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Esteemed Contributor
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Old movies; Dressed up at home!

In old movies (40s and 50s), have you ever noticed  how dressed up the characters are at home? It cracks me up. I'm watching a Hitchcock movie now....and their clothes are gorgeous! Surely people didn't dress up like that for a day at home, did they? 

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

@Goldengate8361    Remember the ads in the 50s and 60s of housewives mopping in heels and pearls?  Just look at us now, jammies to the grocery store (well, some of us).

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

The "June Clever"  look.  The Beaver's mom would always be wearing dresses and pearls.

I only knew one person who did that.  I used to stop at my friends house in the morning to walk to school together.  They had six boys and one girl.

 

My friend's mother answered the door dressed nice with her hair done and wearing make-up at 7 am. She was a stay at home mom.

 

I remember the missing tiles on the floors, but they were washed and waxed to a shine.

 

If you knock on my door at 7 am....do so at your own risk.  It is frightening.

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

@Carmie As a devotee of Leave It To Beaver, in some of the last season's episodes June is actually wearing pants.

 

I always thought being dressed up at home looked sooo uncomfortable. I've always preferred casual (not sloppy and not jammies to the store) and comfy.

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!


@Goldengate8361 wrote:

In old movies (40s and 50s), have you ever noticed  how dressed up the characters are at home? It cracks me up. I'm watching a Hitchcock movie now....and their clothes are gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

"Surely people didn't dress up like that for a day at home, did they"?

 

 

@Goldengate8361 

 

Can only speak to my home. My mom worked 6 days(2 nights) a week. On Sunday she(we)put our laundry baskets in a wagon, and wheeled it down to the Laundry Building in our Public Housing Projects.

 

She never was up and around the house in her pajamas that I remember seeing.

 

 

hckynut 🏒

 

 


 

hckynut(john)
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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

My favorite "dress-ups" are in very old movies from the 1930s. It was the depths of the Great Depression but these escapist films were often about very rich people who ALWAYS dressed for dinner. That meant long gowns for the women and tuxedos for the men. Of course, every home had a table or cart filled with expensive liquor and no matter how long the residents had been gone, there was a full ice bucket with ice cubes at the ready for all drinks.

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

[ Edited ]

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. And my Mom generally wore a shirtwaist dress around the house. 50's Shirtwaist Dress // Vintage 1950's Pink Plaid Cotton ...But when she and my Dad went out with other couples or events. My Mom was dressed to the Ts. She had beautiful dresses and nice coats. Sometimes they matched. And she always wore pretty jewelry. In fact I saw at least two necklaces that she had in movies from that era.

 

My Dad's shirts that he wore to work were always sent to the laundry and starched. I used to like to watch him tie his tie before he left for work. I never saw my Dad wear a pair of shorts until after he retired from work.

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

[ Edited ]

I grew up in the era when women did not typically wear trousers.  When they did, it was for the rare occasion of horseback riding, rough camping, messy outdoor chores, etc.

 

What my mother and so many others wore during that timeframe when they were at home was a "house dress."  My mother had a full wardrobe of them, and they had a bit of style and color to them, depending on where you shopped.  Mama did not wear heels with these, of course. 

 

Examples of house dresses from back in the day:

 

1950s House Dresses History | 50s Shirtwaist Dress

 

1940s House Dresses, Home Frocks

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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

[ Edited ]

I'm retired so I see nothing wrong with being comfortable at home. When I worked I wore scrubs so I was never really dressed up unless I went out. I do throw on a pair of earrings and some lip gloss, but that's the extent of my at home " dress up ."

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
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Re: Old movies; Dressed up at home!

My mother mostly wore pants around the house.  In the summer she would occasionally wear a house dress or pedal pushers and even shorts. I have a pic of her when she was pregnant with me wearing shorts.

 

She always worked out of the home...my parents owned  a resturant.

 

My parents never dressed up and went out unless for church or a wedding.  They worked from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m in shifts.

 

They had a hard life looking back at how they lived.