Thursday, July 22, 2010

Hippie Blouses

I wasn't really exactly a hippie ( well, perhaps I was in SOME ways) back in the 70's, but I guess I did sort-of dress like one. I wore blouses/tops like these pretty much exclusively for quite a while. Like this green one with the lovely embroidered bodice you see below. This one must have gotten the worst of it (or the most wear?) because it's too stained to wear anymore - which is why I'm only showing you the top! I suppose someone clever could remove that bodice and make a new blouse out of it:

This one was a real favorite, as well. Made out of rayon, which may very well be my favorite fabric to wear, it's in pretty good shape except for the cross-stitch embroidered embellishments. I found it in a box at my storage unit, where it had been packed away for years, and discovered that it still fits - and I still like it! I just cleaned up the loose threads on the cross-stitching, and now I'll be getting some more wear out of it, after all these years:
I love this one, too - it was also packed away since who-even-knows-when. It's a little shorter than I like - not sure I'll be wearing it. We'll see:

I always gazed longingly at these ads in the backs of Seventeen Magazines back in the late 60's and early 70's:

I'm not sure I ever ordered one from the magazine, but I did find similar ones at shops, and even when I had to lay them away, I'd get them paid for eventually and make them mine. I think you get the general idea of the styles I loved:

Sorry these next two photos are so bad - my photography skills have improved a BIT since I took these! This one was muslin with the bright flower- embroidered details:
And this pale green one was that light sort of gauze-like cotton, with more of the embroidery I love, of course. I sold both of them at the shop:

Yes, I am older now - but I still love these styles.

Guess I always will.

9 comments:

  1. i love them too. not sure if i gave them all away when i moved to michigan - when after 30 yrs i was no longer the same size i finally downsized all the clothes i could not wear - which was everything. i remember them fondly - i had one that the embroidery was down the sleeves (both) and it was a bell sleeve. that one was my favorite.

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  2. I used to wear these a lot, loved them. About a decade after the "hippy era" my best friend and I went through a whole hippy phase.

    When I was a kid I had go-go boots and a mini skirt lol...

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  3. I had some of these as well, and saved them for a long time. My favorite outfit to wear were some lime green hot pants, same color sweater top, and sandals that criss-cross laced up my leg from ankle to knee. I wish I had a photo, I thought I was so cool!!

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  4. I ordered clothes from Sweet Willy (one of your ads) all the time in the 70s. I loved their catalogs, I could have ordered everything in them. I still have a few things. Also the Jason's Fleece out of Lake Tahoe, I had forgotten about that one. Great stuff! Love T

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  5. Okay, Tina - I think we need to have a look at your old hippie blouses, also. Maybe We can get Penny or Evelyn Rose to model them and do a post about yours, too!

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  6. I love these kinds of wispy little peasant blouses. That third one you unearthed is such a gem with the crochet , soooooo cute!

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  7. My favorite is the blue one! I wish I could find some of these tops now. They would be so comfortable and cute! Twyla

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  8. I googled "peasant blouse kit 1970's Seventeen Magazine" and your this post from your blog came up. I guess I was not the only one fascinated by those ads back then.
    I don't remember what year it was, but once "Seventeen" had a kit for a peasant blouse you could embroider with tiny, delicate flowers and sew. It was muslin, and cost around $20, which was a lot of money back then.
    I bought it, and it turned out great.
    I was sure I saved it in my mom's attic when it went out of style, but it isn't there now. I wish I had a picture of it. I miss it.
    Skylark

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  9. Skylark - Thank you so much for commenting, and I am happy that you found my post!
    I wish you still had your blouse, too - or at least a picture so that I could see it.

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