Episode 4:
THE WAY WE WORE
Each decade of the 20th Century saw its own Holy Communion Fashions, Bridal and Wedding Fashions, Work Wear Fashions, Partywear Fashions, Weird Underwear Trends, Teen and Youth Fashions and Outlandish Fads. THE WAY WE WORE takes a trawl through the archives to reveal how we Irish styled ourselves as the 20th Century progressed into the 21st.
Including the birth of teen fashion in the 1950’s as, for the first time ever, Teenagers began dressing differently to their parents
To the 1960’s when rising hemlines were to cause scandal. Hair-length Wars raged in Catholic Schools – while Vatican 2 freed the nuns from their Wimples and women from the rule forbidding bare heads at mass.
The 70’s – From the hippies at Carnsore to Glam Rock and Disco and finally the punks, platform shoe injuries caused pile-ups at casualty departments and Unisex Fashions and Unisex Hairdressers caused gender confusion.
The 80’s saw The Debs Ball Phenomenon and the consequent democratisation of formal wear, the appearance of The New Romantics and, later in the decade, The Baggy bugged-out stylings of the Acid House Generation
Series Overview:
RTÉ One’s hit social history documentary Series THE WAY WE WERE returns for a new 4 Part Season on Monday nights 9.35pm from Monday 7 March.
Full of insights into 20th Century life in Ireland as viewed through 100 years of film archive plus the recollections & observations of well-known Irish Personalities, pundits & historians THE WAY WE WERE roams widely over Ireland’s social and cultural history offering a fascinating window into our recent past.
Each Episode focuses on one vital aspect of our lives that has changed radically over the past 10 decades.
This new series examines our attitudes towards love, sex and marriage in THE WAY WE LOVED, our relationship with our homes and houses in THE WAY WE WERE; AT HOME, the changes in the way we dressed in THE WAY WE WORE and how we spent our leisure time in THE WAY WE PLAYED
Contributors include well known Irish names who all came of age during the 20th Century. Some born as far back as the 1930’s. Including:
Broadcasters Mike Murphy, Joe Duffy, John Creedon, Barbara Mc Mahon (ex Fashion Presenter ‘Head To Toe’) Hugh Wallace, Ciara Kelly and Brendan Courtney.
Comedians Sil Fox, Ardal O’Hanlon, Colm O’Regan and Katherine Lynch.
Musicians Mary Coughlan, Philomena Begley and Jerry Fish
Entertainers Alan Amsby (Mr Pussy) and Eileen Reid
Journalists and Authors Michael Harding and Damian Corless
Politician Mary O’Rourke
Veteran GAA Star and Pundit Pat Spillane
Joining them are experts ranging from business luminaries to Social Historians including:
Penneys/Primark Director Breege O’Donoghue
Fashion Consultant and Chairperson of The Council of Irish Fashion Designers Eddie Shanahan
Former Xtravision Director Gerry Butler
Historians Donal Fallon (Three Castles Burning Blog), Sarah Anne Buckley (Old Ireland In Colour Book Series), Ruth Griffin (Fashion Historian) Emily Power Smith (Sexologist), Eleanor O’Leary (Pop Culture Historian) and Turtle Bunberry (Vanishing Ireland Book Series)