THEN

The person I chose for the "Then" part of this quest was my mother, Barbara. She grew up in the late 60's early 70's and that is the part of her era and trend I asked her about in my interview. In 1973 she graduated high school and many things were popular to her culture.

Pet rocks sound absurd today but in the early 70's everyone either had on or new someone who did.  It was a pretty simple idea. Most of the teens then like most teens today didn't want a whole lot of responsibility. The pet rock was ideal for them. If the responsibility was overwhelming the rock also came with a set of instructions. Today we have Farmville or Pot farm.  Just have to do it electronically.

My mother's parents were very old fashion and believed in making their own clothing. One in particular was using gunny sacks to make dresses.  Although this picture shows a dress a lot shorter than her parents would have liked, you get the general idea. If she  received clothing she learned to sew in order too prolong its use. When it got older or couldn't be take out anymore it became a hand-me-downs to her younger sibling. They didn't waste anything back then and recycling something was a big part of life for them. Today we recycle bottles, metal and glass. We may do for money but mostly we do it to save the planet.

When my mother was on her own while still in high school she had two jobs and supported herself. What ever my she had left over that didn't go to bills she got to spend a little on herself. She bought herself a pair of Bell Bottoms. She took very good care of them and only wore them after school, because most women wore knee length  dresses to school.

Big hair was popular as my mother grew up. It has come back in and gone back out again. Now it is a matter of how you like to wear your hair. I still see kids and adults with the Afro. This style of hair was part of a generation of people who went against the grain to fight for what they thought was right. Today we still let our style define us. We were taught from earlier generations to stand up for what we believe in. It still holds true today as we see the 99% protest against the 1%

Polyester clothing was new to my mothers era. It was already in carpet in most homes. Manufacturing clothing from it provided cheap means of dressing up . It could be used in many designs that appealed to the popular culture. It really caught on during Disco.  Today polyester is still widely used and has made way for other new synthetic fibers such as Nylon. We as consumers today are wearing things that are more natural, but most still look for affordable.