CristyCurves 169032 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I have always been a fan of the 30's and 40's. For some reason I love the style of their clothes, hair, makeup, interior design, cars and the way people talked back then. Do you have a favorite era and why? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicolette Vaughn 294340 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I love the era of the 50's. Although this probably isn't true but things seemed a lot easier back then. Women dressed nicely even to clean the house and alot of it was about family. There was an optimistic drive among people to succeed and knowing through opportunity and hard work could acheive what they wanted to. I have always been drawn to the music ( i'm a big Elvis Presley fan), colors, cars, diners and those God awful pink plastic flamingos. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CristyCurves 169032 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I love the era of the 50's. Although this probably isn't true but things seemed a lot easier back then. Women dressed nicely even to clean the house and alot of it was about family. There was an optimistic drive among people to succeed and knowing through opportunity and hard work could acheive what they wanted to. I have always been drawn to the music ( i'm a big Elvis Presley fan), colors, cars, diners and those God awful pink plastic flamingos. I agree women were so feminine back then. Very sexy and glamorous looking at least in the movies. No one has yet to surpass Elvis- in my opinion that is. He will always be king. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Emily J 172062 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Definitely the late 60's and 70's!! :biggrin: Sex, drugs, and rock n roll baby!! :motion: Peace, love and free will! Long hair and bellbottoms... lava lamps and shag rugs... tree hugging and flower power!!! And everything was so colourful!!! :biggrin: Edited January 31, 2013 by Sweet Emily J 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emiafish 30979 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 The 70's were my decade. Disco, drugs and experimental sex (well it was for me) were the order of the day. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mister_crufty 4891 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 Lots of great eras in the past but I'm a sci-fi geek and I feel like I'm living the dream. Powerful little computers in the palms of our hands linked to a massive world wide data network? Instant availability of information? Ability to communicate in real time with almost anyone in the world for free? It's a magic time! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spud271 47779 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 Late 70's in to the early 80's...the punk rock era! Mohawks, when I still had hair...dirty, nasty clubs in Brixton, South London...now we're talking my language!!!! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MightyPen 67414 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 40s and 50s; basically the Cary Grant years. Mostly because there was a whole social layer people had to navigate which is absent today. You wore a suit and a hat, but they weren't prisons; more like scaffolds for self-expression. There were elaborate constraints of social manners, but (like Cary Grant) once you'd mastered them you could play within them and convey an ocean of subversive meaning with a well-timed quip. I guess it was that cusp in time when what had been a crushing conformity of the first half of the century was eroding and setting the stage for the revolution that came in the 60s, but the trappings of the older social order were still there to have fun with in their twilight. Plus, you know, the underwear. Because c'mon, the 50s are the Bettie Paige years too! :) 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldblueeyez 15475 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I'm a fan of this era myself. ;-) I kind of like the Depression era as it's kind of repeating itself these days, and it's interesting to see the similarities between now and then. Back then, there were people and businesses which were debt-free and thriving during tough economic times, so it's nice to learn from their experiences and apply the same principles to my life and business, which is part of the reason I'm not hobbying as much these days! LOL. I like how they dressed in the 30s too. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gia Wren Marlowe 67985 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I love the mid 18th Century, mainly in Europe. It was the Age of Enlightenment, and on top of the popular interest in philosophy and science, there was a strong libertine character to the era. Plus the look! So elaborate and striking. I would not want to live in the 18th century. But I love studying it in all of its glory and horror. I prefer to live now. I also feel like we are living (in the west) in this magical, gilded society. I wonder if things will keep getting better, or stay the same, for some time or if it will all come crashing down in the next couple of generations. "Apres nous, le deluge"? I'm just glad I'm lucky enough to be in this time and place. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldblueeyez 15475 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 or if it will all come crashing down in the next couple of generations. The future belongs to Asia, specifically China. We won't come crashing down, but it will be a gentle landing. Empires rise and fall; they ebb and flow with the tide. Humanity is so predictable in ways. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cat 262460 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 It all depends on the mood I'm in. My personal decorating style is turn of the century exotic Victorian, I love the art deco of the 30's as is reflected in my advertising with their clean, bold lines and often my personal dress with hats and accessories. It feels so civilized. There are times where I will channel the Hollywood glamour of the 40's with the formal elegance of satin and pearls. Then there are times I feel like a Pink Lady and wear skin tight pencil skirts with sweaters and heels. I do the 60's-70's Boho look well when I'm feeling a little constricted and need to connect with my inner tree hugging, flower child but I cannot do the 80's. It was a horrendous time for fashion, attitude and music. When I get in mood, I will delve online in an era just to clear my head and I will fall in love with it all over again. I did this thru books as a child and now in our golden time, it's so much easier to explore. If I had a choice to go back and live an era tho, it would be when North America was being settled. Before governments had their hands in complicating everything and one didn't need a degree to get a job. A time when things moved slower and weren't so complex. A person could build a life with just common sense, hard work, sweat and tears... cat 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baileydog 9367 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 on the other hand ... We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time. -Art Buchwald 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mister_crufty 4891 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 The future belongs to Asia, specifically China. We won't come crashing down, but it will be a gentle landing. Empires rise and fall; they ebb and flow with the tide. Humanity is so predictable in ways. "History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." - Mark Twain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldblueeyez 15475 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 "History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme."- Mark Twain Yes, that sounds much better! ;) Additional Comments: I cannot do the 80's. It was a horrendous time for fashion, attitude and music. I respectfully disagree. :P 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest **zz**x Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I am glad to live in this era and in this place because it is safe and calm but the 1920s and 1930s hold a great fascination for me. Great music, film was taking off, fashion, the art and political worlds were in ferment and, in Europe at least, people were embracing greater personal and sexual freedom. Of course, it all ended badly in the 1940s in many respects because reactionary forces (i.e. Fascists and Nazis) didn't like any of the above. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mister_crufty 4891 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 I am glad to live in this era and in this place because it is safe and calm...snip... "May you live in interesting times." - Ancient Chinese Curse. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicolette Vaughn 294340 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 No one has yet to surpass Elvis- in my opinion that is. He will always be king. I visited Graceland once. That was interesting! Elvis was a complicated character but that's one of the reasons why people were so drawn to him. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralp 120 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 My favorite era is always the next one. I get to build on everything I've seen, heard, learned from the "old" ones and guide myself into the next. Oh, it also means I make it to the next :) Remember every day you get up, is a good one. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A****y E*e 6175 Report post Posted January 31, 2013 It might be related to my current obsession with Mad Men, but I love the idea of the late 50's and the 60's, especially when it comes to fashion. Men in suits, women in gorgeous curve-hugging dresses, and everyone with classic drinks. I also love that there was so much change in that time in the West - the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the beginning of the sex-positive/free-love movement. I think it would have been amazing to be able to play a part in those. But I don't think I would have been in to being barred from university and many jobs,among other things, so I'm happy to continue in this era with my nostalgic longing fully intact, able to wear "pin-up" style dresses whenever I want ;). 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest K***e D****ls Report post Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) I agree, Audrey. I love the era of the Rat Pack. The 50's Rat Pack and then the 60's group with Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and company. I love how gentlemen dressed like gentlemen and ladies dressed like ladies. Indiscretions may have been known, but the offender(s) still carried themselves with class for the most part. The music, the dancing, the fashion, the glamour. I was meant to be in that era. Specifically with the Rat Pack. haha Edited February 1, 2013 by K***e D****ls typo- It isn't 'Sammy DAVID Jr'. haha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MightyPen 67414 Report post Posted February 1, 2013 Lots of great eras in the past but I'm a sci-fi geek and I feel like I'm living the dream. Powerful little computers in the palms of our hands linked to a massive world wide data network? Instant availability of information? Ability to communicate in real time with almost anyone in the world for free? ... It's a magic time! I think it's safe to say nobody really wants to go back in time and actually live in the times they're citing; I'm rather fond of modern medicine after all. :) Plus the marriage equality thing, and the like. But other eras can lay claim to something that's missing or absent from ours; it's all a matter of perspective. Plus, the cost of our elaborate digital lives is the eroding of personal contact. When your community is virtual, it's less inclined to be local; how many of us know more people more deeply on other continents than we do within 500m of our home? And e-mails aren't handwritten letters, each a little work of everyday art. Losses, for sure. Outweighed on the whole by gains, I think... but losses nonetheless. Hence, perhaps, this thread. ;) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mister_crufty 4891 Report post Posted February 1, 2013 Indeed. From a purely romantic standpoint, I would have loved to be alive in the age of exploration. When new worlds were being discovered by brave men on sailing ships. Pretty shitty time for the average person but cool nonetheless. I think it's safe to say nobody really wants to go back in time and actually live in the times they're citing; I'm rather fond of modern medicine after all. :) Plus the marriage equality thing, and the like. But other eras can lay claim to something that's missing or absent from ours; it's all a matter of perspective. Plus, the cost of our elaborate digital lives is the eroding of personal contact. When your community is virtual, it's less inclined to be local; how many of us know more people more deeply on other continents than we do within 500m of our home? And e-mails aren't handwritten letters, each a little work of everyday art. Losses, for sure. Outweighed on the whole by gains, I think... but losses nonetheless. Hence, perhaps, this thread. ;) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MightyPen 67414 Report post Posted February 1, 2013 I love the mid 18th Century, mainly in Europe. It was the Age of Enlightenment, and on top of the popular interest in philosophy and science, there was a strong libertine character to the era. I agree; it's the elaborate clothing and the slight air of decadence in the wealthy and extremely well-dressed classes. The striking contract between public decorum and private, exuberant debauchery. I love just imagining all the complex layers with buttons and vents I'd find under one of those elaborate dresses... it would be like mastering a maze to find the prize. ;) And seriously. Benjamin Franklin? If that guy can score some triumphant debauchery in France, I'm totally going to those parties. I guess the only other era I envy that I haven't mentioned yet is the end of the 19th century. I've always wanted to carry a cane and wear a tophat & tails, and stroll down a foggy cobblestone street. Sherlock Holmes (as payed by Jeremy Brett...). I'm --right there--. I spent a week alone in London a few years ago and it was magical. I kept seeing superimposed ghosts everywhere I looked, spirits of the history and literature I'd studied all around me. It felt like home. PLUS I bought a little porcelain snuffbox from the rather cheesy Sherlock Holmes museum for good measure... there it is right over there on my desk this very moment. ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Emily J 172062 Report post Posted February 1, 2013 I think it's safe to say nobody really wants to go back in time and actually live in the times they're citing; I'm rather fond of modern medicine after all. :) Plus the marriage equality thing, and the like. But other eras can lay claim to something that's missing or absent from ours; it's all a matter of perspective. Plus, the cost of our elaborate digital lives is the eroding of personal contact. When your community is virtual, it's less inclined to be local; how many of us know more people more deeply on other continents than we do within 500m of our home? And e-mails aren't handwritten letters, each a little work of everyday art. Losses, for sure. Outweighed on the whole by gains, I think... but losses nonetheless. Hence, perhaps, this thread. ;) Good points. Reminds me of a Woody Allen film from a couple years ago, "Midnight In Paris", which explores these themes (really good flick, if you haven't seen it). We are often nostalgic for the eras past... maybe a "simpler time" or something of that likeness, etc... But every era past experiences it's own nostalgia too. Some now are nostalgic for the 1920's... But most do not consider that in the 1920's many were nogstaglic for the 1890's, and that in the 2050's they will be nostalgic about our own era. It's all meaningless really, but an interesting concept to consider when thinking about the big picture. :) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
