When Sharon Mackel started at Sandia as a secretary in the 1960s, women in the workforce were expected to wear a full face of makeup, dresses with hemlines below the knee, nylons and heels.

Sharon remembers a supervisor at the time who would call out secretaries who did not wear lipstick properly. That same supervisor approached Sharon for wearing her hemline too short, but hemlines and lipstick would be the least of the fashion trends to evolve in the coming decade.

“They tried to control how we dressed, but it was a weird time as we were coming into the hippy era,” Sharon said. “Things started getting really loose.”

The ’50s and ’60s

Scrolling through early editions of Lab News, you see men mostly dressed in button-downs and pleated slacks belted high on their waists. When they wore sports coats, the lapels were wide, and the ties were bows. Hair was styled mostly neat and trim, but as Elvis Presley and James Dean were fashion icons of that era, those with enough of it sported a well-greased pompadour.

Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, also fashion icons of that era, inspired women to wear some variation of an hourglass silhouette with hemlines right below the calf. Hair rollers were the primary hair styling tool at that time, so hair was big yet smooth. Those with natural curls often turned to the poodle cut, inspired by Lucille Ball, where curls were stacked high with sides pinned close.

Things stayed relatively the same through the ’50s and ’60s. Twiggy and Jackie Kennedy came onto the scene in the ’60s, and their influence was a little less Hollywood glamour, more European chic. Hemlines started to come up a bit, albeit still right below or barely above the knee. For men, pants stayed high, but sports coats seemed to be less popular and the ties got skinnier.

Polyester and sideburns

Sharon remembers dress changing rapidly in the ’70s, especially for women.

“There was a group of us who lived on the second floor in building 805, we started challenging the norm,” Sharon said. “We stuck together and started wearing pantsuits to work, shorter skirts, like miniskirts. I even wore hot pants to work one day.”

Sharon and those hot pants were pictured in a 1971 edition of Lab News. She’s also wearing a long sleeve turtleneck and lace-up high boots. Also noticeable is her hair, which is much longer, falling below her shoulders. Influenced by the likes of Farrah Fawcett and Cher, many women started growing their hair long and wearing it straight or feathered out.

Both men and women were wearing brighter, more vibrant patterns, think floral, paisley and plaids. More clothing was made from polyester, which at the time was marketed as a miracle fabric that could be worn for days without ironing and still look presentable. Leisure suits were an especially popular polyester pick.

Turtlenecks under sports coats became a popular look for men, as did wide-legged pants. Wide ties returned to fashion, but due to southwest influence, many men swapped more traditional ties for bolo ties. Most noticeably, facial hair became more mainstream. Scrolling through Lab News editions from the ’70s, you’ll see men with thick mustaches and full beards. Men started wearing their hair longer as the Beatles, David Cassidy and John Travolta inspired many hairstyles of that era. For those who kept their hair short, thick sideburns were commonplace.

Shoulder pads and perms

Once the eighties rolled around, everything seemed to get bigger. The hair, the glasses, the shoulder pads — especially the shoulder pads.

“Dynasty” starring Linda Evans was one of the popular television shows at the time. Costume designer Nolan Miller is said to have leaned into Evans’ naturally broad shoulders, really wanting to accentuate them. And a fashion trend was born.

Princess Diana of Wales was another well-known trendsetter of the era. A fellow shoulder pad lover, she also popularized many looks chosen by women at the Labs and beyond, including piecrust and tie-neck blouses and dresses.

Then there was the hair, and the perm.

If there was an official hairstyle of the ’80s, the perm would have been it. Those tiny curls and the volume they created were everywhere, on men and women alike.

Men at the Labs were wearing more and more denim, first with their jeans and now with their jackets too. Polo shirts were also popping up as a casual alternative to the button down.

Casual Fridays

Compared to the bigger-is-better trends of the ’80s, the ’90s started to mellow out. But as Sharon recalls, things started getting, and staying, casual.

“Casual Fridays came to Sandia in the ’90s,” Sharon said. “And then it started stretching out past Friday.”

Once considered weekend wear, T-shirts and crewneck sweatshirts were suddenly popular work attire. But still, for both men and women, you saw remnants of decades past, both in clothing and hairstyles. Blue jeans and blazers, thick ties, bolo ties, no ties, dresses and pantsuits, big hair, short hair, facial hair and no hair.

Fashion around the world and at the Labs was becoming a little more choose-your-own-adventure, a lot less about wearing your lipstick correctly.

The 21st century

By the turn of the century, workplace fashion was less dictated by formal standards and more welcoming of varied choices that embraced individual expression.

Today, those choices and expressions continue to borrow from the trends of yesteryear while introducing new styles, some with a longer shelf life than others. Popular culture continues to influence hairstyles, outfits and more.

But when we wake up and take on the age-old task of deciding what to wear to work that day, our comfort takes precedence. For some, that means wearing a suit and tie, and for others, it’s jeans and tees. But these days, it’s all acceptable, and that is in large part due to women like Sharon who challenged the norm and paved the way for us all to wear what we want.