What was worn in our grandparents„ time? What was “cool" in those days and what were the queues for not only in front of Tuzex? What was the period of the so-called 1960s to the 1980s in terms of fashion and lifestyle from the point of view of ordinary citizens of the then Czechoslovak Socialist Republic? Did we have anything to wear, or were we saved by our grandmothers' knitting and crocheting? Objectively, without painting it black or painting it pink, an insider's probe into those times is brought to us by a unique publication by the popular Prague publishing house Grada, from the pen of a more than insider author - fashion editor, columnist and writer Michaela Zindelová.

A unique look back

As we read on the back cover, the narrative book presented by these lines, full of unique photographs, is intended for all those who feel like looking back. We add - world wonder - maybe even be inspired (!). The publication stands straddling the fashion, lifestyle and culture of the time. It touches not only on the changes in men's and women's clothing, but also on make-up, accessories and how life was lived at the time and how the political situation of the time influenced fashion and lifestyle. In addition to the author, journalist Michaela Zindel, various aspects of the former social and design platform are brought to the reader in unique interviews by selected personalities who have given their original professional opinions on the 1930s. The chapters are divided not only by their testimonies, but also by small information boxes with definitions of institutions, new products and interesting phenomena.

Fashion and lifestyle of the 1960s to the 1980s

The encyclopedic publication has two hundred and thirty pages, six chapters and an amazing number of period photographs and successful illustrations by Lucie Loosová. It is not only a document of the time, a source of enlightenment, but also an extraordinary study material. In her introduction, author Zindelová tells the reader the circumstances leading to the creation of this book and adds a medallion of the renowned fashion journalist who strongly influenced her, Vera Hrubá (b. 1929, d. 2004), and catapulted her, so to speak, to her own lifelong work as a fashion journalist.

And here we are at the first chapter, entitled The Phenomenon of Home Clothing, followed by Fashion of the Street, How We Lived and then Makeup Not Just About Makeup. The book graduates with the chapter Brand: idol, icon and ends with On Fashion Heritage. As we have already indicated above, there are interviews with selected personalities. They are (according to the order of the chapters) Dagmar Březinová, Josef Ťapťuch, Zdeňka Bauerová, Marta Pospíchalová, Jana Jobová Drastíková and in the end the pair Marie Ubrová + Drahomíra Březinová. What a name, what an important concept in its field. Bohumila Broumová took care of the excellent graphic design of the publication.

Curriculum vitae

Dr. Michaela Zindelová (1950), journalist and writer, graduated from the Charles University. She has worked in a number of editorial offices of magazines in the field of culture and fashion, including the legendary Vlasta. At one time she was also a press spokesperson for DNV (director Jiřina Jirásková) and as head of the External Relations Department at the Rector's Office of Charles University. In 2007, she and her daughter Barbara founded Artforma s.r.o. She has been freelancing for a long time and has published more than twenty books. She focuses mainly on monographs (Hana Zagorová, Chantan Poullain, Blanka Matragi or Dagmar Pecková). In 2020, she and her daughter Barbara wrote the fiction book Tak daleko, tak blíz. The publication Such Were We... was published two years later. Read more: www.grada.cz

Ivan Cerny