In the Story: 1960's
fashions
Oh the clothes they wore. Now, I grew up during this era and have worn most of what my characters wear in the book.
It wouldn't be the 60's without Fuzzy Wuzzy! These slippers
were warm and comfortable and we wore them all day long when lounging. Allison
has her first pair and though hot shot James William, thinks they look like dead animals on her feet, she loves them and
wears them with pride.
We had many different style of pajamas with cutesy names
like jamorettes and later came the baby dolls. Allison has several pair of
jamorettes in the story. And we all had
the infamous "quilted" housecoat. It came in many colors with
ribbons around the neck and sometimes the waist.
Allison wears several different pair of jeans in the story.
Here are some of the styles at the time. I have to admit, I lived in pedal
pushers for an entire summer. I think I had a green pair and a orange pair. I
became known as the pedal pusher kid in the neighborhood. In today's terms, I'd call them capris.
When Allison starts seeing the rich kid across the street,
might as well have been across the tracks, their worlds were so different, she
sees him dressed in the latest fashions. In the story, I dress James William in the Blazer
sweater shirts several times. He looked so good in them. Lol
When James William convinces Allison to stop training and go swimming, he was dressed in the latest fad for boys, cabana sets.
So she decided to go to his house to swim but made sure she
looked her best. What do you think? As I described her outfit in the book, this
picture was my guide. I think you'd agree, she looked terrific!
In the story, when Allison's father gets married to the very fashionable Rachel, this is the dress she wore. And the dress was awesome on her.
Christmas Eve night, Allison was dressed for church in a
very emotional scene with her father. She notes her dress and how she stood in
the cold, falling snow, allowing it to get wet. This is what I had envisioned when
I dressed her for that night. The black and white dress below was Rachel's.
For the first day of school, Allison dressed in a corduroy
jumper dress (#2) but hers was pink. It was quite popular at the time but also
coming into vogue was the Jackie Kennedy look, long, slender, and elegant. Allison wore
the corduroy the first day and regretted her choice, feeling a little young
when compared to some of the country club girls. Especially the girl who liked James William.
In the story, Allison gives her brother a transistor radio,
which to her chagrin plays country music constantly. She regrets giving him
that and wishes she had given him socks. Regardless, these transistor radios
were the rage and her describing it as being so small to fit into the palm of
her hand is true. I had one. It was blue.
In the story, Allison talks about putting on her car coat.
Car coats were very popular and were the precursor to the pee coat, etc. But
they were usually brown and shapeless. Why did we love these?
All in all, the sixties fashions were fun and daring for a
new generation of kids that would break the traditions of the past and forge a
new path.
