Reply
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,861
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

I don't know if it's generational, cultural or just personality, but my mom is nearly 90 and still hyper-vigilant about obeying the "rules". All kinds of rules - fashion rules, homemaking rules, social rules. She's a slave to her rules. I often tease her about showing me the rule book that she's referring to. She seems to be motivated primarily by what "people will think". There are many things I admire about her, but this preoccupation with other peoples' perception of her is not one of them.

Without disrespecting our mothers or their memories, can we share some of the things that we saw our mothers' generation do that we don't ourselves do?

~ house cat ~
Super Contributor
Posts: 489
Registered: ‎07-10-2011

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

I've got one..use spoolies on our hair!!

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,719
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

Wear a girdle! Now I will use spanx but not those rib crushing kind she did.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,450
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

My late mother also always worried about what other people thought. I'm afraid one of my sisters & I pretty much blew all that to h*** when we were in our teens. {#emotions_dlg.blush} sorry, Mom

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,861
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

On 8/8/2014 jmsmall said:

I've got one..use spoolies on our hair!!

I'm not sure what this is, but I am sure I never used one. {#emotions_dlg.laugh}

~ house cat ~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

They always wore hats and gloves - we don't do that anymore. They also always wore a girdle - even if they were thin. Never mixed prints - i still follow that rule. They always wore a slip and I also still do - but most women don't anymore it seems.They also always wore hose.Of course they never wore pants until after the 60's, my generation broke us out of the only dresses rule.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,450
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

On 8/8/2014 house_cat said:
On 8/8/2014 jmsmall said:

I've got one..use spoolies on our hair!!

I'm not sure what this is, but I am sure I never used one. {#emotions_dlg.laugh}

Curlers, they were shaped sort of like thread spools. You wrapped your hair around it, then the ends of the spoolie bent back over the base to hold it in place. You could probably find a picture somewhere if you Google it. They were easier to sleep on than the rigid wire curlers. Guess I just gave away my age, huh, since I know what jmsall was talking about.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,861
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

On 8/8/2014 VCamp2748 said:
On 8/8/2014 house_cat said:
On 8/8/2014 jmsmall said:

I've got one..use spoolies on our hair!!

I'm not sure what this is, but I am sure I never used one. {#emotions_dlg.laugh}

Curlers, they were shaped sort of like thread spools. You wrapped your hair around it, then the ends of the spoolie bent back over the base to hold it in place. You could probably find a picture somewhere if you Google it. They were easier to sleep on than the rigid wire curlers. Guess I just gave away my age, huh, since I know what jmsall was talking about.

Okay, I know what they are now. I just didn't know the name. I grew up sleeping in pink plastic ones. Imagine a 4 or 5 year old child sleeping in those things? Ironically, I had straight hair as a child and it got curly as I got older.. I think it was my body rejecting those awful curlers.

~ house cat ~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,861
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

On 8/8/2014 happy housewife said:

They always wore hats and gloves - we don't do that anymore. They also always wore a girdle - even if they were thin. Never mixed prints - i still follow that rule. They always wore a slip and I also still do - but most women don't anymore it seems.They also always wore hose.Of course they never wore pants until after the 60's, my generation broke us out of the only dresses rule.

I was in 7th grade when we were first allowed to wear pants to school. That was NYC in 1970. Can you believe that?

Here's an example of one of my mom's rules - in the winter time her feet are always cold. I tell her they're cold because she wears those sheer ankle hose under her pants. I bought her socks… she won't wear them. She says ladies don't wear those.

~ house cat ~
Super Contributor
Posts: 954
Registered: ‎11-06-2011

Re: O/T: Things our mothers did that we don't - fashion and otherwise.

SPOOLIES!