DS and Sixties Styles

[Gothick]

I've frequently noticed in reading discussions of various Dark Shadows episodes here that fans born too late to have experienced the Sixties firsthand often seem to doubt whether anybody in their right mind would have furnished their homes or worn their clothes in the styles showcased on the series in episodes set in the present day.  Those of us who were around and aware between 1960 and 1970 have tried to explain the unique ... um, ALLURE, of trends back in the day, but our plain statements of fact are often greeted with braying disbelief and such exclamations as:  "You're pulling my leg!  NOBODY would have been so dumb as to have worn/purchased/displayed THAT!"

Well, Confucius always said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Take a look at this site:

http://www.houseplantpicturestudio.com/HPS/liquorwebfotos/batch3/liquor003.html

It has it all, from beehive hair to sleeveless dresses, from clunky costume jewellry to women dolled up to resemble Lady Dracula for a night out with their pals; to rebellious, hippie teens and one cool cat who seems to have been going through a "Matt Helm" phase.  Many of the images are dated 1968.

I have to confess, the bathing suit series makes me grateful that Liz never had an indoor swimming pool installed at Collinwood (just think of what Mrs Johnson would have said at the mere suggestion of such a thing!).

Best wishes,

Gothique

[CastleBee]

OMG Gothick! That was priceless and I think I had a flashback that gave me whiplash.  We should all go dig up our own personal favorite DS era photos to post sometime too.  I can't decide if I have the courage to do that!

[Raineypark]

The photo of the woman in the Empire-Waist dress is proof positive of the enormous influence Dark Shadows had on women's dresses.  I know....I was there... .

When the teachers in my high school begain wearing that style of dress  to SCHOOL, it was officially main-stream.  At which point (roughly 1968) we gave up dresses alltogether and began wearing military jackets and torn jeans.

[McTrooper]

That's interesting.
I would never have imagined that someone would buy a family's old photos, but it's surprisingly it's kind of interesting.

It's also a good example of fashion, but I wonder how up to date the family was sometimes.
On the other pages a few people look like there wardrobe dated earlier than the date on the picture. 

[michael c]

people often complain about the d.s. styles but i love them.

the fashion was one of the first things that attracted me to the show.i was like "why do these women who live in this nowhere town in maine have up-to-the-minute sixties fashions and hairdo's?"(thanks ohrbach's ).i love how stiff the fabrics are.some of the dresses look like they could stand up on there own.and the color combinations are insane!(please don't forget maggie's "warhol" inspired floral-print quilted maxiskirt).

as a child of the 1970's there was a moment that me,my sister and my mom all had the same "dorothy hammill" style bowl cut.the sixties styles are way better!

[PennyDreadful]

I love the 60s styles in the present-day DS episodes!  Thanks for the link to those GREAT pictures Gothick!

~PennyDreadful~

[ClaudeNorth]

Great site, Gothele.  Love that pic of "Ethel Merman" in front of the Eiffel Tower!  

I have to confess, the bathing suit series makes me grateful that Liz never had an indoor swimming pool installed at Collinwood (just think of what Mrs Johnson would have said at the mere suggestion of such a thing!).

Two words:  Don Briscoe.  

[Heather]

Steve you crack me up...nice link.  lol   xo

[Charles_Ellis]

On the other hand, I do wish there had been a swimming pool.  Having seen the series of NODS publicity photos of Nancy Barrett in a bikini, it's truly a misssed opportunity.  I also have a cheescake photo of Marie Wallace in her lingerie (bra, panties, garter belt) from a play she did back in the 60s.  If only KLS had been asked to become a Playmate- many a Bunny did!

OK, back to the style discussion.  This remind me of my childhood in the 70s- those who have watched the later seasons of "The Brady Bunch" will know exactly what I mean.  All those contrasting/clashing colors and textiles were considered the height of fashion back then.  I remember my mom taking me to Robert Hall for the latest polyester suit, those things itched after a while and you dare not put an iron to them!  I loved bell-bottoms and platform shoes (a must for dancing on "Soul Train"!), and huckapoo shirts.  As for the 80s- well, I had a "Members Only" jacket that I think I may have worn to a DSF with white Reeboks.  That was my fashion moment that time- my only real positive fashion memory from the 80s can be summed up in one word: "Dynasty"- Nolan Miller was the Adrian of the Reagan years.

On DS, I didn't see any real 60s fashion statement during its early years except for the hairstyles.  You had Joan Bennett's wiglet, Nancy Barrett's obscene flip (Dusty Springfield once took responsibilty for global warming from all the hairspray she used in the 60s to maintain her beehives, but that's nothing to what Nancy must've used in 1967) and Grayson's rather odd '67 hairstyle.  But after the 1795 story, the cast returned to the present day with a vengeance!  David Henesy was in a Nehru suit, Nancy stopped using Final Net and let her hair loose, Kathryn took to shorter skirts and tons of eye makeup and false lashes, and by late '68 Joan finally got rid of that damn wiglet and took years off her face by doing so.  And of course, the legendary "Julia haircut" episode in April '68- the most celebrated cut on TV since Mia Farrow's  on "Peyton Place"!  Even the guys got hip- Roger began wearing turtlenecks while Joe Haskell went naturally curly (a predecessor to the Brady men!) and Willie's hair grew longer.

The 1970PT storyline is the absolute best in terms of contemporary fashion-  a time caspule of "mod" with all those micro-minidresses, men's ascots on Will Loomis and Roger, and Roxanne's shag hairdo-MONTHS before the same look on Jane Fonda in "Klute" and yes, Florence Henderson!  The skirts were so short in that storyline, that when Quentin carried his bride Maggie over the Collinwood threshold her panties were showing!!!  I kid you not- look at the episode!  How that got past the ABC censor is beyond me.

[JennieSim80]

people often complain about the d.s. styles but i love them.

the fashion was one of the first things that attracted me to the show.i was like "why do these women who live in this nowhere town in maine have up-to-the-minute sixties fashions and hairdo's?"(thanks ohrbach's ).i love how stiff the fabrics are.some of the dresses look like they could stand up on there own.and the color combinations are insane!(please don't forget maggie's "warhol" inspired floral-print quilted maxiskirt).

as a child of the 1970's there was a moment that me,my sister and my mom all had the same "dorothy hammill" style bowl cut.the sixties styles are way better!

Good Lord, I had the "Dorothy Hammil" style as well. My mom loved it, so I was kind of stuck with it as a child.  I would have liked to have seen DS make it into the 1980s because the fashions would have been a riot (I'm imagining they probably would have been very Dynasty or Dallas like...big shoulder pads and bright colors). I think they did a rather classy job with the styles in the 90s DS revival. You can still watch the show and not feel like it's 1991.

[PennyDreadful]

I think they did a rather classy job with the styles in the 90s DS revival. You can still watch the show and not feel like it's 1991.

 I agree the '91 clothes were definitely classy, except for when they put Barnabas in a turtleneck (I think he looked much better in the suit & tie).  They also gave Barn a tan!  How can a vampire have a tan?!  He had the LA "beach-bum" look goin'!
 

[JennieSim80]

I think they did a rather classy job with the styles in the 90s DS revival. You can still watch the show and not feel like it's 1991.

I agree the '91 clothes were definitely classy, except for when they put Barnabas in a turtleneck (I think he looked much better in the suit & tie). They also gave Barn a tan! How can a vampire have a tan?! He had the LA "beach-bum" look goin'!

The suits were definitely stunning. I guess they were going for a casual look with the turtlenecks. It could have been worse. They could have put him in some MC Hammer pants or acid washed overalls (it was the stlye back then). Frankly, I'm pretty happy that they stayed away from anything that would really give away the times. As for the tan, someone should have told Ben Cross that he wasn't starring on Beverly Hills 90210. A vampire with a tan? I guess that's what you get when you move Collinsport to Cali. We're lucky that  Donna Martin and Color Me Badd didn't show up.

[arashi]

Some of the fashions I particularly liked, such as this dress Carolyn wore during the Quentin & Beth's ghosts storyline.

I never did understand the allure of the sleeveless dress though.

[D_Friedlander]

Thanks for the link.  I was all prepared to laugh, but instead I got a painful pang of nostalgia and teared up instead.  They look like people in my family (though nobody in my family ever owned a package store.)  I hope that doesn't turn out to have been a put-up job with faked photos (the lady with the white cat's eye sunglasses was a recurring theme, so I admit though that style WAS popular back in the day, I got slightly suspicious.)  People looking for another humorous take on nostalgia should check out www.likeks.com

I was also a big knitter (before carpal tunnel kicked in) and would actually have liked to see the directions for some of the "bulkie" sweaters posted on another part of the site.  I could probably still manage those.  The trouble was, by the time most people finished knitting or crocheting those things, so many were out of style.  But everything (like DS) does come back into style sooner or later.

[Patti Feinberg]

Gothick...the very first thing I thought of was, "How did Gothick get pictures of my family?"

Not they this is literally my family, but it could've been...so close....

But my family wouldn't had mink...but my husband's family...oish!!

Funny

Patti