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Clothes & shoes of yesteryear

same here jeanette..i had 2 or 3 floppy hats wore with long hippy type dresses..jesus sandals and lots of beads...my hair is shoulder length now but back then it was past my waist....happy days :) actually i have a couple of floppy summer hats now..love wearing them

lyn
 
Astoness said:
same here jeanette..i had 2 or 3 floppy hats wore with long hippy type dresses..jesus sandals and lots of beads...my hair is shoulder length now but back then it was past my waist....happy days :) actually i have a couple of floppy summer hats now..love wearing them

lyn
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I wore beads too Lyn, all colours. I particularly loved wearing chokers, I used to make my own from bits of material and put some little dangly bits on. Think I still have one somewhere, lovely silky grey, probably wouldn’t fit round my neck now, ha ha. Jen
 
Anyone wear a leather fringed waistcoat. I had one similar to this one. Bought it from Chelsea Girl in Erdington. It was a tan leather colour and I loved it. Bought a matching fringed handbag too. You can never have enough fringes. Viv.

75E034CB-F36C-4B55-B07B-3BB89429EACF.jpeg
 
The mention of beads reminds me that me and my friend wore a couple of small bells on a chain too. Must have sounded like a couple of mountain goats on our Saturday shopping/hanging out trips around Birmingham ! Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
Anyone wear a leather fringed waistcoat. I had one similar to this one. Bought it from Chelsea Girl in Erdington. It was a tan leather colour and I loved it. Bought a matching fringed handbag too. You can never have enough fringes. Viv.

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Don’t think I had a fringed waistcoat. I remember having a green suede waistcoat with crocheting around the edges, wore it with a green leather mini skirt. I was always worried about spilling stuff on them, they were difficult to clean! Gorgeous clothes weren’t they. Jen
 
But what did we do when we went to work ? Did you wear the same sort of clothes ? If I’d worn hot pants, very ‘mini’ skirts or beads and bells I’d have been told to go home and dress properly! I had an alternative ‘frumpy’ wardrobe for work. Mostly knee length skirts and blouses or trousers and court shoes. Later it was suits.

If you worked in fashion shops or boutiques, it must have been acceptable to turn up in the latest fashions.

Viv.
 
mw0njm. said:
my wife had one of them when i met her.
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Vivienne14 said:
But what did we do when we went to work ? Did you wear the same sort of clothes ? If I’d worn hot pants, very ‘mini’ skirts or beads and bells I’d have been told to go home and dress properly! I had an alternative ‘frumpy’ wardrobe for work. Mostly knee length skirts and blouses or trousers and court shoes. Later it was suits.

If you worked in fashion shops or boutiques, it must have been acceptable to turn up in the latest fashions.

Viv.
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Going back to my recent comment about the disappearance of the frock/skirt from ladies, when you went to suits were they trosered? If so what sort of date was that?
I remember in about 2000, we were in New York and on Wall Street and all the power suited men and women heading into banks and other financial type businesses, terribly smart and professional down to their feet which were all encased in high end trainers, a strange sight.

Bob
 
Edit - this post has been copied to this thread from another as it may be of interest. Viv.

Thought I would tidy up the bottom end of Corporation Street today all from 1971, this is a different view from previous of the construction of C & A, traffic on the road and on street parking, also note on the back right they are just finishing the building of the office block

C and A -71.jpg
 
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Edit - this post has been copied to this thread from another as it may be of interest. Viv.


Further up we have Miss Janet and Mansfield, the height of fashion in its day I suppose, like the old style traffic lights and the back of the Vauxhall Viva, 2 door so you had to climb in the back.

Miss Janet- 71.jpg
 
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Edit - this post has been added to this thread from another as it may be of interest. Viv.


Finally on this stretch we have Ravel which according to the wording on the front of the building sell posh shoes ( and I thought it was a chicken dish) and King Jobs , is that child cycling the wrong way on the street?

Ravel 71.jpg
 
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Astoness said:
another great set of photos steve...some may think not that old but the ones you are posting are 50 to 60 years old so they are historical in an ever changing birmingham and of course can bring back so many memories for most of the members on this forum...thank you

lyn
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Thanks again for the great photos Steve. I used to love shoes and remember buying a pair from Ravel. They were a bit posher than Stylo or Freeman Hardy & Willis and that explains why I still have them in their box after only wearing once.
 
Susan shaw said:
Thanks again for the great photos Steve. I used to love shoes and remember buying a pair from Ravel. They were a bit posher than Stylo or Freeman Hardy & Willis and that explains why I still have them in their box after only wearing once.
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I am sure this is an example of female logic!
 
I couldn't afford the leather waistcoat so I crocheted one! The fringing looked a bit messy though. I did buy a suedette skirt but mom made me take it back she said it was too tight and short but by today's standards it was lovely.
rosie.
 
Glad they’ve lasted Susan. I wasn’t so lucky with a pair of boots from there.

You’re right Mike in the case of my lovely pair of Ravel leather boots I bought at the Union Street Branch. The soles started to come away from the uppers within a matter of weeks. So I took them back to the shop and explained the problem. They were downright rude and told me I shouldn’t wear them out in really bad weather. What were they for then ? Sitting on some Italian beach in the middle of summer ?! They said their footwear was made abroad and not for our climate. But would they refund on the boots ? NOOOO! I argued and argued with them over weeks and finally gave up. Thought about a small claim, but had just had enough of it all. This would have been early 1970s.

Bought several pairs of boots at the outside market after this. They lasted a long, long time. Just goes to show, pricey doesn’t always mean quality. But Ravel did have the edge on style. Viv.
 
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mikejee said:
Or maybe that posh shoes made for fashion are not really wearable in normal conditions and ruin your feet or break your ankles
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This is going to be off thread Mike, I know, so please feel free to delete. I have posher shoes than Ravel which have style rather than be fashionable. We all know that fashion fades. Unfortunately I broke my ankle in two places in October and still recovering. Proper shoes, just simply walking the dog. The plus side is I have been able to enjoy this wonderful forum, thanks again. Kind regards Sue
 
Vivienne14 said:
But what did we do when we went to work ? Did you wear the same sort of clothes ? If I’d worn hot pants, very ‘mini’ skirts or beads and bells I’d have been told to go home and dress properly! I had an alternative ‘frumpy’ wardrobe for work. Mostly knee length skirts and blouses or trousers and court shoes. Later it was suits.

If you worked in fashion shops or boutiques, it must have been acceptable to turn up in the latest fashions.

Viv.
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I was working in an office during those times so I suppose I was hidden by a desk, phone and typewriter. I only ever wore flat shoes with the mini skirt so not much fear of tripping over and feeling embarrassed . It seems like another world now. Mind you in the Summer months now I wear shorts, not what you would call ‘short’ shorts but certainly not down to my knees. Jen
 
I think the most ridiculous item of clothing I ever wore was probably an Afghan coat. It weighed a tonne, smelt to high heaven and, unless you were expecting sub-zero temperatures, was unbearably hot and itchy. Mine never lost its distinctive smell. My mum bought it for me. I don’t know where she bought it from, but I think she lived to regret it. The only thing it had going for it was the lovely embroidery along every edge of the coat, including the cuffs.

I never for a moment imagined how offensive it must have been to others around me. Mine was a midi length one too, so plenty of fur radiating that distinctive odour. What were we thinking ?

Viv.
 
I think it might be the base (skin) rather than the fur that smelled. In the cheaper ones that most people got, I gather that they did not properly cure the skin so as to stop it "going off."
 
mikejee said:
I think it might be the base (skin) rather than the fur that smelled. In the cheaper ones that most people got, I gather that they did not properly cure the skin so as to stop it "going off."
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crikey mike sounds more like a side of beef lol....i always wanted an afghan coat glad i didnt get one now :D
 
I think the good ones, like the Beatles wore, were properly cured, so didn't smell, but its not suprising that sheepskin, if not properly treated stunk
 
Vivienne14 said:
I think the most ridiculous item of clothing I ever wore was probably an Afghan coat. It weighed a tonne, smelt to high heaven and, unless you were expecting sub-zero temperatures, was unbearably hot and itchy. Mine never lost its distinctive smell. My mum bought it for me. I don’t know where she bought it from, but I think she lived to regret it. The only thing it had going for it was the lovely embroidery along every edge of the coat, including the cuffs.

I never for a moment imagined how offensive it must have been to others around me. Mine was a midi length one too, so plenty of fur radiating that distinctive odour. What were we thinking ?

Viv.
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Vivienne14 said:
I think the most ridiculous item of clothing I ever wore was probably an Afghan coat. It weighed a tonne, smelt to high heaven and, unless you were expecting sub-zero temperatures, was unbearably hot and itchy. Mine never lost its distinctive smell. My mum bought it for me. I don’t know where she bought it from, but I think she lived to regret it. The only thing it had going for it was the lovely embroidery along every edge of the coat, including the cuffs.

I never for a moment imagined how offensive it must have been to others around me. Mine was a midi length one too, so plenty of fur radiating that distinctive odour. What were we thinking ?

Viv.
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I saved my pennies and treated myself to a knee length Afghan coat and yes it did smell. Never really thought about other people wondering what it was, must have been naive back then. I didn’t have it for long, a group of us went up to Newcastle-upon-Tyne for a party and stayed overnight, don’t know how or why but I never came home with it, didn’t drink alcohol in those days either so can’t blame it on that! Jen
 
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