Fashion in the 1950 United States

Dolores'southward interest in fashion history dates from her teenage years when vintage dress was widely bachelor in austerity stores.

A 1950s clothing ad. — A 1950s clothing advert.

Digital Comic Museum; Play a joke on Feature Syndicate; wikimedia commons; CCA

Women'due south fashions of the 1950s reflected a complicated mix of conservatism and glamour—a girl-adjacent-door freshness besides as alluring femininity. Women who had lived through the privations of the Peachy Depression and World War II were now able to afford new styles and embraced them all, from the elegance of chiliad, sweeping skirts to shorts and trousers.

An hourglass effigy dominated the look of the 1950s. With cinched-in waistlines and accentuated hips and busts, the style was a decidedly mature i.

Despite the mature, bourgeois look of major designers, a new feeling for casual attire crept onto the scene, equally women increasingly began to wear pants, shorts, sportswear, and shoulder-revealing sundresses.

Hallmarks of 1950s Fashion

An hourglass figure predominated
Skirts were big with crinolines or slim pencil skirts
Women increasingly wore trousers
Shirtwaist dresses were pop
Hats and gloves always worn for dress or business

1950s housewife

Arthur: Tetra Pak on wikimedia (CCA)

Historical Context for 1950s Fashion

In the 1950s, economic gains created a new consumer-driven gild and enabled a family to live quite comfortably on ane income. Women who had taken manufacturing plant piece of work during World State of war II quit or were fired. Every bit people strove for a conservative simplicity, the housewife became the feminine platonic of the 24-hour interval. Though the suburban lifestyle may seem shallow to some, and restrictive for women, it must be remembered that for twenty years people had been living in fear of poverty, and they had just emerged from the staggering losses of World War Ii.

The underlying fright of the nuclear bomb, the changes wrought by the Civil Rights Movement, and the perhaps overblown threat of communism took a backseat to a yearning for the simple, arcadian life depicted in mass media. Television transformed entertainment and the news, influencing trends and depicting stylish homemakers.

The New Look

Christian Dior introduced the New Wait in 1947. With its tight cinched waist, billowing skirt, and pronounced bust line, the New Look recalled historic styles of the mid-19th century and set the tone for the side by side decade.

Huge skirts needed the support of petticoats made of nylon mesh. Hoops, or crinoline cages, a relic of the 1850s, were brought back. Sometimes, petticoats showed beneath the skirt hem, trimmed in pretty colors.

Clothing styles during the war years had featured dull colors, squared shoulders, and a minimal use of cloth and embellishments due to wartime restrictions. The New Await offered a new opulence and a new look at femininity.

Pencil Skirts and Big Skirts

Tailored suits appeared very feminine, with tight waists and accentuated hips. Though Coco Chanel introduced her more comfortable, nearly indigestible, suit, relieved by a blouse with a pussycat bow, the long, slim look of a nipped-in waist and narrow skirt remained a popular silhouette.

For day article of clothing and coincidental occasions, a wide brim was worn without the big crinolines, for a soft, draped advent. Shirtwaist dresses,often worn by Telly housewives, were a pop alternative to the more exaggerated styles.

Scroll to Keep

Popular Prints of the 1950s

After the austere colors of the 1940s, prints came back in a big mode. From stripes to florals, prints generally appeared in colors on a white background.

Wild floral skirts, like the ane above, contrasted with a patently-colored, short-sleeved knit top.
Stripes of all kinds appeared, from bold blackness-and-white horizontals to sparse black or night blue stripes on a calorie-free groundwork, frequently worn with three/4-length sleeves.
Polka dots showed up in contrasting colors, similar cherry on white (and vice versa), or nighttime blue and white, or white on white with nubby or textured dots.
Embroidered designs and appliqués were often featured near the hem of a wide brim. A felt poodle appliqué became the iconic symbol of 50s style and is often worn today for 50s parties or for Halloween.

Dress circa 1954

Deutsche Fotothek/ Rossing (CCA)

Fabric and Technology of the 1950s

New advances in mass product allowed for more garments to be manufactured at greater speed and in greater quantity than ever earlier. As product speed increased, clothing became more than affordable, and off-the-rack manufacturers hurried to copy the designs of haute couture.

Fabric Types

Nylon, no longer needed for wartime parachutes, became a fashion staple used to make hose, lingerie, blouses, and sportswear.

Though cotton was still a popular choice for summer clothing, Dacron and rayon reduced ironing chores with their no-wrinkle textures. Laundry chores became simpler with the new drip-dry garments. The new fabric blends included two-way stretch materials that offered figure control for swimwear.

Synthetic fibers and blends cutting into the wool industry's market place share while freeing consumers from pesky moths that, in the past, could destroy wool garments stored in the closet.

Woman in shorts 1952

Harry Paulson at the John Oxley Library of Queensland (Public Domain)

Women in Pants

When women pulled on pants to work in the factories during World War II, they discovered a new kind of freedom and comfort. From loose hostess pants to tight knit slacks and curt shorts, trousers fabricated inroads into women'south fashions.

The side zipper was a popular closure as it left a smoothen front and seemed dressier than front-zipped jeans. Straps fastened to the hems of slacks pulled wrinkles of the fabric, for a sleek, tapered expect.

Women at home or at the beach wore short shorts with tucked-in blouses, or shirts tied at the midriff. Pedal pushers ended just beneath the articulatio genus, while Capri pants ended at the lower calf, in a coincidental still sophisticated style. But for dress occasions outside the home, for going downtown or to church building, dresses were nonetheless a must.

Little hats and summer gloves — Footling hats and summer gloves

Deutsche Fotothek (CCA)

Accessories of the 1950s

Gloves. A well-dressed woman wore gloves and a lid exterior the dwelling house for all but the nearly casual occasions. Long, elbow-length gloves appeared for formal and evening wear with short-sleeved dresses or strapless gowns. Short gloves worked with suits or long-sleeved garments and were also worn in warmer months.
Hats. The New Look premiered below wide-brimmed garden-style hats. But smaller hats prevailed for about of the 1950s. Tidy petty hats adorned with veils were popular and came in an assortment of colors, ofttimes pastels for spring and summertime.
Spectacles became a manner argument and featured new designs similar the cat's-eye style with flared, pointed edges. Frames came in a wide diversity of colors.
Jewelry was classic and understated. Pearls or simulated pearls were the iconic necklace of the 1950s. Plastic pop beads were a popular costume accompaniment. Slim watches and subdued rings, along with clip-on earrings, were conservative and elegant.
Shoes. Loftier heels worn for dressy occasions had rounded toes, often with peep-toes. But a new sense of condolement crept into women's footwear. Espadrilles were a pop option for beach and vacation article of clothing. Tennis shoes were worn around the abode and garden and came in simple styles for maximum comfort. Saddle oxfords, a relic of the 1940s, were popular with the younger fix, often paired with short socks called bobby socks.

Undergarments

A well dressed adult female wore a variety of undergarments including a bra and panties. A bra added bosom support and helped create the hour glass effigy that was the way of the twenty-four hour period. Slips were worn under pencil skirts while petticoats helped to maintain the shape of a New Look style brim.

Garter belts supported nylon stockings. For coincidental clothing, socks were worn with pants. Teenagers wore short socks chosen Bobby socks with New Look way skirts.

To maintain the tiny waist needed to look proficient in nearly styles, women wore girdles. A girdle could fit slightly above the waist or but to the waistline. Some girdles extended downwards to the thigh. Girdles were worn with dresses, skirts, and pants to create a polish, slim look.

Short hair was often worn curled. — Brusk hair was often worn curled.

wikimedia eatables (CCA)

Hairstyles

Long hair, often worn by young girls, was drawn up into ponytails, or pulled into a French twist for formal occasions.
The Italian cut featured short, loose curls for a sophisticated notwithstanding gratis await.
Bangs, worn with both short and longer hairstyles, were worn short and curled.
The page boy was a medium length style that was sleek with the ends turned under.
Black women and white women with very curly hair often had their hair chemically straightened or used hot combs for a sleek await.
The bouffant and bubble cut relied on teasing (back combing) and hairspray to maintain a poufy hair style.

Influential Style Designers of the 1950s

While Christian Dior gave nascency to 50s manner with his New Look in 1947, many other designers influenced the decade.

Clare McCardell, an American designer, had introduced a coincidental country-girl wait to wearable in the 40'southward using denim and gingham. She continued to design clothing throughout the fifty'due south.

Cristóbal Balenciaga gave u.s. the iii/4 length sleeve. His designs offered a looser style that released women from stiffly structured tailored garments. Combining a loose coat with a pencil skirt created a unique new appearance. His 1957 sack dress without a waistline evolved into the shift-style clothes that became and then popular in the 1960s.

Hubert de Givenchy was famous for creating vesture for his favorite muses Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy. He entered the Paris couture scene at an early historic period with designs based on separates with a youthful appeal.

Coco Chanel reestablished herself as a designer later World War Ii with wearable clothing. Her boxy suits with contrasting trim, worn with a soft blouse adorned by a pussy-cat bow, were created for ease of movement. In 1955, she introduced her signature quilted handbag with a gilt concatenation strap; information technology is still popular.

1950s Fashion Icons

Moving-picture show stars stood as fashion icons of the 50s, wearing clothing on and off the movie fix created for them past way designers.

Audrey Hepburn, whose look inspired Givenchy, created an air of youthful grace. With her slim figure, unusual in a time that historic a mature hour-glass silhouette, Audrey became a mode icon nonetheless admired and copied today.
Grace Kelly'southward archetype clothing style came across wonderfully in films like Rear Window. Her elegant yet natural manner reflected an inner beauty. Hermes created the famous Kelly handbag for the actress-turned-princess in club to shield her "babe crash-land" from the press.
Barbara Billingsley, or as the world knows her, June Cleaver, was a housewife who wore pencil skirts and pearls to make clean her home. The iconic 50s Television mother tin can be seen in reruns for a great look at how women were supposed to dress.
Doris Day symbolized a healthy, girl-next-door dazzler combined with a perky kind of sensuality and was often portrayed in films and motion-picture show magazines wearing the coincidental clothing styles that became so popular in the 50s.

Movie Poster from Funny Face — Motion picture Poster from Funny Face up

(Public domain) on wikimedia commons

Culling Style

"Beatnik" was the proper name coined to describe a group of intellectuals, artists, and poets in the 1950s. Much similar bohemians of other eras, the beatniks stood against mass consumerism and the bourgeois ideals of the mean solar day.

Female beatniks rejected fashion trends and wore their hair long and natural. They did not utilize makeup. Unlike the bohemians (and later hippies) who played with historic styles and vesture concepts, the beatniks wore modern garments in an austere manner.

Beatniks were oftentimes portrayed in media every bit beautiful, funny characters who wore black turtlenecked shirts and played bongos. In the movie Funny Face, Audrey Hepburn portrayed a crackpot kind of girl who worked in a bookstore.

Grace Kelly (above) has information technology all: wasp waist, pearls, gloves, hair curled at the ends.

For Further Reading

Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion; Edited by Valene Steele; Scribner Library

Fashions of a Decade - The 1950s; Patricia Baker; Chelsea House; London; 2006

The Fifties; David Halberstam; Ballantine Books; Random House; New York; 1993

Stylish Wear From the Sears Catalogs Mid 1950s by Tina Skinner

Fashionable Clothing From the Sears Catalogs Early 1950s by Desire Smith

Fashionable Clothing From the Sears Catalogs Late 1950s by Joy Shih

Questions & Answers

Question: Where can I get plus size vintage clothes?

Reply: Vintage plus-sized apparel are hard to notice. In full general, American women are taller and heavier than they were in the past. American women weigh fifteen pounds more than they did twenty years ago with 68% wearing size fourteen or above. While the average height was five'3" and weight 140 pounds in the 1960s, today American women average 5'four" alpine and 168 pounds.

When I was a skinny young thing, I had trouble finding vintage vesture that fit properly due to being tall and somewhat broad-shouldered., so you lot don't have to be a plus-size to take trouble finding older garments that fit properly.

Some vintage stores are trying to source larger sized vintage wear due to need. At that place are some online sites like Clack Vintage Article of clothing which offers plus-sized vintage dress from the 1930s through the 1960s. Etsy offers larger sized vintage clothing, specially garments from the 1970s.

Berriez, a vintage shop in Brooklyn, New York sells plus size vintage on its Instagram account. Also check out Belen's Linens, Blue Velvet Vintage, and Bloomers and Frocks.

You can also await for retro or vintage style, new clothing made to look like actual vintage. If you are looking for the real affair, accurate sometime wear, be conscientious when you shop online. Many sites make it wait like the wear is actually quondam when information technology is a reproduction or based on vintage habiliment.