“Don’t be so individual that you insist on wearing clothes that are socially unacceptable.”
– McCall’s 1001 Questions on Sewing by Meg Carter, 1961
I am now caught in trying to work out where slacks would be appropriate, if not in the city. Are slacks country wear? Only for inside the home?
The reasoning behind this is standards of public formality, which were beginning to fall away in America by the early sixties, but not completely. In 1961, the average middle-class, suburban white woman, not employed full-time outside the home, might expect to wear slacks:
- for housework, yardwork, gardening, etc.
- for active sports, like bicycling, golf, or hiking
- for informal errands around the neighborhood, but only in a suburb or small town–cities were considered more formal spaces that required more dressed-up outfits
- to entertain guests at formal dinners in their own homes, if they were fancy enough (i.e. “hostess pajamas”)–however, it would be rude to wear them as a guest in someone else’s home–the logic here is that guests show respect to their hostess by dressing slightly more formally than she does (they also presumably travel to the event through public areas where slacks would be inappropriate)
- on vacation to the country or a resort
- and perhaps to a decidedly informal social gathering like a picnic or barbecue, but this would depend how young and ‘modern’ you were–older or more conservative women would likely wear skirts or dresses in these settings.
On the other hand, slacks were definitely a no-go:
- at church
- at school
- in any sit-down restaurant–women are sometimes advised to wear slacks or shorts on road trips if they find them more comfortable, but carry a skirt or dress in the car that can be easily changed into when the family stops for lunch
- in urban public settings–you might wear slacks down to the corner store in a very residential city block, but not on a busy downtown street with upscale shops, restaurants, museums, theaters, etc. (this is what the author means when she says ‘in the city’)
- on a bus, train, or airplane
Note that this set of expectations applies to respectable, middle-class adult women–they were navigated differently by working-class women, bohemian or artistic types, young single women with ‘modern’ ideas, teenagers, etc. And things absolutely changed over time. Wearing slacks to the grocery store would have made you look crazy in 1935, daring (and maybe a little trashy) in 1955, and normal in 1975.
Hope this helps!
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