This is something interesting to me, just the development over time.

I was in high school from 1996-2000, and I have some experience even back to '95 since for a year I went to what's called a continuation school in California, basically a mix of middle and high. I remember a vast majority of the girls dressed more casually and like guys - i.e. jeans or regular pants, and shirts... lots of them had the grunge styles too, lol. It was female variations of course, but based off what's typically been considered guys' clothes. Come to think of it, I can't recall any girls in middle or high school wearing dresses - I'm sure they did, but it just wasn't as common. What was it like in anyone else's schools or workplaces back then?

It wasn't just dressing styles either (although that's one thing that reflected it), I think in the 90s girls and younger women started just acting more...not necesarilly always like guys but just casually and a bit edgier. I've gotten so used to this I barely pay attention to it anymore. That's different to what I can remember in the 80s. I'm sure not all younger women were like this of course, and I think it was beginning to change even then, but they did seem more traditional and "girly girl" compared with later, like babysitters I had as a little kid.

For as long as I can remember, I've always known most girls to dress casually.  Even when I was really little, I mostly saw teen girls wearing jeans, t-shirts, and high-top sneakers. 

My mother would tell me stories about how practically everyone dressed up nicely for school everyday....this was back in the 1950's.  Times sure change!

^ Good stuff. :) Yeah it was kinda mixed when I was a kid too (you're close to my age), they were like a little more traditional but casual too. Even though I paid attention and noticed alot of things, some of it didn't matter or was lost on me... I wish I'd been a bit older so I'd have noticed more of these aspects of the 80s.

When did teen girls start dressing casually?  Certainly not in this decade.  Girls today wear as little as possible.  Not that I'm complaining or anything, but whatever happened to clothes that fit? lol

I was in high school from 1994-1998 and i saw a mixture of both. Overall, the fashion was pretty casual (until senior year when the sleeze look came in) but my friends and I did enjoy dressing a little flashy and exotic. But they started dressing less casually and more, preppy when I started my senior year of high school in September 1997. However, it didn't take over until after I graduated.

I see teenagers a lot because i have a really close relationship with my 17 year old nephew and I think right now it's a lot more casual than it was back in the beginning of the decade.

Ain't they always been?

If driving fast cars you like,
If low bars you like,
If old hymns you like,
If bare limbs you like,
If Mae West you like
Or me undressed you like,
Why, nobody will oppose!
When every night,
The set that's smart
Is intruding in nudist parties in studios,
Anything Goes.

--Cole Porter, 1934

The late 60s once they allowed girls to wear pants to school they started wearing them everywhere.

My grandma was as early as the late '40s wearing pants and sunglasses.

I wore jeans and t-shirts to school in the mid-80s.  It was around that time that it changed.  my older brother went to the same school three years before me and my grandma bought him a blazer to wear.  I don't think he actually wore it but he was certainly made to wear 'proper' shirts every day.

I wore jeans and t-shirts to school in the mid-80s.  It was around that time that it changed.  my older brother went to the same school three years before me and my grandma bought him a blazer to wear.  I don't think he actually wore it but he was certainly made to wear 'proper' shirts every day.


it was England. You had hire standards than in the US. We were wearing jeans to school in the 70s  ;)

I graduated high school in 1969.  At that time there was a pretty strict dress code.  Girls - no slacks, dark skirts or dresses to the knee, light blouses-must have sleeves, no heels, no makeup beyond a very light lipstick, no bare legs must have socks or stockings, flats or "squash heels" no high heels.  Boys dark slacks, light colored shirts, ties between September 15 and May 15.  By 1972 the dress code was gone. 

What surprised me most, though, was when churches followed suit.  I am still taken aback when I see people going to church dressed like they just came from the family barbecue.  I am not a church goer, but when the occasion arises that I do have to attend I still, out of respect, go dressed in my "Sunday best" with a head covering. 

I graduated high school in 1969.  At that time there was a pretty strict dress code.  Girls - no slacks, dark skirts or dresses to the knee, light blouses-must have sleeves, no heels, no makeup beyond a very light lipstick, no bare legs must have socks or stockings, flats or "squash heels" no high heels.  Boys dark slacks, light colored shirts, ties between September 15 and May 15.  By 1972 the dress code was gone. 

What surprised me most, though, was when churches followed suit.  I am still taken aback when I see people going to church dressed like they just came from the family barbecue.  I am not a church goer, but when the occasion arises that I do have to attend I still, out of respect, go dressed in my "Sunday best" with a head covering. 


dressing for church I never understood. I always figured god wouldn't care he'd just happy that people showed up so damn early. In my opinion people dress up to impress the other church goers.

dressing for church I never understood. I always figured god wouldn't care he'd just happy that people showed up so damn early. In my opinion people dress up to impress the other church goers.



It wasn't that you were doing it for god, but as a sign of respect, we didn't dress to the nines, but you had your"Sunday best", the one dress or suit you wore to church.  Of course people being people, they had to bring it up to a whole new level and make it a competition. 

Hard to tell here as the majority of us wore/wear a school uniform five days out of seven...

dressing for church I never understood. I always figured god wouldn't care he'd just happy that people showed up so damn early. In my opinion people dress up to impress the other church goers.

I never understood it either..When are church started the Saturday night mass people dressed casual, but for some reason if you went on Sunday we had to dress up..what difference does a day make.
I graduated in 78 and wore pants all through high school. In elementary school my mom usually made me wear skirts or dresses. 8-P