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I was born in May 1951, and I remember little of my clothing until I was about 5 years old. The first part of these notes is therefore reconstructed from photographic evidence. As a baby, I wore various one-piece outfits, always fairly bulky to cover a nappy. Growing up a bit, I progressed to a fairly normal combination of shirt and shorts, at least when it was warm. The shorts seem mostly to have had straps over the shoulders to hold them up, and at least one pair had a front panel as well. One series of photographs shows me wearing this without a shirt on a hot day: I vaguely recall finding the straps uncomfortable on bare shoulders. In the winter, I had dungarees (i.e. long trousers, with front panel and straps), which I would wear with a shirt and, in cold weather, a jersey or cardigan as well. This would sometimes be under the straps of the dungarees. I remember being rather sad when I grew out of the second (and last) pair of dungarees. In the summer, we always had a beach holiday; I seem to have worn one-piece garments on the beach: one photo shows that I had rather grown out of one of these, probably at the age of 3 years -- I suspect that this was when I graduated to normal swimming trunks. At the age of 5. At the age of 5, then, in the summer of 1956 I wore shorts, with a button-up short-sleeved shirt and (when it was cold) a cardigan or, if less cold, a (sleeveless) pullover. I had ankle-socks and sandals. For underwear, I would have worn both vest and underpants. There were thicker and warmer ones in the winter. I should mention that I’ve always disliked anything that I had to pull tightly over my ears, so I’ve rarely worn t-shirts. In very hot weather I would go without a vest. The socks would often come off in warm weather. In the winter, I wore shorts with long socks, a long-sleeved shirt and either a cardigan or a jersey (i.e. sweater) - the latter always V-neck, so that it wasn’t tight over my ears.
I was born in May 1951, and I remember little of my clothing until I was about 5 years old. The first part of these notes is therefore reconstructed from photographic evidence. As a baby, I wore various one-piece outfits, always fairly bulky to cover a nappy.
Most of what I know about my toddler years comes from our family snapshot albums. I see one snapshot of me in the garden, it looks like mid-afternoon, June 1952. So I'm a little past 1 year old. I'm wearing a one-piece shorts-cum-top, ankle socks and sandals.
Growing up a bit, I progressed to a fairly normal combination of shirt and shorts, at least when it was warm. The shorts seem mostly to have had straps over the shoulders to hold them up, and at least one pair had a front panel (bib-front) as well. I had both overalls--both short and long bib-front dungareees which I think Americans call overalls. One series of photographs shows me wearing this without a shirt on a hot day (figure 1). I vaguely recall finding the straps uncomfortable on bare shoulders. In the winter, I had dungarees (i.e. long trousers, with front panel and straps), which I would wear with a shirt and, in cold weather, a jersey or cardigan as well. This would sometimes be under the straps of the dungarees. I remember being rather sad when I grew out of the second (and last) pair of dungarees.
In the summer, we always had a beach holiday. I think that was fairly normal for us Brits at the time. The beaches we visited were all in England. There were no cheap flights to Spain yet. In fact, at the time it was quite unusual for all but the wealthy to go abroad--meaning crossing the Channel. Most of the people of my generation have delightful memories of these beach holidays. Every family had their favorite beaches. And there were different ways of doing it. Some families stayed in caravan camps. We always bed and breakfasts to stay at. We played in the sand a great deal. And there were juyful visits to the piers wuth all kinds of attractions. At at some beaches there were jolly little boats for short trips. Some of these boats were involved in the Dunkirk evacuation during the War. We little ones mostly played in the sand. The water itself was a little dangerous for little ones. And it was also cold. I do not recall the first visits of course, but I do recall them after I began school. We all enjoyed them very much. I seem to have worn one-piece garments on the beach. One photo shows that I had rather grown out of one of these, probably at the age of 3 years -- I suspect that this was when I graduated to normal swimming trunks.
At the age of 5. At the age of 5, then, in the summer of 1956 I wore shorts, with a button-up short-sleeved shirt and (when it was cold) a cardigan or, if less cold, a (sleeveless) pullover. I had ankle-socks and sandals. For underwear, I would have worn both vest and underpants. There were thicker and warmer ones in the winter. I should mention that I’ve always disliked anything that I had to pull tightly over my ears, so I’ve rarely worn t-shirts. In very hot weather I would go without a vest. The socks would often come off in warm weather. In the winter, I wore shorts with long socks, a long-sleeved shirt and either a cardigan or a jersey (i.e. sweater) - the latter always V-neck, so that it wasn’t tight over my ears.
