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Dayton Memories > Wacky Clothing Fads IN The 50's & early 60s
Wacky Clothing Fads IN The 50's & early 60s
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trolleyfan
141 posts
Apr 11, 2015
11:27 AM
I look back on my life in Dayton and remember as a kid some really wacky Fads in Clothes. Back then they were so cool to a kid, but in reality, they were kind of silly. I was in the 5th grade at Oakview Elementry School in Kettering. It is at the corner of Stroop and Ackerman Blvd. It was 1956 or 7. and all the guys wore the latest in trousers. NO! It was not blue jeans, but regular cut boys pants in orange, Pink and Chartruse Green. In other words, the basic colors you used for Black Light Posters. Mine were orange and I loved those pants. Most of us also wore them with white buck Shoes. Just shows you kids will wear just about anything you tell them is cool ! LOL
Calhoun
363 posts
Apr 11, 2015
6:27 PM
Moving forward a bit to the mid 60s, two I remember.

1) Surfer Shirts--Basically a short-sleeve, pull-over shirt of a solid color (navy blue stands out in my mind, but I'm sure the shirts came in several colors), with three buttons from the neck down. What made them unique was white piping around the neck and down both sides of the buttons. They got their name, I think, from being worn by bands like the Beach Boys and actors in the "Beach Party" movies.

2) Guys wearing wide belts with large buckles "off center" so the buckle was over your hip pocket instead of over your zipper. If I remember correctly, this fad was started by the made-for-TV band, the Monkees.
KennyE11
304 posts
Apr 11, 2015
10:44 PM
I grew up in the 60's and 70's. We all had the various fads from our eras with regards to clothing (and hair) styles. The nice thing about that is when we grew up, we could change our clothes or cut our hair.

I'm so glad I did not grow up in the era of wacky body piercings and tattoos.
trolleyfan
143 posts
Apr 12, 2015
1:44 PM
I totally agree KennyE11 ! Our era was bad enough ! But as you say, at least we could take ours off.
Boatman55
17 posts
Apr 13, 2015
9:38 AM
In the late 60"s I remember the Nehru jackets. Over half the guys in the Senior class at Miamisburg HS had them on for senior pictures. Elephant Bell Bottoms and Cords were popular then too. I didn't realize at the time how good those times were. Wish I had them back.
trolleyfan
144 posts
Apr 14, 2015
9:59 AM
I forgot all about the Snap Tab Shoes. I think they came in horizontal as well as vertical tongue snaps. I thought they were so cool. Only problem I remember was the snap mechanism wasn't made to last all that long and I think all of mine gave out before the shoes were a year old. Also, didn't the tee shirts with the rolled up sleeves come with a pack of cigarettes ? LOL
johnfader
70 posts
Apr 14, 2015
8:56 PM
Back in the 50's we wore khaki pants, shirts with Mr. B. and Mr. C collars, cashmere sweaters, Levi's, white buck shoes, highly polished chukka boots, pegged pants, duck tail haircuts and, of course, white T-shirts with a pack of smokes rolled up in the sleeves, because the shirts didn't have pockets and the pants were too tight to get a pack in the pocket without smashing them. We had a language that was constantly changing. Words had different meanings to us. A Benjamin or Binnie was a top coat. Cool had nothing to do with temperature, but what was top notch. Crazy was closer to cool than someone's mental condition. R & B monthly magazine had the lyrics to our favorite songs that month and a column of all the new words and their meanings. Then someone came up with a really "new language". I believe it was called "Duck Talk" Each syllable was begun by using the first letter of the word and addng af and then the rest of the letters in the syllable. For simplicity sake take the sentence "do you care". It came out dafo yafou cafare. We used to spend hours on the lawn of Roosevelt H.S. practicing the talk. Hell, it's no wonder no one understood us, we couldn't understand each other. It faded out pretty quickly. Blackboard Jungle had a great influence on the language and mannerisms of that generation. As did Elvis and James Dean. There were others, but these came to mind without much thinking about it.

Last Edited by johnfader on Apr 14, 2015 8:59 PM
trolleyfan
145 posts
Apr 15, 2015
4:57 AM
You have a great memory John. I had forgotten about a few of the things you mentioned, and it was cool to hear about them. I never did get the hang of Duck Talk and was just getting decent at Pig Latin. If I remember correctly, if you wanted to say the name of Mary, you say the name twice, then say Bo, then sub a letter F for the first letter of the name, then say bananna fanna mo, then the name again, then say fe fi mo then the name. If I did that right it should come out to "Mary Mary bo Fary banana fanna mo Mary fe fi mo Mary" or something like that. Crazy, I could remember that from 65 years ago and I don't remember what I had for dinner last night.
trolleyfan
148 posts
Apr 20, 2015
4:28 AM
If I remember right, and at my age, who knows !, I think you could get the Girlfriend / Boyfriend shirts at the Metropolitan with the names on them. I think they said "I'm With Carol & her's said "I'm with Bob". and they stocked common names and could either print or order less common names. I also remember when you went steady and you gave your Girlfriend your class ring, they used to put some kind of wax on the back of the band so it would fit their smaller fingers, and after a while, like the early 60s, they would wrap it with Angora. I guess the kids today either swap nose rings or get tattoos ! Crazy !
luv my dayton
960 posts
Apr 20, 2015
9:03 AM
Trolley I remember we used to wrap the rings with adhesive tape then paint with nail polish which could change colors.Then came the angora which was so much easier to work with and more comfortable to wear.Did have to to remove when washing hands and the risk there was to leave it lay. Did that to my Dads old US navy ring when out of state.
trolleyfan
149 posts
Apr 20, 2015
4:16 PM
Thanks luv my Dayton. I remembered it was something like that. I went to Beavercreek and you mentioned different colors. They did that there too. Green was good, Red was even better ! LOL but if it was Black, you best give her a few days to cool off. I learned the hard way.


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