Clothing in the 40s

When I was in high school in Perry Iowa, we were never allowed to wear pants!!! I did walk a mile to school so in the winter my mother brought me a snow suit (wool) to wear. I walked and was very warm. However I always had to take my skirt to wear after I got to school. Horrors!!! I forgot my skirt one day and had to wear my wool pants all day. How embarrassing!!! Girls just didn’t wear pants then!!! However saddle shoes were “in” - but they had to be dirty! I wore my cardigan sweater backward once and started a trend for that fashion statement! Girls wearing pants to the classroom was always a “no-no” in the 40s!! I was a high school cheerleader. It was a wonderful honor to be on the squad! All our football games were played at 7pm. And in the fall in Perry it got cold. We wore white shirts with a white wool sweater that had a big “P” on it and a blue skirt. We wore saddle shoes (dirty, of course, I was very upset when my mother cleaned them once!) We also wore ankle socks - no panty hose or anything to cover our legs. Sometimes I think my legs were as blue as my skirt from the cold, but you’d never admit you were cold!!! I attended my 60th high school reunion. Four of the squad were there. We were asked to lead a cheer. We thought we had done very well when the M/C said, “You girls don’t jump as high as you used to !!!