There were plenty of reasons for a teenager to watch American Bandstand. There was the music and the artists that performed it. There was the dancing and the teenagers who showed off the latest steps. There was also the fashion, which for some viewers was every bit as important as anything else on the show.
How many of these fashion statements from that era do you remember?
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Cardigan sweaters worn backwards so it buttoned down the back.
- Girls wearing dog collars over their white bobby sox - one ankle for girls with a boyfriend, both ankles for those who were still looking.
- The chemise (or sack) dress.
- Sweater guards.
- Angora collars with pom poms (sometimes in pastel colors) that tied in the front.
- Pendleton skirts and cashmere sweaters.
- Three-button bennies.
- Jumper dresses.
- Calypso shoes.
- Billy Eckstine collared shirts (Mr. B shirts).
- Peg pants.
- Skinny white belts.
- Angel blouses.
- Cuffed blue jeans with white socks.
- Triple rolled white socks.
- Ben Casey shirts.
Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand -- Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. Go here to learn the story behind the writing of Bandstandland or here to listen to the Pennsylvania Cable Network's interview with author Larry Lehmer.
Larry Lehmer's book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died -- is available at Amazon.
