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Original poster

women wearing trousers

227 replies

dottypotter · 10/10/2017 14:40

also wearing black clothing. Did anyone else have a granny like this. She used to hate black and women wearing trousers she used to hate it and would comment.

Cant remember how we dealt with it but did anyone else have a granny like this when they were younger?

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 10/10/2017 16:00

about 20 years ago I was offered a job in Recruitment and was told that ladies weren't allowed to wear trousers to work.
Turned it down flat

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 10/10/2017 16:03

Both my lovely Grandmothers are long gone, bless them, but my paternal GM, born late 1920s, definitely wore trousers as she was in the ATS during the war and we have pictures of her in uniform. I don’t recall her wearing trousers in civilian life though. She was very unusual, amongst my peers anyway, in that she worked full time as a lawyer whilst my GF pottered about doing bits of decorating and gardening for people. She also, from the 1960’s, flew all over the place every year on holidays, always without my GF, who was from a tiny village in Ireland and was horrified at the prospect of flying and really wasn’t on board with her jet set lifestyle at all, no idea how they got and stayed together tbh! Point being I very much doubt she would have been the type to clutch her pearls at women wearing black or trousers. My other GM, born in 1913, certainly came from an era when black was only for mourning but she would never criticise ‘you youngsters’, she was so gentle and adorable. My MIL, born 1927 and now 90 wears trousers all of the time, though I suspect she calls them slacks Grin, a word I always find inexplicably hilarious!

cowgirlsareforever · 10/10/2017 16:04

My grandma wore slacks!

coddiwomple · 10/10/2017 16:05

My grand mothers hardly ever wear trousers, only to walk dogs or ride horses. My grand-father is still mourning riding skirts! I am amazed anyone even wore them when he was younger, it's not that long ago Grin

I have only ever worn trousers for job interviews, never seemed to be an issue. Skirts would be a mine field! Not too long, never too short, not too tight, not too wide. I can't think of anything worst! (for me, if other women are happy in a skirt or a dress, I couldn't care less)

I wouldn't chose to wear trousers for an event, they never look as smart as a dress but I can't think of any place where a dress code would apply. (if a dress code was making dresses mandatory, I would probably wear trousers, but I am just childish).

Commuterface · 10/10/2017 16:05

My paternal grandmother used to wear a little half apron thing as part of her normal clothing. My maternal grandmother was glamorous and would wear trousers for fashion.

MrsHathaway · 10/10/2017 16:07

My granny was a Land Girl so was wearing trousers before they were cool Grin She was later a farmer's wife for twenty-odd years so continued in trousers for long walks through fields and up hills with dogs and donkeys.

But she would always have worn a skirt to church, including weddings, funerals etc. She was pretty high church.

liz70 · 10/10/2017 16:07

"It's only in the last 20 years that female teachers were allowed to wear them

I can remember Mrs Galbraith wearing a trouser suit at school in 1975"

Some of my female teachers wore trousers, at both primary and secondary schools, in the 70s and 80s, so God knows where this only in the last 20 years bollocks comes from.

Mandraki · 10/10/2017 16:17

I didn’t have a granny like that but I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and their women never wear trousers to their meetings or on the ministry (door knocking), it’s just not done/allowed. Think I wore leggings under a dress once in winter for the ministry and got told/asked not to wear them again. This was the 00’s so not a million years ago. I still really prefer wearing dresses now and it’s been about ten years since I was involved with the JW.

noeffingidea · 10/10/2017 16:18

My Nan wore trousers, my Mum didn't until she got to be about 60 or so, and then it was mainly to keep warm, not because she liked them.I wasn't allowed to wear trousers until I was 12. We had to wear skirts at school, including in the 6th form.
Hate skirts and dresses apart from maxi dresses in the summer. I always wear trousers or leggings otherwise.
I did wear a dress and medium height heels for my son's wedding, but I remeember wearing a smart trouser suit for a wedding about 25 years ago. It was my mother in law who suggested it, and no one seemeed to stare or made any comments.

tinytemper66 · 10/10/2017 16:23

My mam - 72 - has never owned or worn a pair of jeans. She is very smart and wears a combination of skirts, dresses and trousers.

DistanceCall · 10/10/2017 16:25

Well with all the gender neutral and transactivism going on it's better that everyone wears trousers at school and elsewhere. More neutral than boys having to wear skirts no matter the gender or trans issue.

Yes, but some people (trans or cis) don't WANT to look neutral. Why not just allow everyone to wear what they like, trousers or skirt/dress?

Ginnotginger · 10/10/2017 16:25

I started school in the early 70's and my reception teacher wore a sari. My middle infants teacher (yr 1) wore really flared jeans/trousers and the teacher who taught who coached the sports teams after school nearly always wore tracksuits.

My 81 year old mother wears trousers and has done so as long as I remember. She wears more often as she has become older so now I rarely see her in anything else. She bought a pair of jeans a few years ago but didn't like them. She doen't wear black because she says it doesn't suit her.

I don't think my Grandma wore trousers often but can vaguely remember her doing so occasionally. She was only 4' 7" tall and probably a size 18 but she loved a bright pattern. She was born in 1907.

HoobleDooble · 10/10/2017 16:27

I never saw either of my grans (both born 1906) in trousers. Up until my teens my mum would insist on me wearing a skirt when I visited them (basically until I hit the “I’ll wear what I want!” stage). My mum wasn’t allowed by her dad to wear trousers or have her hair cut, used to wear ‘slacks’ when she did housework and briefly had a dalliance with jeans at one point (about 30 years ago), but mainly wears skirts now.

I went to school during the years when my school scrapped the uniform so anything went (and, oddly enough, we still managed to produce a few Oxbridge entrants, despite them not wearing a blazer for 7 years).

Just remembered I did actually have a job when I was 19 or 20 (early 1990s), it was an old family firm and I wasn’t allowed to wear trousers. Don’t know what I’d do now as I never wear a dress or skirt anymore.

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 10/10/2017 16:28

Both my grannies wore trousers. They were born in the 1920s.

BarbarianMum · 10/10/2017 16:29

My gran (c.1900) would never wear trousers herself but had no problem with other women wearing them - at least after 1950 or so. And she was a firm believer in black and navy (occasionally mixed in with a bit of grey or white) being the only respectable way for a widow to dress. She didn't wear colours other than these for the last 30 years of her life and this was typical of women of her generation from the Mediterranean.

HoobleDooble · 10/10/2017 16:29

Oh, and my gran was more bothered about me wearing green. Apparently it was unlucky (probably more so if I wore it whilst walking under a ladder and holding a black cat). I do miss her, but at least I have my mother to still try and feed me superstitious clap-trap once in a while Grin

AcrossthePond55 · 10/10/2017 16:31

My gran was born in 1890, died in 1985. She never wore trousers in her life and actually wore a hook-closure, lightly-boned corset every day of her life until she became so ill with dementia that she went into nursing care in the early 80s. She never owned a bra, nor ever wore tights, just corsets with suspenders and stockings. I remember when I was a teen my mum and auntie had a really rough time finding those corsets for her!

My mum (born 1922) wore trousers (or as we call them here, 'slacks') and capris as far back as I can remember but she never wore a pair of jeans until she was in her late 50s. Of course, they were the pull on elastic waist 'granny jeans', but jeans they were!

AcrossthePond55 · 10/10/2017 16:32

Oh, and one never wore black other than to a funeral.

Gileswithachainsaw · 10/10/2017 16:32

Both my grans wore trousers

The elderly lady I looked after always wore trousers

School in the 80s and 90s however different story. Girls unable to wear trousers Angry

NC04 · 10/10/2017 16:33

My mother was born in 1940 and has views similar to your granny's:

  • she does wear trousers, but rarely and only if 'necessary' (ie going for a walk in the country; she much prefers skirts
  • I didn't have jeans until I was a teen. Remember being in a senior school house production and being one of only two students without jeans. Since I got my first pair I've basically lived in them
  • She can't believe jeans can be smart. Told me off when I was 17 as she thought the jumper I was wearing with them was 'too nice'. I checked with a friend, and she said it would be just the sort of thing she'd wear with jeans
  • Similarly, thinks suits for females should include skirts. I remember remarking how nice a friend looked in a trouser suit, and that I'd like one. My mother said that if I got one I'd have to make sure I got a skirt that matched the jacket as well as the trousers, as there are times I'd need to wear a skirt. When pushed, she gave the example of an interview. Females can't wear trousers to interviews, apparently.
SloeSloeQuickQuickGin · 10/10/2017 16:33

She keeps reminding me that they are not allowed for papal audiences.

Does your mother have many of these? (seriously impressed)

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 10/10/2017 16:34

School in the 80s and 90s however different story. Girls unable to wear trousers

Me too, only I also had to wear a fucking beret to school Blush!

londonmummy1966 · 10/10/2017 16:38

When I started work in the later 1980s we weren't allowed to wear trousers (big city firm). I can remember the excitement when they changed the dress code to allow it.

In fact I never did wear trousers to work as I had a lot of older clients who might have disapproved. Now I'm not working I live in them though...

AcrossthePond55 · 10/10/2017 16:40

This has brought back so many memories. Gran may have Hmm at her granddaughters' miniskirts and hippie blouses & faded jeans but she was a lovely sweet woman who never spoke ill and always found something complementary to say to all her grandchildren.

Granddad on the other hand was the town barber and seeing his grandsons all walking around town with hair down to their shoulders (or past) 'back in the day' about gave him an apoplexy. He didn't say anything to the boys, but he did say something to our mums. But Gran would just tell him "It's just a fad, like the girls' skirts. And if long hair was good enough for Jesus it should be good enough for him". Although Granddad may actually have been more worried about the future of his barbering business than his grandsons' hair Wink.

Ginnotginger · 10/10/2017 16:46

No trousers at secondary school for me (also no woodwork/metalwork or technical drawing). I did have to wear a tie but at least I didn't have to wear a blazer.

My daughter went to secondary school from 2003 and she chose to wear a skirt (fully pleated and a bugger to iron) because the only style of trousers allowed by the school was "hideous". The school uniform is still the same now and the girls are still wearing skirts rather than those trousers.

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