In 1970, many girls were still required to wear dresses to school. When little girls played on the playground bars or swings, their underpants showed and no one thought much of it. When indoors they were taught to “sit like a lady”—knees together, skirt pulled down a bit—though it was difficult in the days of the miniskirt.

As schools eased up on their dress codes, many girls started wearing pants to school, but blue jeans were still considered unladylike.  Female teachers wore suits or dresses.  Some fathers did not care for their girls wearing denim, especially in farming areas. “Jeans are for working,” they said.

In 1973, a group of girls in a California school rebelled against their teacher’s favoritism of boys by dressing like the boys—in jeans, t-shirts, and ball caps—and no one sent them home. They didn’t even make the news.

By 1976, girls wore jeans to school and other places. The next big fad was bib overalls, which horrified the older generation. “They are men’s clothing!” they exclaimed in dismay. Along with the bib overalls girls wore “jumpsuits,” a one-piece garment that covered the body from neck to ankles. Those didn’t last long, as they were inconvenient to deal with on a daily basis.

By 1979, most girls wore pants or jeans to school all the time, and nobody blinked an eye.  Many teachers began to dress more casually as well, though usually not in denims.  Pants were skin tight to the knee—painted on, according to disapproving parents—and flared at the lower part of the leg, but not as full as the bell-bottoms of the 60’s. The older generation did not see how the young could stand them, especially in denim. But blue jeans prevailed, going from rebel to mainstream in the course of a decade.