Belizian Boys' Clothes: 25 Years Ago on Ambergris Caye


Figure 1.--.

There are only a handful of variations in fashion and when they are finished you have to return to an old style and make it new once again, with a little variation, of course. In the 1960's teenage boys were wearing the tightest pants you could imagine. It was skin fit. The leg part actually took the shape of one's legs and the end of the leg by the ankles was the size of the ankles too. Some boys wore zippers at the ankles so that the foot could enter and then the pants were pulled up with a lot of effort and problems. It took a good two minutes to pull off one's pants. Similarly, the shirt was pretty tight at the waist and the sleeves. The sleeves were midway to one's arms. In fact, if one wore a shirt that was a bit loosely fitted, the friends would sarcastically tease the bearer that his circulation was not functioning properly.

About the same time that we teenagers were wearing tight pants and shirts, our parents were still wearing the big baggy pants known as bell-foot pants. We thought theirs were ridiculous and they in turn thought ours were too. Then in the 1970's the bell-foot pants came into fashion for the teenagers. Our bell-foots, however, were tightly fitted at the legs, and loose at the bottom.

All ladies wore dresses and skirts below the knees in the 1950's. And then in the 1960's the miniskirt came into fashion. Do you think those miniskirts of today are short? You have not seen anything! You should have seen those skirts of 25 years ago.

Yes, mothers complained and objected, but there was nothing that could change it. Girls had to be careful going up stairs, or stooping down, or dancing, or even sitting down. It got so short that short pants had to be worn under the skirts. And then in the 1980's, the young ladies threw away the miniskirts and stayed only with the short pants. That was the first time that short pants became fashionable in San Pedro.

When the ladies got tired of the miniskirt, they went back to long dresses. When the boys got tired of the bell-foot, they went back to a regular footed pant and more loosely fitted. Men's short pants that are so popular today were never worn in the 60's and 70's nor 80's. When men's short pants came into fashion, they were short and tight. (There are only two men still wearing them like that today.) The baggy short pants below the knee and the extra large shirts were only worn by clowns in the 1970's.

What's next in fashion? Your guess is as good as mine, but I surely hope something happens soon because this style of "sagging" surely makes a lot of people uncomfortable. The business world has not really adapted nor accepted sagging; it is a sign of the rebellious. But there again, if the boys wore very tight pants, someone would probably think they were gay. Why can't one neat style be adapted, good for a party and good for the business world? Why must people go against the conventional? You are right; to be in style, to be different from the rest, to be noticed. Well that is good news 'cause the opposite of sagging will be a neat pair of pants with a tucked in shirt and perhaps a necktie. That's it; people will notice that.

By Angel Nun~ez






Christopher Wagner

histclo@lycosmail.com

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Crerated: March 15, 1998
Last updated: September 9, 1999