I think some of those mutton tops would be adorable on a tall skinny teenager or a tall skinny twenty something.

I have broad shoulders with some remnants of an athletic build so I would look like a freak. Oh, and add my age...double freaky. People would probably dive into bushes thinking me deranged and wanting to play tackle.

Could it be possible for a mature woman to pull off a modified mutton if she was very tall and skinny with narrow shoulders? Maybe. Probably.

We are finally emerging from a 3 year period where I liked (i.e. look good in) none of the on-trend colors, and I still can't find anything I like. Though I can now find colors I like, I can't find them in a style that I'm willing to wear (i.e. a style I will look good in).

I’m just happy calf length skirts are available to buy again. I hated the everything body con and short look and it was just about all that was available for years.

If you like mutton-ish tops there are lots on MyTheresa. The sale side also has a few.

Somehow I managed to never have any of those - fortunately

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but prairie dresses are evidently all the thing now:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/09/13/prairie-dresses-yes-prairie-dresses-are-the-most-provocative-thing-in-fashion-right-now/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f76c65de0173

But they sure aren't anything like my old Gunne Sax dresses, which were most beautifully made, whatever you may think of the style.

Prairie dresses remind me of Mormon wives, although I assume they are supposed to remind one of Little House on the Prairie, which I never watched. They look comfortable for house dresses, but I don't think they should be worn in public.

I used to make pirate shirts in the 1980s, but mine didn't look like Seinfeld's.

I've kept shirts from the early 1990s, but I don't think I have anything from the 1980s, as the ones I liked I wore until they were worn out. I have a couple of shirts from the 1970s that I saved for historic reasons - one is made from fabric that is a print of the crowd at Woodstock, and another is a psychedelic nylon that one of my best friends gave me, and I kept it to remember him by. I also have a pink satin jumpsuit with rhinestones and a rainbow painted on the back (with markers, I think) that used to be owned by Timothy Leary. A friend of mine in San Francisco stole it from the Timothy Leary archives where he used to do volunteer work. Leary was very short, and so it does not exactly fit me, but I've kept it anyway.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but prairie dresses are evidently all the thing now:

Gross. I don't know why anyone would want to look like they just stepped out of 19th century backwater, but the saying "everything old is new again" must ring true.

My daughter and I were walking through Macy’s the other day and I mentioned that I felt as if I was having flashbacks to my Gunne Sax and Young Edwardian days. Loved those brands. We were lucky we had a Gunne Sax Outlet about 20 miles away, this was back when the outlet stores were real factory outlets with great deals. One of my close friends and I would borrow mom’s car for the drive. At the Outlet we would find great dresses and tops for about 1/4 of the Department` ` store prices.

While cute most these retro style prairie and boho pieces fall into the “been there, done that” category for me. Also, the mid calf length that so flattering when I was young and 103 pounds makes me look very dumpy now, so not thrilled with this fashion update either. That said lots of cute things for my daughter.

I liked the look back in the early 80s. Wore a much coveted Gunne Sax dress to my 8th grade graduation. Old fashioned clothes look adorable on the young, not so much on the middle aged.

I thought the bell sleeves were ugly, these are worse. At least I'm tall enough to wear mid-calf length skirts. I bought one and just one and no more.

And prairie dresses? - not a hope.

Luckily I live in Florida and only have a few weeks out of the year where I need anything long sleeved. The first shirt I posted above (the blue one) looks like coffin lining.

There are a few modified versions...still not sure.

This one isn't bad but who on earth would pay that much money for a trendy shirt? Maybe one of those Hollywood types. Wonder if it's a poly blend.

Edited: it's mostly Rayon.

• material: 80% viscose, 20% silk

I vaguely remember when they were popular but I never had one. When they were trendy I was having 3 babies within 5 years and those dresses would have looked horrendous with a big pregnant belly.

I think the prairie dresses are the obvious next step after the sheer phase. If they want people to spend money and look up date, designers have to come up with something totally different.

It may be a cultural backlash as well as it is the polar opposite of all the Kardashian skin tight nude colored club wear.

So sorry, I won’t be going back there. Didn’t wear it then either.

My junior prom dress was a gunne sax dress. It was NOT flattering. It was comfy!

When I was in elementary school (late 60s/early 70s) "granny dresses" were the fad--part of the "maxi dress/coat" era. I had one and loved it. Believe it or not, the school district banned maxi dresses/coats from the dress code. I never understood why!

They weren't my style back in the day. Shoulder pads though (big ones!), oh, yeah.

Ha! My wedding dress in the 80's had those leg o'mutton sleeves. I still have it in a box-don't ask me why. I have to say I did love my beautiful Gunne Sax dresses. I wore one very similar to this to prom my junior year. Mine was solid lavender. I remember them as being beautifully made and detailed.

While I'm not a fan of mutton sleeves, it doesn't hurt my feelings a bit to see that maybe body parts that weren't necessarily meant to be displayed publicly might just be going back into hiding. So to speak.

That Self-Portrait blouse looks like the top half of a grandma dressing gown.

Are designers going back to the 1980s or the 1880s?

BTW, I've changed my name - formerly terriks :-)

I agree with Pudgeder - I am really tired of women walking around in public in what appears to be their underwear.

Donna

I too remember when Gunne Sax was popular. I loved those dresses, but don't remember owning that brand. I did, however unfortunately, own a few other things that make me cringe when I remember them. One in particular was a prairie dress that was basically a vividly-colored corduroy long-sleeved sack, and I topped it with a big-but-delicate lace collar that tied at the neck. I thought I was simply stunning. (Ugh.) These days on the rare occasion when I see a grown woman wearing something of that nature, I tend to think that she's part of some "modesty cult." Not that there's anything wrong with modesty, but at least in my geographic area it was a definite look at one time that connected women to a certain set of religious beliefs. I'm afraid I was a part of that for a brief period of my younger life. That's probably why I have tattoos and wear whatever the hell I want at this stage of my life.

Justerrilynn's coffin material blue shirt looks like a batwing sleeve to me. If you pull the arms out to the side, everything would be connected from sleeve to bodice. Anyone else see that? Equally unattractive.

The best part about mutton sleeves would be how much easier it is to sew a gathered sleeve compared to a smooth fitted seam. The closest I recall I ever got to wearing prairie style was choosing very small calico prints for a few blouses back when I sewed most of my own clothing.

My aunt bought me a maxi prairie dress in elementary school. I was in 5th grade(?). I really thought I was all that when I wore it as no one else had one. I think it caused a stir because my mom didn't want me to wear it. I think I got around three uses before it came up missing. It was in creams, browns, greens and rust. My aunt also bought me my coolest outfit of all time, turquoise culottes with a matching vest and white opaque stockings.

My Maxie looked a bit like this but without the contrasting color. Ugh!

Oh my....not that a Male opinion matters on this, but I'm going to give it ;-) !

Many of you know I grew up farming. HS Grad in 1979.... College in 80's. Can't stand country-music OR that LHOP look. I just shudder when I see those clothes. Thank GOD my now Wife didn't like "Prairie"-style either! She liked the more sophisticated LA-Law/Dynasty clothes. Her Hubby did too! ;-)

Not trying to offend anyone here. Just my rambling opinion!

Faron

In 1985 I made a maxi-dress for my then four-year-old niece that had a dropped-waistline and the skirt covered her knees. I let her pick out the fabric, and my mother did some embroidery on the collar. It was her first purple/lavender dress, and she liked the lower hemline although my SIL did not. When my SIL's mother saw the dress, she immediately turned it wrong side out to check my seams (They were all French seams with no raw edges showing) and she quickly turned it back right side out.