy era**. Probably because that’s what Grown-Up Ladies looked like when I was a kid: bouffant hair, straight, knee-length skirts, spike heels. [Marilyn Monroe](http://www.geocities.com/melaniumom/SGTG.html) in her last film is a good example. Yours? ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/2 "2003-05-13T13:31:31Z")
Twenties, especially anything by Madeleine Vionnet. Bias-cut sheer layered silk- it’s perfect. And the beadwork and rhinestone decoration on flapper dresses is fantastic. 1730-1765 Georgian stuff. Full-skirted coats for men, and knee-breeches and embroidered waistcoats. And tricorn hats. And women get to wear stomachers and wigs and big shawls and lots of petticoats, yay ![Like this](http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/pics/1756_1.shtml). And [this](http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/pics/1746_3.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/3 "2003-05-13T13:34:32Z")
I like the fashions of the 40’s and 50’s. Hats. Hats on men and women is a good thing. I look good in a fedora, a little silly perhaps but good. I also like the large full skirts on women with the tight fitting bodice. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/4 "2003-05-13T14:01:05Z")
Cotehardies. Men and women, but I could only find pictures online of women. Go figure. [http://www.accesswave.ca/~safeire/pictures/red\_wool\_cote.htm](http://www.accesswave.ca/~safeire/pictures/red_wool_cote.htm) [http://www.accesswave.ca/~safeire/pictures/green\_silk\_cote.htm](http://www.accesswave.ca/~safeire/pictures/green_silk_cote.htm) I think whatever Glynish Johns was wearing in The Court Jester was a cotehardie, too… ---
**Author:** ![Ashildr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a4c791/32.png) [@Ashildr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashildr)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/5 "2003-05-13T14:05:09Z")
Tudor. I just like the lines of it, and the big sleeves, and the excessive amount of fabric. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/6 "2003-05-13T14:29:43Z")
'40s for sure. The purty hairdos, swirly skirts and dresses, ankle-strap shoes, and cloche hats! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/7 "2003-05-13T14:49:01Z")
That’s Twenties, not Forties. _No one_ looked good in a [cloche hat](http://www.civilization.ca/hist/hats/hat52eng.html)—unless you were Clara Bow, they made you look like Mr. Ed in drag. [Forties hats](http://www.civilization.ca/hist/hats/hat53eng.html) _were_ adorable, though. Where’s Guin? She can go all Edwardian with me . . . ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/8 "2003-05-13T14:56:06Z")
I’ve always loved Edwardian fashion, too. In fact, as soon as I saw this thread, that’s what I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/9 "2003-05-13T15:01:04Z")
I love the 40s. Give me ankle straps, padded shoulders, and tiny waistlines! I adore seamed stockings, but they’re hard to wear these days. I also love the 60s. I’m a sucker for miniskirts and pale lipstick. And feather boas coupled with velvet and brocade. Way fun! ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/10 "2003-05-13T15:03:29Z")
I hate to chime in with “me-toos” but the Edwardian era has me all excited. Men and women. Ever since I fell in love with Bertie Wooster. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/11 "2003-05-13T15:29:10Z")
**1950’s** - Dior and all that. Probably has to do with the fact that I was an adolescent then and trying to learn to be a young woman. Big full skirts with stiff crinolines underneath, or a sheath to show the curves. Women actually _had curves_ back then. Breasts, waists, and hips - and we flaunted them all! Think _The Loretta Young_ show. Earlier eras were to restrictive - too many layers. I can’t imagine July or August in anything before the 1930’s. They do look nice in period movies, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/12 "2003-05-13T15:33:10Z")
1940’s. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/13 "2003-05-13T16:17:17Z")
1140s. (Heh, I mean women’s clothes from the entire medieval period in general. Those gowns in **Ethilrist** ’s links are smashing.) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/14 "2003-05-13T16:24:09Z")
The Julian era. You can’t get a good toga made these days. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/15 "2003-05-13T16:24:12Z")
I’ve got to go with the 1940s, too. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/16 "2003-05-13T16:27:11Z")
The 1940’s, definitely. Just so damn classy. One decade’s fashion that I will never, ever, for the life of me, understand was the 1970’s. I mean, I can look at the fashions of practically any other time period, and even if I don’t find it particularly appealing myself, at least I can understand how it was part of that era and how those living then found it fashionable in the time and place. But not so with the 70’s. What the hell were we thinking!? (And when I say ‘we’, I mean ‘not me’; I was alive but in my single digits, so I wasn’t really making my own fashion choices!) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/17 "2003-05-13T16:30:38Z")
**Anamorphic** , how awful do you think it was to be in my 20s in the Seventies? _Nothing_ decent to choose from, no matter where you shopped. That’s why I mostly bought from thrift shops back then. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/18 "2003-05-13T16:41:46Z")
Ugh. Thank the gods for thrift shops, eh? Lemmee ask you though, **Eve** … In your opinion, were the fashions of the 70s hideous on purpose? Like, was it part of some sort of ‘counter-culture’ thing? Or did they really not know? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/19 "2003-05-13T17:02:01Z")
Well, [somebody](http://www.lileks.com/institute/dorcus/70s.html) had to do it… ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937/20 "2003-05-13T17:11:45Z")
Being an old Renaissance Faire geek, my personal favorite style is the Italian Early Renaissance (c. 1490’s). All of the nobility gowns I made for myself are from that period. I’ve always been fond of the Late Edwardian period, also. IIRC, the movie _Wings of The Dove_ was set around 1912–I loved all the costumes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-era-in-fashion/174937.md?page=2)