Fashion in the 50's: A Great Shift

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            With the dawn of WWII came new restrictions that fashion had not yet see. The rationing of raw materials as well as bans on clothing imports lead to the development of man-made materials, and the restrictions lead to a completely different style of clothing. The War Production Board (WPB) was ordered by the president to regulated the production and allocation of materials. The WPB also regulated how much fabric could be used for different pieces; a blouse could have pleats or ruffles but not both; the circumference of skirts was reduced and skirts could not be lined; civilians were limited to 3 pairs of leather footwear a year. A ration book was used to assure these orders were implemented. Adjustments such as these made fashion very utilitarian. This was compounded by the emergence of women in the work force. As more and more men were shipped overseas, women were needed to fill the gaps (hence the famous Rosie the Riveter poster). This pushed women towards pants as opposed to skirts and dresses.

           With this in mind we enter into the 1950’s, an era that ran towards old norms that had been overturned in the chaos of war. Women were encouraged, if not required, to look like a proper lady. There were two main styles for women, the swing skirt and the pencil skirt. The most famous example of the swing skirt was Christian Dior’s “New Look” in 1947. This look was overtly feminine with a below mid-calf length, full, skirt, a pointed bust, a tiny waist, and a round shoulder. The “New Look,” unlike the wartime styles, used bolts and bolts of fabric, especially in the voluminous skirt. This was typically paired with gloves and a pair of heels. The pencil skirt was used to create an hourglass figure that was considered very feminine. The very narrow skirt was sometimes paired with a cropped jacket to accentuate the figure eight figure. 

Christian Dior's "New Look". Notice how the peplum jacket help creates a tiny waist and larger hips.

The pencil style skirt was very streamlined to create the hourglass look.

            Men generally dressed for business, wearing suits that were more relaxed than they had been in previous decades. However, they were still made of heavy fabrics, no matter the season. Men did not have much freedom in outfit choice, and were expected to be wearing a suit jacket at all times, except when at home. A man’s outfit was also incomplete with a matching fedora. The suits were single-breasted with unpadded shoulders. Both jackets and pants were shorter, but still used a lot of fabric. Early in the 50’s colors were muted, but patterns came into fashion alter on in the decade. However, because of the wealth of the period, men in the 1950’s had more leisure time and therefore needed different clothing. Polos, short sleeved button downs, and jeans shirts all came into trend.

Men generally dressed the same

            Another phenomenon of the 1950’s was teenage fashion. The war had created a prosperous era where middle class families suddenly had an expendable income. Prior to this time there hadn’t really been teenage years, young children turned into adults and were expected to tact that way. The dawn of the 50’s lead to more freedom for teenagers, and a sort of category of their own. Parents who had lived during the depression wanted to make sure their kids had more than they had, creating this new market. Teen girls wore jumpers, dresses with shirts under them, and tailored dresses with sleeves. The iconic poodle skirt also became very famous, and was paired with a cardigan or a boat neck shirt. Rolled up jeans were considered very casual, and were generally only worn around the house. Boys fell into two categories: preppy and greasers. Preppy teens wore button up shirts paired with sweater vests or, on occasion, t-shirts. Jeans and slacks were both worn, but they generally looked neat. Greasers wore t-shirts, jeans or twill work pants, leather jackets, and heavy work boots. Despite these two categories, many places did not allow jeans in school, and boys wore chinos and khakis. Jeans were worn to hang out with friends. The same goes for t-shirts, which were worn for recreation.