How we used to dress for a day at the beach

@5thHouse (1678)
Sheffield, England
October 5, 2016 10:42am CST
The attached photo is taken circa 1963. The lady on the left is my paternal grandmother, Vera. The other lady is one of her friends. I think it's taken at Bridlington and the story behind it was that as my dad was due to leave home and wed my mother later that year, he decided to take his parents for one last trip to the seaside before he became a married man. Just look at those clothes! How well wrapped up they are. I very much doubt they brought any swimwear with them. I think these ladies would have only been in their early 60s when this photo was taken, but just think how youthful women of that age look nowadays. My gran and her friend look closer to 80! Clothes were more expensive back then and people had a more frugal mentality, having lived through the war years. I suspect they'd had those coats for about 20 years by the time the photo was taken (and probably for 20 years after.) They didn't have thrift shops back then, so a coat was bought to last a lifetime. They look happy anyway, both of them, so I'm sure they had a good day. They're probably heading off for some fish & chips and a good strong cup of Yorkshire tea.
8 people like this
10 responses
• United States
5 Oct 16
They remind me of the stories in the Miss Read books about the trip to the sea shore. Maybe it's too cold to swim but yes, back in the 60's people dressed up to go out. Not kids though. Both women are really very beautiful and quite youthful in their faces but the clothes and white hair age them!!
3 people like this
@marguicha (222142)
• Chile
6 Oct 16
I was a teen in the 60s. We used swimming suits, flip flops and a few years later mini skirts.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Oct 16
@5thHouse Some people are ageless.
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
My gran lived into her 90s. I remember her looking just the same at the end of her life as she did in this photo.
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@RitzzView (2999)
• India
7 Oct 16
Such a wonder how clothes and attitudes changes through the time period, isn't it?
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@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
7 Oct 16
It is. I love to watch old TV shows from the 1970s to see what people are wearing. It's interesting to see how people considered themselves to be 'old people' at a much earlier age than now and dress in a certain way. Nowadays it's not strange at all to see people in their 80s dressed in jeans. Back then it would've been unheard of. I can't imagine my grandmother would've ever had any pair of trousers. I suppose that was why she needed such long coats, to keep her legs warm.
@RitzzView (2999)
• India
8 Oct 16
@5thHouse Yes right...
@marguicha (222142)
• Chile
5 Oct 16
I got married in 1963. I remember my mother who did have a swimming suit although she never learned how to swim. My eldest aunt though (now 99 years old) can still swim at my brotherĀ“s swimming pool although she says she does worse than when she was a youth.
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@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
I'm pretty sure my grandmother never learned to swim. I can't imagine her even paddling at the seaside.
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@marguicha (222142)
• Chile
6 Oct 16
@5thHouse My aunt lived near a big port and learned to swim so that she could go to see the sailors
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
5 Oct 16
One can see people in the background wearing light dresses meaning that the photo was not taken in a winter month. Why your mother and her friend are dressed like this will remain a mystery. :-)
1 person likes this
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
That's what I thought. It's clearly summer. One of them has sunglasses on, which look somewhat incongruous along with the long coat.
@ms1864 (6885)
• Bangalore, India
5 Oct 16
Actually back then coats were made with such good quality that they COULD last a lifetime...now the quality is such that they want the clothes to have a 2-3 year expiry date...at least the affordable ones do.
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@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
That's true. Clothes were made to last back then. It wasn't a throwaway, fashion-obsessed world
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
5 Oct 16
What classy ladies! Thanks for sharing. What is Yorkshire tea?
1 person likes this
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
People drink their tea very strong in Yorkshire, traditionally
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
6 Oct 16
They look so elegant with those sunglass , bags , coats and shoes . I love their get up .
@Tampa_girl7 (50069)
• United States
10 Nov 16
Fish and Chips sounds real good about now
1 person likes this
@paigea (36320)
• Canada
7 Oct 16
Looks like pictures from my family album. Though my grandma did wear shorts to the local beach where the family had a cabin
@thelme55 (76843)
• Germany
5 Oct 16
I can imagine how cold it was in that English beach.
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
5 Oct 16
It's always cold on northern English beaches, but even so those coats seem a bit heavy duty!
1 person likes this