Clothes Maketh The Man

My clothes had a lot to do with how I was perceived at school. I was seen as a bit of a 'nerd' because of the way I dressed and because of my haircut which was very short for the fashion of the time.

I was called all sorts of names by certain boys, bullied and often ended up in fights when I could take no more. My Father would be angry with me if I arrived home with bruises and the odd black eye. I was often punished for getting into scrapes as if it was my fault for starting them, but this was just another excuse for my Father use his stick on me.

We never had much money. My Mother died when I was young and my Father who worked full-time in the Army had two boys to bring up. We had to survive on his money. We had little family, an Uncle in Southampton, no Grandparents, there was simply no-one to give support to my Father's income.

He always bought all our clothes and continued to do so until I left home at 17.

One of the less expensive and widely used materials of the late 60's and early 70's was nylon and this fibre could be weaved into all kinds of clothing which was durable, hard wearing and easily laundered.

A typical  100% nylon shirt

I started at primary school with a grey nylon school shirt, shorts and long grey nylon socks which was pretty standard uniform at the time. However, I was somewhat self concious as my grey shirt was practically see-through. Fortunately I did sometimes wear a vest underneath to hide my modesty.

Grey nylon school shirts were 
commonly worn at that time

My Father also bought nylon underwear, vests and pants, nylon pyjamas and nylon bedsheets. Nylon was cheaper than cotton at the time and it also had the quality when washed of being drip dry with no need to iron.

Most of the family shirts could be washed out by hand in the sink. Larger sheets and underwear would usually need to be taken to the Laundrette and this fell to me or my Brother as part of our chores once every couple of weeks.

For each and every birthday and Christmas, I would be presented with a new shirt, socks or underwear as my gifts. My socks were always the short, patterned nylon type which came in numerous colours. 

Once my Father even bought me a string vest! He had some of these himself, but when worn with a nylon shirt it was easily visible underneath and more suited for the Army or Navy than a thirteen year old lad as I was. It was definitely not the thing to be seen in! I received a lot of verbal and physical abuse form other boys in my school because of my vest which I couldn't hide except by keeping my blazer on. My school shirt was a turquoise/ blue colour and quite thin and I was the only boy in a string vest. Most of my other shirts were dark colours such as brown or navy blue and most nylon seemed to come in these darker shades as I also had brown  or blue sheets and pyjamas at various times. 'Brentford Nylons' was the main shop that my Father would buy bedding and pyjamas from. This was a big supplier chain and I remember going there to try the shirts on but my school shirts came from a local uniform supplier.

I was bullied over my string vest                                    

My Father and Brother were also nylon shirt wearers. I had a lot of hand me downs from my brother's wardrobe as he grew out of his shirts and trousers. Later when Dad joined the Prison Service, he was issued with nylon shirts with his uniform. It really was the wonder fabric of the time. However one thing that used to really annoy me was when he slipped his shoes off whilst watching TV. He would rub his nylon socked feet together until they crackled with static! he seemed oblivious to what he was doing however.

Nylon shirt and string vest, obvious when worn together

I only ever had one pair of shoes, usually plain black leather slip-ons with elasticated sides and these had to make do for at least a year of school and home wear. Aside from this I had my plimsoles for PE and a pair of brown open toed sandals. These three were my only footware. In those days, there was no thought of wearing sandals with bare feet except at the beach. I would never have been allowed to do so anyway, my father would have thought it scruffy and hippie-ish, so my sandals were always worn with my patterned nylon socks! I usually wore them during the summer when I was not at school around the house and for Scouts on a Wednesday night or when we went camping.

Socks and sandals was never a good look

When I moved up to secondary school, I wore a turquoise blue shirt with black trousers, maroon blazer and navy tie which was of the 'knitted' type. The fashion around this time was for flared and high waisted trousers with platform shoes, but my trousers were plain and not flared. School rules would not have let us undo the top button of our shirts or loosen our ties, let alone my Father. He would certainly not have let me go to school without my blazer or my tie hanging loose. He bought me a navy blue ‘crimplene’ raincoat which I had for many years as my only winter coat. Everyone else was wearing those green or blue 'parka' type coats with the wrap around hood. Once I tore the coat of some barbed wire which gave my Father yet another excuse to thump me. It got sewn up again and I had to continue to wear it as another could not be afforded.

As for the Scouts, I had a bottle green nylon uniform shirt worn with a red scarf or 'necker'. The shirt was actually a hand me down from my Brother and had a very shiny appearance which was one of the characteristics of nylon fabric. Although I wasn't the only boy in my troop with a nylon shirt, it certainly made us stand out from the others. I have some photographs from a local newspaper which were taken after we had visited the print offices with the troop. Although in black and white it is obvious I am in a nylon shirt as the camera flash reflects off the shiny shirt!

We visited a newspaper 
printworks with the Scouts

Even when we were small we always had to look smart in a shirt and trousers when at home and always in a tie for Church on Sunday. I never owned a pair of jeans until I could afford them myself and I could choose more what I wanted to wear.

Even now I feel more comfortable in a shirt and tie than I do casual. I guess this is because it was 'safe' when I was wearing smart clothes. I knew my Father wouldn't complain or have reason to berate me. I was obeying his will!

One of my first jobs was as a waiter in a hotel and I was dressed formally for that all day in a bow tie and waistcoat. I have since been in other uniformed services. I  have worked as a Hospital Porter and a Security Guard. Wearing shirt and tie just feels more natural to me. My Father has succeeded in bending me to his will and even after all these years I still possess some nylon shirts and I still wear socks with sandals!