Fashion at the World's Fair

If you were around in 1962, what were you wearing? A little girl would have felt pretty in a full skirt with a scratchy slip that made it stand out. Boys wore button front shirts to school with the tails tucked into belted pants. Jeans (dungarees) and t-shirts (undershirts) were just for play and chores around the house. No one wore sweatpants outside the gym, where women didn't go anyway. If a mother went shopping downtown with her daughter, they would have worn dresses, shoes with heels, gloves and probably hats. They may have had a treat at the Woolworth's lunch counter. It's hard to imagine a world without fast food, Starbucks, giant malls and Wal-Marts. When just about everything we wore and consumed was still made in America. Shopping for clothing was an important excursion to a department store or specialty shop.

The world was about to change drastically. But in the meantime, there was the 1962 Seattle World's Fair-- one last 1950's sort of party.

I just finished writing the finding aid for MOHAI's Seattle World's Fair Fashion Show collection. It was an enjoyable little break after that last long project. In 1962, the Fashion Group of Seattle donated the scripts and actual outfits worn during the shows. Four times a day, the models paraded down a stepping stone runway over a pool filled with Revlon perfume. Quite a sight, and a popular attraction. They weren't wearing foreign designer fashions, but mid-priced outfits from American companies like Ship n' Shore and Koret.

I didn't see the actual outfits, just the descriptions-- the clothing has been in off-site textile storage all this time. But this collection would make a great Museum exhibit for the Fair's 50th anniversary coming up in 2012.

Click here for a link to the finding aid on Northwest Digital Archives.