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Which era would you choose for clothing and decor

(126 Posts)
travelsafar Fri 23-Jul-21 11:35:13

I would love to have been alive in the early 1900's but only if i could have been wealthy. I just love the elegance of women's clothes and the beautiful homes they had back then. Watching dramas such as Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs and Testament of Youth fills me with delight. The gowns they wore, the men in evening dress and the fabrics used in their homes are a thing of beauty to me. I know those times were very hard for ordinary folk with poor health, bad housing and poverty, and that dramas do not always portrait real life, but it is nice to have a little fantasy now and then.

MissAdventure Fri 23-Jul-21 20:01:03

Clothes, decor and music.
Yep. 60s or 70s.

grannyrebel7 Fri 23-Jul-21 20:06:28

I was a hippy in the 1970s and loved all those clothes we wore then. I also like the 1940s clothes and hairstyles.

MissAdventure Fri 23-Jul-21 20:08:09

My teachers in the early 70s were a groovy lot.
One wore white robes, sandals, and looked like Roy Wood from Wizard. smile

TerriBull Fri 23-Jul-21 20:13:08

1960s definitely, a tad too young to enjoy it properly, well maybe a bit at the tail end. It was such an iconic and innovative decade in so many ways. I loved much of the music and fashion, I'm sucker for any memorabilia type pictures from say IOW or Woodstock Festivals, some of that merged with the early '70s but the spirit of the '60s hung around for a while before it disappeared in a cloud of bad taste!

I think the 20s would also have been another stand out period of time as far as fashion was concerned at any rate, a sort of coming into the modern age with the rising of hem lines and the jazz age culture the accompanied that.

muse Fri 23-Jul-21 20:45:41

Clothing - most definitely the 1960s. I loved the Mary Quant and Biba styles. Mods - yes. I had the twiggy look back then.

Decor: Art Deco period 1920 - 30s. I still go to those patterns when looking at furnishing now.

Grammaretto Fri 23-Jul-21 20:59:34

DD did a diploma in theatre costume and made amazing clothes but soon realised how difficult they would have been to wear. Tight corsets, heavy dresses.
Then reading and sewing by candlelight. Imagine that!
I think we have been lucky -almost too lucky - so we don't appreciate what we have.

I worked in Chelsea, in a shop, in the 1960s. I earned so little all I got to do was gaze in the windows up the Kings Road and people-watch.

Jaxjacky Fri 23-Jul-21 21:43:18

granhyrebel17 me too, crushed velvet loons, tie dye, then Laura Ashley maxi dresses, lace up the leg sandals (laces always fell down) and patchouli oil. I came in on the tail end, not old enough for IoW festival ?. But I like now too, I can wear what I like, no conformance.

Naninka Sat 24-Jul-21 10:36:37

Any era if I could have the figure I had at 24 and unlimited funds! What? Too much to ask for?
Oh well, in the meantime I'll grab my pumps, drag on my jeggings, shove my hair up with elastic and stick my phone in a tiny rucksack!!

Brownowl564 Sat 24-Jul-21 10:36:42

I would choose now as practically anything goes and I would hate to be restricted to one style

Caleo Sat 24-Jul-21 10:44:20

New Look, late 40s and 50s. I was young then and loved the long full skirts and tight bodices.

Now I am old and misshapen I prefer to dress in loose and comfortable everything.

As for house decor. I look at Rightmove regularly, and always like best those presentations where there is plenty of chintz and sunny colour schemes with no ostentatiously expensive stuff, or granny fussiness.

leeds22 Sat 24-Jul-21 10:47:53

60s for me too. Mini skirts, Mary Quant (wish I kept the dresses), nearly white lipstick, white boots you had to keep pulling up, hot pants. Interior decor was a bit naff though.

Ailidh Sat 24-Jul-21 10:48:47

New Look 40s/50s for me too - if I'd had the waist for it, which I never have had!

Gwenisgreat1 Sat 24-Jul-21 10:49:40

I like everything just comfortable, so that would have to be the 60s as well

crazygranny Sat 24-Jul-21 10:50:05

60s definitely!

Bijou Sat 24-Jul-21 10:50:20

1930s when I was a child. Such elegant dresses and hats.

montymops Sat 24-Jul-21 10:50:59

The 60’s for me - and the advent of tights and mini skirts - so comfortable ( no suspenders - yuk) so easy so carefree and such fun?

Growing0ldDisgracefully Sat 24-Jul-21 10:51:54

I like the look of lots different eras, though not necessarily to live in them. First half of 20th century for clothing and decor. Iove the retro 50's style dresses, and also like the look of Tudor clothing and furniture, though again without necessarily wanting to live like that. I do have a couple of medieval-style gowns bought at a medieval festival we used to go to - love a bit of mock jousting!

HiPpyChick57 Sat 24-Jul-21 10:53:44

I’m fascinated by the Victorian era I’d go back only if I could be really rich. I’d wreak havoc with my attitude though they’d hate me lol
Love the furniture and swishy dresses

Grandma70s Sat 24-Jul-21 11:01:43

I agree about the New Look, loved the small waists and full skirts - I had the waist for it then! It was so flattering and elegant.

Granartisan Sat 24-Jul-21 11:02:34

I'm old enough to remember the late 50's and I loved the circular skirts and the floaty net underskirts. But when the miniskirts appeared in the 60's I was still young enough to embrace them. Maybe most of us think that the best era was the one we were at the right age to indulge ouselves in the fashion of the time.

GreenGran78 Sat 24-Jul-21 11:05:02

I missed out on the 60s experience because I had young children. Even though I met my husband in the Cavern Club it was a jazz club at the time, and I never saw the Beatles perform there.
I would like to go back to that ere, but as a young and free teenager, and really enjoy the exciting things that were happening with the clothes and pop culture of the time.

Irismarle Sat 24-Jul-21 11:07:17

Lots of us must be the same age!

I loved fashion in the 60s - I was a young teenager then. The boys wore cord jackets and narrow trousers which were so much smarter than the awful flares that arrived in the 70s.

I remember skirts getting shorter and shorter which meant we had to wear tights. They were smart and neat but so expensive - about five times the price of a pair of stockings. I remember someone dropping cigarette ash on the knee of a new pair which made an instant hole. The equivalent price today would be about £25 - £30, though they did get much cheaper later. Cheap ones often had the crotch too low down, though! Not comfortable at all.

jenpax Sat 24-Jul-21 11:11:57

Elizabethan for me, love the period, I know it was hard? for the working people and smelly! but still this is my period

Alioop Sat 24-Jul-21 11:14:42

It's the 60s for me. Mods made a revival in the 80s just as I left school and I just loved all the clothes and music. My aunt gave me her mini skirts with the matching jackets she had had in the 60s, we wore fishtail parkas, boating jackets, etc. The clothes were so smart and the fellas really looked fantastic in their suits, my boyfriend then had a scooter with about 30 mirrors on it. Still watch Quadrophenia as it takes me back to brilliant times.
Interiors I think I like them as they are now. Definitely not the 70s, I remember the horrendous brown and orange wallpaper we had then and don't get me started on the curtains.

Edith81 Sat 24-Jul-21 11:14:59

50s and 60s for me. The lovely flared dresses with can -can frilly petticoats, emergence of rock and roll and then into the 60s with mini skirts and beehive hairstyles. Dancing in the aisles in the cinema to Bill Haley’s music.