• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Clothes & shoes of yesteryear

i have one of them always getting told off at school for wearing it like a scarf
 

Attachments

  • bal hat 2.jpg
    bal hat 2.jpg
    530.4 KB · Views: 16
Dave,

I'm getting a 404 Not Found error on that link - anyone else getting the same?

Maurice
 
Thanks, Dave, determined to be top dog, weren't you? :-) :-) :-)

The geezer in the middle with boots fancies himself too! :-)

Maurice
 
Not exactly a fashion item but small boys still got to wear knitted balaclava helmets which were awfully itchy under the chin so weren't worn by choice but to keep parents/grandparents happy, (all that hard work knitting them).
A Mr Kedge, who attended St. Giles, Sheldon, had been a Marine Commando and he showed us how to tuck them up to make a cap, so solving the itch problem and feeding the imgination!
My brother had a grey balaclava and mom always made him wear it.especially when he went train spotting, but he always came back with it folded into a hat, l know it you knew how moms are it would get cold on railway platform... so i am sure she wanted him warm...still l remember on a train journey he stuck his head out of the window as usual and off went the grey woolen balaclava never to be again.
 
Thanks, Dave, determined to be top dog, weren't you? :):):)

The geezer in the middle with boots fancies himself too! :)

Maurice
As I wrote, a multitude of fashions...in those days, fashion was very regional, London and greater London area were leaders and the "Provinces" would follow later. Sorry to say that but it was the way it was. If you notice, me and the guy second from the left, were wearing Harris Tweed bum freezer jackets and straight leg pants and flat heeled shoes. The guy on the far left was not into fashion at all and the remainder were Beatles knock offs.
Dave A
 
In late summer 1963 my wife and I visited Birmingham. The idea was to introduce my wife to the area and relatives that lived in the Midlands. I took her to Rackhams in Corporation Street where she bought a lovely, highly fashionable at the time, daffodil coloured long coat. She looked absolutely gorgeous in it. The staff made observations about us and our newly born son who was about six months old. Our sun tans suggested we were from abroad but they were surprised that it was simply good honest Devon sunshine that had provided it. (Maybe they booked holidays this way the following year :)).
They were under the impression that our usual attire was various forms of tweeds. We said that tweed was popular but it would be a few years before we started to wear that style regularly. As it happens we have never got into tweeds!
 
Astounded at the price of that sheepskin coat. I always wanted one but never got on. No wonder at that price ! Viv.
 

Attachments

  • F725F92A-B9B1-4C03-A541-F56F73725202.jpeg
    F725F92A-B9B1-4C03-A541-F56F73725202.jpeg
    439.6 KB · Views: 34
I'v always felt that I was keeping up with trends but I think I've reached 'that' time when I don't get it, if you know what I mean. We recently went to a wedding and all the men's suits (which looked very expensive) seemed too small to me. A little bit Norman-Wisdomish.

Yes, they’re going to look ridiculous in a few years time,when fashion has moved on. ‘Classic’ is always best.
 
Eddie,

I'm glad you are happy with your purchase, but I hate these tapered things (jeans or trousers), though rarely wear trousers since I have lived in Crete. People even wear jeans to weddings and funerals. Can't remember the last time I wore a tie that wasn't at a UK funeral!

Maurice
arn't you afraid of getting nicked.with none on:laughing::laughing: have you got rips in your knee's:laughing::laughing:
 
i bought a new suit in 1994 to go to a wedding.in brum,since then i moved to wales. living out here in the sticks,and the job i do.i were camo all the time. that suit i got it out and try'd it on,to go to a funeral, i could not get the pants to it over my bum. the coat as lady p said,made me look like norman.i had to go to george (asda) and get a new suit for a fat old man. (fog:laughing:
 
Pete,

No rips in my jeans, which are generally cream or beige. Torn jeans would go in the bin! You have to have a bit of self-respect.

I have a suit dating back at least 30 years, hanging in the wardrobe, but I certainly wouldn't be able to the get the trousers around my waist. If I needed to look slightly more formal, I have a nice M & S blazer & would wear that with my jeans. Haven't worn a tie since the 1990s.

Maria,

I have worn braces for the last 30 years since first being diagnosed with gut problems. They're much more comfortable. But buy expensive ones - they will outlast the cheaper stuff ten times over. Put more simply, you get what you pay for ! :-)

Maurice
 
Pete,

No rips in my jeans, which are generally cream or beige. Torn jeans would go in the bin! You have to have a bit of self-respect.

I have a suit dating back at least 30 years, hanging in the wardrobe, but I certainly wouldn't be able to the get the trousers around my waist. If I needed to look slightly more formal, I have a nice M & S blazer & would wear that with my jeans. Haven't worn a tie since the 1990s.

Maria,

I have worn braces for the last 30 years since first being diagnosed with gut problems. They're much more comfortable. But buy expensive ones - they will outlast the cheaper stuff ten times over. Put more simply, you get what you pay for ! :)

Maurice
yer well said mr maurice:laughing:some are tat they come apart,and they are not cheap.. theses army/raf i use. you could tow with them.the only probs they are for buttons.on the pants. for me no probs, mine have buttons .(army isue)
 
I must admit that I prefer zips, though I have one pair with buttons that I wear occasionally. But to my mind, the whole of the fashion industry is one big charade - ludicrous designs, overpaid models,and not designed for the average person's body. Too many people conning silly amounts of money from the general public.

Maurice
 
Well you could always go for that other silly phase and go around in the buff with your clothes painted on! :)

Maurice
 
Last edited:
yer it would be cheaper maurice, but flipin cold. like that. the Emperor's New Clothes an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent
 
My Grandad wore shirts with separate collars. I remember going to exchange them for freshly laundered and starched collars at the collar shop on Stephenson Street, by New Street station. They were delivered in waxed card boxes of seven.
 
Separate collars, two per shirt (as related in an earlier post) was standard issue when I joined the RAF in 1955. The idea was, one on and the other in the wash. You had to provide (I believe) the studs yourself. After basic training and posted to a permanent Headquarters, a colleague suggested that I did, as he did and that was to send the shirts and collars to a Chinese laundry in a nearby large town. I did so for some while until I was able to take a money allowance, rather than the periodic clothing issue. The highly starched collars remained cleaner far longer than the shirts in fact.
 
Separate collars, two per shirt (as related in an earlier post) was standard issue when I joined the RAF in 1955. The idea was, one on and the other in the wash. You had to provide (I believe) the studs yourself. After basic training and posted to a permanent Headquarters, a colleague suggested that I did, as he did and that was to send the shirts and collars to a Chinese laundry in a nearby large town. I did so for some while until I was able to take a money allowance, rather than the periodic clothing issue. The highly starched collars remained cleaner far longer than the shirts in fact.
In the late 60s early 70s I and lots of mod friends were wearing shirts with separate collars. Dunns in New St. was where we got all our shirts and stiff collars in various styles together with front and back studs. Woolworths in the Bull Ring stocked a wide range of collars made of cardboard which were good for just one night!
I still wear double cuff shirts which require cuff links.
I remember as a lad seeing my Dad wearing sock suspenders, worn round the calves, and the vision has haunted me since!
 
Back
Top