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My brothers and I were dressed in fairly standard late 1960s and 1970s clothes. We had duffle coats whch doubled for school wear. In addition to our grey school sweaters we also had colored sweathers. We had grey and white shirts wgich we wore for school and other occassions, but also a variety of other colored and striped shirts. We also had polo-type summer shirts. We had grey shorts which were required for school as well as casual play shorts for Summerwear. Our older brother had black long trousers for his secondary school which he also commonly wore outside of school. We younger brothers had long trousers as well, including cords and denim jeans. We wore long grey kneesocks for school but had a variety of anxle socks, some grey for regular wear. We had black lace up shoes for dressing up as well as sandals for school and plasy and slip-on shoes. We also had flannel pajamas.
We three younger brother were close in age. Mother did not dress us identically but we were often dressed similarly. Of course as we went to the same school we were often dressed identically and often war some of the school uniform items when not as school. Here in the photograph, we are wearing the same play shorts and the same shirts, although in different colors (figure 1). Note that we are wearing the same socks and shoes.
I think our clothes were more or less interchangeable. The three of us younger brothers were about the same size. I just put on whatever mum put out and I don't think it mattered who wore what. At least I do not recall a lot of fussing at the time. We weren't all that interested in clothes. Often mum purchased the same items, but in different colors. There wasn't a lot to fuss about. I don't recall being concerned about the colors. There were a few items that were specifically for one of the other of us. This was usually an item of clothing that had been a
Christmas present or something. Being dressed the same was fine. Actually, I've got a picture somewhere of the three of us after the only clothes shopping trip I can
remember when we were older and mum and dad had taken us to buy loads of clothes. we are all dressed absolutely the same in trendy 1970s jackets and flairs. We wore them to church.
None of us were particulasrly bothered abouut our clothes or interested in fashion. One of the few fashion concerns I recall as a boy was baggy shorts. I think I got in a little strop sometimes about mnor things, but I can't think what they were now. I know I wasn't keen on wearing shorts that were too big or baggy, because that really wasn't the thing to be seen in. I've said before that I went into longs when I was about 8, but casting my mind back now I think I must have still worn shorts after that except in winter but there's a bit of a hole in the photographic record for some reason, so can't be sure. Maybe I just thought other kids looked silly if their shorts were oversized because there were certainly still boys in shorts in my 3rd and 4th year juniors (what's now called Years 5 and 6). The reason I know that is because me and a friend were waling back to our classroom one day when he knocked on another class door (what we called 'Knock Down Ginger' where you knock and run away. A very strict woman teacher followed us to our classroom and he admitted it was him and I remember her giving him a great thwack with a plastic ruler on the back of his legs! So if he was still in shorts, it's quite likely that I was too, but at the time I wouldn't have noticed or cared what trousers I was wearing.
I have very few memories of going shopping for clothes. At this stage I've a funny feeling quite a lot of our clothes were passed on by relatives. Money was very tight. Most of what I wore growing up had been worn by my brothers before me because they were older, and a fair amount of that had belonged to cousins. So no clothes shopping trps to report, apart from shoes. I remember going to get shoes now and then.
Here is some information about the various garment we wore.
We all had duffle coats whch doubled for school wear. About the duffle coat with the hood up!! I was in the local sweetshop one day wearing that coast with the hood up and there was an adult behind me who went to pay for something. The woman behind the counter said: "Hang on, I'll just serve this little girl first". Rather indignately I took my hood down and said: "I'm a BOY!" ... and NEVER put that hood up again even when it was really cold.
In addition to our grey school sweaters we also had colored sweaters.
We had grey and white shirts wgich we wore for school and other occassions, but also a variety of other colored and striped shirts. We also had polo-type summer shirts. Notice here that we have the same shirts, although done in different colors. I personally had a preference for stripey "T"-shirts or polo shirts as can be seen in the back garden play scene.
As younger boys we did not have proper suits. We wore our school uniforms for best such as going to church. This meant that we were all essentially dressed alike as we went to the same primary school. This changed only slightly when our older brother began secondary school. When we were a little older in 1974, mum bought brown sports jackets for us and contrasting darker brown trousers. She even bought matching gold ties so we were all dressed exactly alike. We were in Belgium and no longer had school uniforms to wear. We were about 12-14 years old at the time. It was the last time we were all dressed alike like that.
We had grey shorts which were required for school as well as casual play shorts for Summerwear. Our older brother had black long trousers for his secondary school which he also commonly wore outside of school. We younger brothers had long trousers as well, including cords and denim jeans. We didn'y have a lot of money for clothes, but we did have some trendy items. Here Stephen is wearing a par of flairs (figure 1). I wasn't conscious about wearing shorts till I was about 12. I think
it must have set in once I'd moved to senior school. That pic of me sitting
on the gate on holiday in shorts is very interesting because we went to the
same place two years in a row, and the following year I remember my dad asking why on eartyh I wouldn't wear shorts whe it was nice hot weather.... that was the year I'd moved up to seniors, so I must have decided shorts were a no-no, even in a hot summer on holiday. How stupid can you get!! I was in my 20s before I would wear shorts in public again.
We wore long grey kneesocks for school but had a variety of anxle socks, some grey for regular wear.
We had black lace up shoes for dressing up as well as sandals for school and plasy and slip-on shoes. At home we wore slippers because four boys would have tracked in a great amount of dirt. So we took our shoes off when we came indoors.
We also had flannel pajamas. Here we have an image of bedtime 1960s style! We wore shirts under our pajamas as it was a liyyle chilly in the Winter. Nowadays pyjamas are more like tracksuits, although as boys get older most don't wear pyjamas any more and just sleep in their underwear.
The seasons were of course a factor in how we dressed. We had seasonal clothing for both warm Summer weather and cold Winter weather. We commonly wore shorts and "T"-shirts or polo-type shirts during the Summer, often with sandals. You can see our Summer clothing in the hiliday section. We also had Winter clothes. At for some reason it snowed quite a bit in the 1960s. I'm not sure why, Normally there is very little snow in southern England. It probably seems srange to readers today, but we wire shorts during the winter as well. That was ot even common with the other boys in our neighborhood. Lots of family snapshots show us playing in the snow dressed in shorts. We were bunfled up though in warm caps, dufflecoats, kneesocks, and often Wellies.
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