Your Most Misunderstood Piece of Vintage

[flat-top]

Do you have an article of vintage clothing that people just do NOT get? I'm not saying something that's just "eccentric", because that would apply to most of us here!
Here's mine: 1950's clamdiggers. Yes, men's clamdiggers. After seeing several ads for them in my 50's teen magazines, I was able to find several pairs. They looked great with Aloha shirts, and since I don't wear shorts, they were a great alternative. Well, as you can guess, most folks were perplexed. The most frequent and annoying comment :"Are those CAPRI pants??" or "Are those MEN'S??" Instead of having to explain myself to everybody, I just stopped wearing them.
What's your most misunderstood piece of vintage clothing?

 

[Lady Day]

White gloves

I like to wear them, but stopped cause I could just FEEEEEEL the stares.

"Why is she wearing gloves, its not cold out?" "Are her hands messed up?" "Are her hands dry?"

A lady wearing gloves, general white gloves use to be a normal sight, now its just strange. So much so that I felt way uncomfortable and stopped all together. *sigh*


LD

 

[Rosie]

Me too, the gloves. Once people look at me for a few seconds longer than they should, they kind of turn their heads but, the gloves gets them every time. I do wear gloves from time to time. Not as much as I would like to, not as much as my outfits call for them. Like Lady Day says it's the "it's not cold out", "are her hands deformed/burned/hurt kind of thing". A cousin of mine (who I'm not very close with) one day said "You're just plain weird. You do those things just to be different."

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Here's mine: 1950's clamdiggers. Yes, men's clamdiggers. After seeing several ads for them in my 50's teen magazines, I was able to find several pairs.

Thanks for a blast to the past - I was just mentioning them to my partner and a friend of ours this weekend and they'd never hear of them. In fact, Dawn said, like one of your comments, "So they're like Capri pants for men?!?!? I've never heard of such a thing!" Now I can direct them to this post.

 

[JDCrockett]

I too wore Clamdiggers!

Funny that men's calmdiggers would come up here! My cousin has a 4th of July picnic every year and he has become the keeper of my grandfather's super 8 family movies. My grandfather filmed family get togethers and took slides at every opportunity and all of us used to roll our eyes and grimace when it was time to see them as kids:eusa_doh: . Now they are a great record of our family and help us to remember our lost loved ones.
Anyway we were watching movies made at 4th of July in maybe 1962 or 1963 and I (at 6 or 7 years old) was wearing white clamdiggers with a white cotton rope belt, a white polo shirt and a red cardigan!
I'm not sure why I needed a sweater at the 4th in humid New Jersey!
Needless to say this amused my 20 something nephews greatly and we all had a laugh, especially when I pointed out that their below the knee baggy shorts were essentially the same length .lol I understand your reluctance to wear them though, no one seems to remember the fashion which I think was also bolstered in the beach and surfer movies from the fifties and sixties. I remember guys like Tab Hunter wearing them with aloha shirts and straw "beachcomber" hats. I remember liking them at the time thinking they were rather a "Pirate" or "Robinson Caruso" look.

 

[Cobden]

Bush shirts are mine; when I lived in Egypt I wore them quite often, as it was too hot to wear a jacket, but I needed the pockets.
Needless to say, I got comments along the lines of "King Solomon's mines" and the like

 

[Mike in Seattle]

we were watching movies made at 4th of July in maybe 1962 or 1963 and I (at 6 or 7 years old) was wearing white clamdiggers with a white cotton rope belt, a white polo shirt and a red cardigan!
I'm not sure why I needed a sweater at the 4th in humid New Jersey

OMG - almost the same story - 1963 or so, which made me about 5 - mine were red with the white rope belt and had a little thin woven red, white & blue strip from waist to hem down the leg. Mom also took it to the extreme later in the year, in August, when we went to Disneyland for a cousin's birthday - the white with blue stripe French sailor type shirt was added. My partner only saw pictures of those because Mom flipped them out of her wallet one time. I wanted to die...but then again, it was tres stylish at the time. LIke the Easter Mom got us Nehru jackets. Lime green with white turtleneck. Big chain with Maltese cross. Thank God no photos of that survived!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I sometimes wear a pocket watch and watch chain. The chain has a 1.2" bar attached to it. (The watch is attached to the other end of the chain.) I put the bar through my jacket lapel's boutonniere buttonhole, thereby anchoring the bar to the outside surface of the lapel. The chain hangs down behind the lapel, and goes into the breast pocket (where the watch rests).

Few people I've run into can figure out what the bar is and what purpose it serves.



Here's FDR wearing one (with a Phi Beta Kappa key attached):

 

[Lady Day]

Do you have an article of vintage clothing that people just do NOT get? I'm not saying something that's just "eccentric", because that would apply to most of us here!
Here's mine: 1950's clamdiggers. Yes, men's clamdiggers. After seeing several ads for them in my 50's teen magazines, I was able to find several pairs. They looked great with Aloha shirts, and since I don't wear shorts, they were a great alternative. Well, as you can guess, most folks were perplexed. The most frequent and annoying comment :"Are those CAPRI pants??" or "Are those MEN'S??" Instead of having to explain myself to everybody, I just stopped wearing them.
What's your most misunderstood piece of vintage clothing?

HEY! Old Pueblo Traders says they are making a comeback! I wouldnt hold too much weight to that, tho.

http://www.oldpueblotraders.com/pagebuilder/Item?item=52230&category=PANTS



LD

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Ah, but those aren't men's clamdiggers.

.

 

[jamespowers]

Yeah but those are for women.

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Flat-Top will be disappointed. A childhood sartorial memory not yet revived.

.

 

[flat-top]

OMG - almost the same story - 1963 or so, which made me about 5 - mine were red with the white rope belt and had a little thin woven red, white & blue strip from waist to hem down the leg. Mom also took it to the extreme later in the year, in August, when we went to Disneyland for a cousin's birthday - the white with blue stripe French sailor type shirt was added.

I've got three pairs that I can think of off the top of my head: a solid white with an anchor on the button, a dark red with black flecks, and my fave, turquoise with a red and white stripe down each leg! I've worn all of these on tropical vacations and no one really looks twice, but locally, not anymore

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Maybe the success of Pirates of the Caribbean II will revive those pants.

.

 

[tallyho]

tallyho!

I used to wear a tweed hunting jacket with riding breeches/jodgspurs ( the old kind with the puffed out sides) and english tan field boots. you can imagine the stares, especially when I had the english tan riding crop with me!

 

[Lauren]

For me...

Anything with fur.

 

[magneto]

I like to wear them, but stopped cause I could just FEEEEEEL the stares.

"Why is she wearing gloves, its not cold out?" "Are her hands messed up?" "Are her hands dry?"

Oh, no! You looked so perfect and glamorous at Le Colonial with your white gloves and white chiffon scarf (cue tiny munchkin voice chanting: "wear the gloves! wear the gloves!")

I sometimes like to wear a vintage tie with a tailored blouse and tweedy/woolly jacket/skirt. I'm thinking "sportswear", onlookers are probably thinking something else.

 

[Rosie]

I sometimes like to wear a vintage tie with a tailored blouse and tweedy/woolly jacket/skirt. I'm thinking "sportswear", onlookers are probably thinking something else.

OOO, I've done this look before but with high waisted wide legged pants. People kept asking me, "why are you wearing a tie?" They just didn't get it.

 

[Lady Day]

OOO, I've done this look before but with high waisted wide legged pants. People kept asking me, "why are you wearing a tie?" They just didn't get it.

I sometimes like to wear a vintage tie with a tailored blouse and tweedy/woolly jacket/skirt. I'm thinking "sportswear", onlookers are probably thinking something else.

I thought I was the only gal who liked to wear vintage ties!



LD

 

[artdecodame]

I sometimes like to wear a vintage tie with a tailored blouse and tweedy/woolly jacket/skirt. I'm thinking "sportswear", onlookers are probably thinking something else.

I've wanted to try that out a la Dorothy Sebastian here, but am somewhat afraid of exactly that!