"...Pants and You" (Roaman's catalog, Summer 1968)

 In the late 1960s a daring new fashion trend was upsetting all the conventional fashion rules.  No, I'm talking about the miniskirt—I'm talking about women wearing pants!  The whole trend was so disturbing that the editor of  Roaman's catalog took some time in the summer of 1968 out to address her readers (and potential customers) on the subject.  

I've taken the liberty of reproducing the text below, and illustrating it with pictures from various clothing catalogues from the year 1968.

Roaman's, Summer 1968

"With the trend in recent years toward the type of clothes that are both practical and comfortable, pants of one type or another have gained enormous popularity.  During the season just past, the pant-suit was a fashion headliner, and designers the world over brought us versions that were as attractive as they were easy-to-wear and as varied as they were smart."

Skylark, Summer 1968

"But with the swing to pants two problems have arisen:

1. Who should and should not wear pants?
2. Where and when should pants be worn?"

Lana Lobell, Fall 1968

"The answer to the first question is a personal decision that each one of us must make for herself.  If pants are to be worn only in private, there is actually no problem at all.  But I'm sure each of you has at one time or another seen, as I have, pants on a woman who badly needed to lose many pounds before appearing in public in pants—as a matter of personal pride in her own appearance, if nothing else.  Enough said? "

National Bellas Hess, Winter 1968

"The question of where and when to wear pants is a far easier one to answer than ever before.  Currently pants are available in styles suitable for every occasion.  Only one rule applies here—be certain that the ones you choose are suitable for the occasion.  If you follow this simple rule, your taste will never be open to question."