Patricia Norris was an American costume designer and production designer, who has worked on many significant American films and was nominated for six Academy Awards in her career... (wikipedia)
As a costume designer, I first try to figure out what the character's economic situation is and hit the stores they'd shop.
I think people live in the past and tend to look that way, because they drop off when they're happiest and most successful.
Living through the heat in Louisiana was awful.