Things that disappeared, without you realising?

[jennymanara]

What things have disappeared in society, and you did not notice until much later?
So when I was young in every shopping street you would see old women wearing coloured polyester macs and headscarves. And then one day I suddenly realised that I had not seen a woman wearing this kind of clothing for a long time.
The same with plastic rainhoods. You used to see these for sale in newsagents, and elderly women would wear them when caught unaware by the rain. Again disappeared.

Still plenty of fabric shops - the Sewing Bee on BBC started off a whole load of new home sewers.

That being said - these days with fast fashion and the use of third world labour making your own clothes isn't cheaper than buying any more so it's a labour of love.

We have vertical blinds. As do most of our neighbours. They were provided by the council many years ago (our house is ex-council, estate is now a mix of owned, private rent and ha). Most people still have the council provided vertical blinds, mainly because they fit the windows and they aren't a priority to replace.

DH brought an Argos catalogue home the other day which I thought was pretty retro!

Used to be in practically every home though.

We have curtains as do most people round here.

We have curtains and vertical blinds, if you only have curtains do you close them when you go out during the day and don't want people being able to look in?

Do you mean the grill,that where on top of an oven Soola? If so they were brilliant, in my oven you can either use the grill or oven not both ,those 1980,s ovens were so much more convenient.

I have net curtains in the front room. Other rooms just curtains.

Yes eye level grills were much more practical. I miss them.

In the South East you generally have internal plantation (wooden) shutters if you live somewhere you don't want people looking in.

If not then you have roman blinds and they're open in the daytime.

But with wooden shutters, you don't get the light in if you are sitting in the room. So the choice is lack of light, or people looking in.

I miss eye level grills too. I hate the grill in our oven - it’s electric and goes from not hot enough to burning in about a second.

No vertical blinds where we are but the last time we were in DH’s home town we were wandering about and noticed that virtually all the houses there had them. Clearly regional variations at work!

We have our windows open to the world but I have in the past had the lower half of the window covered up with a sheer white roller blind. They were big Victorian sashes so that bottom half was about up to shoulder height.

@OnTheEdgeOfTheNight my 7 (almost 8yo) twins bring dolls on school run (not in prams as I have to take them back and can't do 2 but they use prams at home) but you're right, nobody else does.

Don't shoot the messenger

I'm on a very quiet cul de sac so we just have Roman blinds.

My home town is Stoke and I do find that whatever is happening in London and the South East tends to catch on there about 5 years later.

Not a criticism because let's face it 'trends' are marketing bullshit but that's how it is. With all sorts of things - home trends, lifestyle trends, brands, shops, etc.

Coloured toilet paper. This just came in to my head a couple of months ago when I was watching a programme from years ago and saw some pink Andrex in the background of a shop.

You are right about coloured toilet paper! Some women used to buy colours to go with their decor. I hated it as it always used to irritate me, so would have to fish around for a tissue I could use instead.

@wheresmymojo I'm in Somerset and we're usually 5 years behind London trends too

No, it’s definitely vertical blinds I’m talking about. “Posh” Northern here. Some people have the plantation shutters but they look so ugly from the road, whereas the verticals are far less noticeable.

My friend has an independent blinds business and he’s never out of work. It’s almost always homes and vertical blinds that keep him busy. He’s always telling me who’s blinds he’s fitted that week and most of them are in their mid 20s to 40s. I don’t particularly like verticals myself but I see them as more practical than the alternative. The home I recently bought came with expensive tailor made fancy curtains which I’m keeping for now but I think they look really old fashioned and I’d hate anyone to think they were my choice. There’s also no chance of privacy during the day unless I keep them closed or get voile. I have roller blinds upstairs which are practical but I don’t especially like.

The people I know with verticals don’t leave them shut all day! Only at night. During the day they are drawn back so you don’t really see them or half open half shut if that makes sense? They aren’t too intrusive.

Time out bars. Can only buy the single multipack ones now

We’re clearly about 50 years behind up north.
My parent still have nests of tables, vertical blinds, a kitchen hatch and double eye level grills.
I love cooking in their kitchen. It is so much easier than my stupid oven/ grill combi.

I’m with the PP who thinks vertical blinds look like office furniture I’m afraid! But I don’t think they’ve been used in homes much where I live for my entire adult life so I guess that’s why. And when I was growing up people had net curtains.

The changed the design of the Multipla to something less 'distinctive', I miss ours.

Not RTFT so this may have come up but my Nan not only had headscarves in abundance to protect her do from the elements, but she also had loads of little ring-like things to secure the headscarf at her throat. Sort of like a woggle that secures a Scouts necktie but made of metal.

@Groovee - are these proper Ringos with their strip-the-skin-from-your-mouth sharp vinegar flavour? If so, I'm there. Also Discos which were similarly strong.

Proper long nightdresses with sleeves.

"Me and my friends all had bedrooms decorated with this sad looking clown (early/mid 80s) - want to say Periot or Peridot but the name escapes me. Younger sibling had snatch the dog."

Pierrot - I had tons of this stuff!

Eye level grills were far easier to use than modern ones and perfect for doing cheese on toast.