By Rick Houser-
I overheard some kids talking and they were discussing the clothes they had on and one of them said “I just got these pants because they are what is in style”. Well for some reason that got me to thinking about all the clothes and hair styles and such that I have seen and gone through in my life. Wanting to be in the same clothes and look like those around you is just human nature. I never was the trend setter, but I did try to keep an eye on what styles were changing.
Since Peg and Ben were 12 and eight years older than me respectively, I got a head start on knowing what was “cool”. My sister and brother went through school in the mid 50’s and saw so much change. They were right in school when “rock and roll” hit the scene”and that changed everything. I know Peg wore the poodle skirts and the saddle oxford shoes. She was a mild one when it came to changing. Now Ben went from comb over hair to a major flat top that stayed up with about a pound of butch wax to keep it in place. He went to the button shirts with the button down collars and blue jeans that were sometimes pegged. (That was where the lags were sewn as tight as the leg allowed.) Thing was he wanted his jeans loose in the waist and my Dad would get on him about how his jeans were going to fall down because he wore them so low. Sometimes you have to pay the price to look cool.
Since the styles were changing and I was only starting school I felt I had to change also. I had to keep up with my sister and brother you know. So Mom ordered me a pair of penny loafers to wear as those were the popular shoes of that time. So I would be super cool, I put quarters in the slot on the shoe instead of a penny. Only thing I got out of that was I lost two quarters.
As time moved on and I was the only one in school now. (Peg and Ben were in college.) I closely watched those around me. I went from the butch haircut to the flat top which was the style for sure. (Thing was I couldn’t get my hair to stand up no matter how much butch wax I used.) But the dress codes kind of changed from allowing blue jeans to having to wear dress slacks. With it came a nice cotton button shirt with no button collar. This went on for a few years before another change happened, a change that turned it all upside down. In February of 1964 four guys from England called “The Beatles” appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and truthfully things haven’t been the same since. With their appearance, our styles did change.
I know that just as I was getting my flat top to stand with the help of the butch wax, it was going out of style. Although I was a little bummed out, I got to wear my hair to where I got to comb it over and I still do to this day. I was a junior in high school and had just won the lead in the class play and my part was to be a Grandpa. I was told by the play instructor that Grandpas didn’t wear flat tops and I was to let my hair grow for the part. This was fine by me as my parents would accept what Mrs. Allen said much better than what I said.
By the time I graduated from high school and was out and attending college at night, the mod generation got our attention and of course we all paid attention to the changes. Not only did I let my hair comb over but I let it grow considerably longer. It was in no way real long, but long enough to garner comments from the older generation. Bell bottoms became the fad. I remember the first pair I ever had. They were dark blue and I thought I was just about the coolest dude in all of southern Clermont County. The thing was that when I looked into a mirror I decided I looked more like the “poppin” fresh Pillsbury doughboy. (Even though I have always taken myself seriously I have always tried to see the lighter side of myself.)
The sixties moved into the seventies and yes there was even more change. I guess this is where my upbringing seemed to clash with the changes. I got an eight-track cassette player and a muscle car. I was always with the crowd but there were just some changes I couldn’t keep up with and I will leave it at that. It was in the seventies that I got married and to this day it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It probably kept me from making some very wrong mistakes in the name of keeping up in style.
About the time I married I began working in a bank and had to wear a suit. This was when the Leisure Suit came into style. My wife saw to it that I had several suits of many colors, from burnt orange to lime green. Yes, I was really in style. By 1980 I was working in a hospital and I was back into a regular suit and or slacks and sports jacket. I must admit I looked very bland compared to the generations preceding.
For me the styles haven’t changed very much for my age group. I know my daughter was in school in the nineties and I recall her wearing outfits that were more for comfort than looks. As for my son who was in the late nineties, he wore clothes that caused him to look very much like an advertisement for the clothing, Tommy Hilfiger and Old Navy to name a couple. When they left school I stopped worrying about what was in and what wasn’t. These days I find style in what is comfortable for me. A flannel shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of gym shoes and I am “stylin”.
The truth is we all just wanted to in some way be like the rest of the people that we were around. To be in style is to fit in. To fit in is to be accepted. For me to be accepted really isn’t so much about our styles. It is more about if our way of acting fits. I still don’t know if I really fit in or not but I sure felt like I did. Remember the styles keep changing and eventually we stop. So let it keep changing because we know we are still cool.