My grandmother never work pants, and my mother Never wore jeans, tho' she did wear pants as they were warmer. I can remember first starting to wear pants to high school in the early 70's.

When you look at old, old pictures way back when, no matter what job the men did, in their pictures, they were always in a shirt and tie, if not a jacket, too. Now, even some wedding pictures are 'casual'.

Being a young girl in the south I was raised in dresses, nylon stockings and heels. Even in high school, we were required to wear dresses or skirts---NO pants were allowed.
When I went to work, I always worked in an environment that required dress code so still had to wear stockings, but could wear pants suits--still was not allowed jeans or casual. When I moved to Florida in 1979 and discovered a church in the keys that was casual, it almost blew my socks off---literally!

Times have certainly changed. I no longer wear stockings and only rarely wear a dress. I wore one this weekend and a hat to a tea and felt so dainty, that it makes me feel a little nostalgic for those grander days.

The latest trend seems to be women shopping wearing sleep pants and strappy tank tops. Sometimes, the creases in the pants suggest they just crawled out of bed and straight to the car.

We went to Vegas for 20th anniv and on a Wednesday evening DH was wearing his tux and I was wearing a black evening gown. We arrived for our dinner resi at Aureole and the maitre d told us how wonderful we looked, how no one dressed up anymore (and this was 9 years ago) and asked: "May I invite you to Swan Court?" We didn't know what that was but he walked us all the way through the restaurant and then went through a curtained doorway into a very dark, romantic area with tables spaced far apart and a door near each. Each door went to a patio area with a bench and chairs bordered by a stream with swans!

We proceeded to have the James Beard tasting menu and a nearly 4 hour dining experience that was absolutely fabulous.

Dressing up can pay off nicely - that was my 1st and only trip into the high-roller perk zone!

They probably did!! Sometimes I wonder if they look in a mirror before they leave the house - did someone tell them they look good like that!

I don't get all dressed up to go out, but I do try to look respectable in public.

Yes I remember those years. Me myself went on a plane with high heals, a hat, gloves and a friend came and gave me a flower button.......very smart but that was only from Johannesburg to Cape Town. My mother used to go to town fully dressed up........yes and then the hippies came.

In the '50s the girls at Women's College in Greensboro, NC (now UNC-G) were required to wear hats if they were signed out to go shopping up town! I think gloves were also required. When I attended later, we were relieved not to have to do that but now I think it's rather nice.

When I was in school in 50's and 60's girls were not allowed to wear pants in school My Grandmother would not let a woman in pants in her house. Things were a lot different then.

Even in the 60's in Indiana, girls were not allowed to wear pants at Ball State Teachers College. In the winter we could wear pants under our dresses or skirts! I rarely wear a dress or skirt now.

I was in high school in the early 1950's when women first began wearing pants, called slacks back then, but only for very casual times never to school, work, parties, dates, or Heaven Forbid, church! After high school I worked in the accounting department of a big time New York City law office where wearing a slacks outfit was 'allowed' when we worked on Saturday, of course, our department was floors away from where any clients would be. I think it was in the 70's when I began wearing pants most of the time and at work pants outfits were something most women began wearing. Today I don't own a skirt and the only dresses I have in my closet are the gowns I wore for when my sons were married.

Cleaning out my dresser the other day and found some half slips, can't remember how many years it's been since I wore them. Threw them out as all the elastic had dried out. Do they even sell slips and half slips any longer?

As for hats I only have some knitted ones for winter wear and the straw one I wear to my Guild's annual Tea which was yesterday, plenty of hats and gloves worn by the members. May in Jersey