Figure 1.-- Here we see childressed up for some formal occassion, probanly church on Sunday. They are in their backyard jut before leaving for the event. The children look to be about 7-13 years old. The boy wears a blue blazer without a tie and plaid pants. A blue blazer wwas a boy's standard. More common was a plaid jacket and blue pants, but we see some of these plaid pants. The girls wear dresses with white knee socks. The younger girl wears a pinafire dress. Her older suster wears a brught flower print. This family snapshot was taken in 1974.

Chidren in America and other Western countries after World War II with economic prosperity had increasingly large wardrobes after and specialised clothing for different functions. There was dress up clothing although people had increasingly casual lifestyles. So while dressy clothing was still worn, childrenm and adults were wearing casual clothing for occasions that earlier, even in the 1960s, had once called for dressy outfits. The 1970s was baically a turning point in this regard. Casual wear was a longtime trend in the 20th century, but we notice a major shift in the 70s. We till see children dressing up, but less thn the 60s and in the 80s dressing up saroply declined. Childrn had play clothes that they would put on after school. School clothes were brought in August and were a little more formal than play clothes. Often play clothes was older school clothes. One difference was short pants. Boys generally didn't wear short pants to school in the 1960s. This changed somewhat by the late-70s, but shorts were still not common at school. There was also smart casual, often involving clothes like designer jeaes. There was also athletic clohing as sports becme increasingly important. Play clothes began to be made in athletic styles. Some sports like football and baseball have required clothing that is not suitable for regular wear. Two sports tht becane very popular in the the 1970s, basketball and soccer, however have uniforms that inspired play clothing and proved very popular. Rugby was not played to any extent in America, but rugby shirts did become popular. A reader writes, "Those outfits remind me of the way the kids on 'The Brady Bunch' TV show dressed. While I think those 70s styles were horrible at least people still dressed for certain occasions." 'The Brady Bunch' (1969-74) is one of those series that still resonates today and we continue to see the sndicated reruns. And our leader is absolutely correct. Because six children of both genders and their f=riends were the cenbteal characters, the series It provides a time capsule of 1970s childten's fashions.

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Created: 8:08 PM 4/2/2011
Last updated:4:40 PM 1/1/2019