1945–60 in Western fashion

Queen Elizabeth II and her then-Minister for Veterans' Affairs in Australia, 1954. The Queen's summer suit features a fitted short-sleeved jacket with a peplum and a full skirt. The minister wears a double-breasted suit.

Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute couture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look" silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s.

Innovations in textile technology following the war resulted in new fabrics such as spandex, volleyball shorts and easy-care fabric finishes that fitted the suburban lifestyle of the 1950s with its emphasis on casual sportswear for both men and women. For the first time, teenagers became a force in fashion.

Girl in Tel Aviv, 1947.

The return of fashion

By 1947, the Paris fashion houses had reopened, and once again Paris resumed its position as the arbiter of high fashion. The "orderly, rhythmic evolution of fashion change"[1] had been disrupted by the war, and a new direction was long overdue. The padded shoulder, tubular, boxy line, and short skirt (that had been around since before the war and was identified with uniforms) was gone.[2] A succession of style trends led by Christian Dior and Cristóbal Balenciaga defined the changing silhouette of women's clothes through the 1950s. Television joined fashion magazines and movies in disseminating clothing styles.[3][4] The new silhouette had narrow shoulders, a cinched waist, bust emphasis, and longer skirts, often with wider hems.[2]

The beginnings of Eastern fashion

Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wearing mandarin collar suit and fez on a visit to East Germany, 1959.

During the early 1950s, designers in the decolonised Third World sought to create an identity distinct from European fashion. Urban professionals in Asia and the Middle East, for example, might wear Western style suits with indigenous headgear such as the Astrakhan, fez or keffiyeh. In India, the traditional Sherwani was adapted into the Nehru collar business suit,[5] while women frequently wore sarees in the workplace. Meanwhile, the Red Chinese developed the unisex Mao Suit in green, blue and grey to promote socialist values of equality.[6] Due to their minimalist, modern design, both types of suit would later be adopted by mod and British invasion trendsetters during the 1960s and 70s, especially The Beatles and The Monkees.[7][8]

Casual clothing and teenage style

Nylon stockings being inspected in Malmö, Sweden in 1954.

One result of the Post-World War II economic expansion was a flood of synthetic fabrics and easy-care processes. "Drip-dry" nylon, orlon and dacron, which could retain heat-set pleats after washing, became immensely popular.[9] Acrylic, polyester, triacetate and spandex were all introduced in the 1950s.[10] During the 1940s nylon stockings were an incredibly popular product as they were a lightweight alternative to silk and wool stockings. For the duration of WW2 the Du Pont company produced nylon exclusively for the war effort. At the end of 1945 the demand for nylon stockings was so great that Nylon riots ensued at stores selling the products. [11][12][13]

Miss America contestant Yolande Betbeze wears the co-ed's uniform of a short-sleeve sweater and pencil skirt, with high heels, 1950.

Social changes went hand-in-hand with new economic realities, and one result was that many young people who would have become wage-earners early in their teens before the war now remained at home and dependent upon their parents through high school and beyond, establishing the notion of the teenage years as a separate stage of development.[10] Teens and college co-eds adopted skirts and sweaters as a virtual uniform, and the American fashion industry began to target teenagers as a specialized market segment in the 1940s.[14]

In the United Kingdom, the Teddy boys of the post-war period created the "first truly independent fashions for young people",[10] favouring an exaggerated version of the Edwardian-flavoured British fashion with skinny ties and narrow, tight trousers worn short enough to show off garish socks.[10] In North America, greasers had a similar social position. Previously, teenagers dressed similarly to their parents, but now a rebellious and different youth style was being developed.

Young adults returning to college under the G.I. Bill adopted an unpretentious, functional wardrobe, and continued to wear blue jeans with shirts and pullovers for general informal wear after leaving school.[15] Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation" in 1948, generalizing from his social circle to characterize the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that time. The term "beatnik" was coined by Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle in 1958,[16] and the stereotypical "beat" look of sunglasses, berets, black turtlenecks, and unadorned dark clothing provided another fashion alternative for youths of both sexes, encouraged by the marketing specialists of Madison Avenue.

Womenswear

The New Look

Lisa Fonssagrives in a tailored suit features a long pencil skirt and a fitted jacket with peplum. Photograph by Toni Frissell for Harper's Bazaar, London, 1951
Ball gown by Dior, silk taffeta, 1954. Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Natalie Wood (center, with Tab Hunter) and Louella Parsons wear ballerina-length evening gowns at the Academy Awards, 1956.
British women shopping at Woolworths, 1945

On February 12, 1947, Christian Dior launched the first collection of the House of Dior. The new collection went down in fashion history as the "New Look". The signature shape was characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, pointed bust, small waist, and rounded shoulder line.[17] Resisted at first, especially in America, where fashion magazines showed padded shoulders until 1950,[1] the radical new silhouette soon became immensely popular, influencing fashion and other designers for many years to come. The "softness" of the New Look was deceptive; the curved jacket peplum shaped over a high, rounded, curved shoulders, and full skirt of Dior's clothes relied on an inner construction of new interlining materials to shape the silhouette.[18][19] This silhouette has drastically changed from its previous more masculine, stiff, triangular shape to a much more feminine form.[20]

Throughout the post-war period, a tailored, feminine look was prized and accessories such as gloves and pearls were popular. Tailored suits had fitted jackets with peplums, usually worn with a long, narrow pencil skirt. Day dresses had fitted bodices and full skirts, with jewel or low-cut necklines or Peter Pan collars. Shirtdresses, with a shirt-like bodice, were popular, as were halter-top sundresses. Skirts were narrow or very full, held out with petticoats; poodle skirts were a brief fad. Ball gowns (full-skirted gown for white tie occasions) were longer than ankle-length dresses (called "ballerina length"), reaching the floor and worn to balls (as they are today). Cocktail dresses, "smarter than a day dress but not as formal as a dinner or evening dress"[21] were worn for early-evening parties. Short shrugs and bolero jackets, often made to match low-cut dresses, were worn.[22][23] Meanwhile, in Israel, simple Biblical sandals, blue cotton shirts and utilitarian, khaki military inspired dress remained popular choices for many women due to ongoing economic austerity and the need to feel prepared for war.[24]

Intimate Apparel

Christian Dior's 'New Look' collection in 1947 brought a revolution to the fashionable silhouette of the Fifties. Dior's nostalgic femininity of round shoulders, full skirts, padded hips and tiny waists replaced the boxy style of the wartime period at WWII. The trend of hourglass silhouette brought by the popularity of Dior guaranteed the market for intimate apparel. Although intimate apparels are usually hidden by outerwear, intimate apparel is especially emblematic for the contradictory beauty in the 1950s as the silhouette was created depends on the type of foundation garments worn. Foundation garments became essential items to maintain the curvy silhouette, especially waspies, girdles and horsehair padding. For example, the sales of corsets doubled in the decade 1948-58 (Haye, 1996 p.187). [25] Dior's 'New Look' collection brought back the boned intimate apparels for women, even the young one, in order to create the feminised silhouettes that embrace feminity. Symington Corset Company of Market Harborough was one of the famous intimate apparel producers in the 1950s as they are the official producer of Dior's corselettes and girdles. "All the girdles were produced to the same design, in either black or white. The sugar-pink cotton velvet trimming was a particular feature of the range, and some were woven with Christian Dior's initials in the elastic panels on the side..." (Lynn, 2010, p.106).[26] A brand new 'Bri-Nylon' fabric was introduced by the British Nylon Spinners. This fabric was popular fabric to be applied on intimate apparel in the 1950s because it was one of the first easy-to-launder and drip-dry fabric. There was a full corset advertisement in 1959 shows the popularity of 'Bri-Nylon' and the design of the corselet in the 1950s. 'This exquisite Dior corselet features jacquard elastic net with the down-stretch back panel of stain elastic. The enchanting front panel is in Bri-Nylon lace and marquisette highlighted with criss-cross bands of narrow velvet ribbon. It has side fastening - partly hook and eye with zipping extension. The very light boning is covered with velveteen.' (Warren, 2001, p.30 )[27] From the above advertisement, it is not hard to find that the corselets in the 1950s were constructed in details with boning, panels, different fabrics in different elasticity.

While the corselets reshaping the women's body with tiny waists and big hips, a new shape of bra called 'cathedral bra' was introduced and became popular in the 1950s. It is called 'cathedral bra' because there would be pointed arches created by the bones over the breasts when the bra is worn. The bones also separate and define the shape of the breasts by pressing them into a pointed or bullet shape. Therefore, 'cathedral bra' was also called the bullet bra. This brassiere design was popularised by actresses like Patti Page, Marilyn Monroe, and Lana Turner, who was nicknamed the "Sweater Girl.” [28] Although this brassiere design was designed for wearing strapless cocktail dresses and evening gowns and became popular during the 1950s, the market for this design was short-lived because it was 'likely to slip down or need adjustment throughout the evening' (Lynn, 2010, p.152).[26] However, another brassiere design re-entered the market and grew popularity during the 1950s which even influenced the modern intimate design. Underwire bras were first introduced to the market in the 1930s, however, it was forced to quit the market because the steel supply was restricted in the 1940s for WWII. Underwire brassiere design re-entered the market as it helped to uplift the shapes of the breasts to form the trendy curvy silhouette with big bursts in the 1950s. Made with nylon, elastic nylon net and steel underwires, the underwire bras helped to create fashionable high, pert bosom. Underwire bras are still dominating items in the modern intimate apparel industry.

Clothes for the space age

From the mid-1950s, a new unfitted style of clothing appeared as an alternative to the tight waist and full skirt associated with the New Look. Vogue Magazine called the knitted chemise the "T-shirt dress." Paris designers began to transform this popular fashion into haute couture.[29] Spanish designer Balenciaga had shown unfitted suits in Paris as early as 1951 and unfitted dresses from 1954. In 1958, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior's protégé and successor, debuted the "Trapeze Line," adding novel dimension to the chemise dress. These dresses featured a shaped bodice with sloping shoulders and a high waist, but the signature shape resulted from a flaring bodice, creating a waistless line from bodice to knees.[29] These styles only slowly gained acceptance by the wider public.[30][31] Coco Chanel made a comeback in 1954 and an important look of the latter 1950s was the Chanel suit, with a braid-trimmed cardigan-style jacket and A-line skirt. By 1957, most suits featured lightly fitted jackets reaching just below the waist and shorter, narrower skirts. Balenciaga's clothes featured few seams and plain necklines, and following his lead chemise dresses without waist seams, either straight and unfitted or in a princess style with a slight A-line, became popular. The sleeveless, princess-line dress was called a skimmer.[30][32] A more fitted version was called a sheath dress.

Sportswear

New York had become an American design center during the war, and remained so, especially for sportswear, in the post-war period.[33] Women who had worn trousers on war service refused to abandon these practical garments which suited the informal aspects of the post-war lifestyle. By 1955, tight fitting drainpipe jeans became popular among American women.[34] Casual sportswear was also an increasingly large component of women's wardrobes, especially the white T-shirts popularized by Bridget Bardot and Sandra Milo between 1957 and 1963.[35] Casual skirts were narrow or very full. In the 1950s, pants became very narrow, and were worn ankle-length. Pants cropped to mid-calf were houseboy pants; shorter pants, to below the knee, were called pedal-pushers. Shorts were very short in the early 1950s, and mid-thigh length Bermuda shorts appeared around 1954 and remained fashionable through the remainder of the decade. Loose printed or knit tops were fashionable with pants or shorts. They also wore bikinis to sport training.[36]

Swimsuits, including the Gottex brand popular in Israel and America, were one- or two-piece; some had loose bottoms like shorts with short skirts.[37] High waisted Bikinis appeared in Europe and the South Pacific islands,[38] but were not commonly worn in mainland America until the late 1950s.[36][39]

Hats and hairstyles

Hair was worn short and curled with the New Look, and hats were essential for all but the most casual occasions.[22] Wide-brimmed saucer hats were shown with the earliest New Look suits, but smaller hats soon predominated. Very short cropped hairstyles were fashionable in the early 1950s. By mid-decade hats were worn less frequently, especially as fuller hairstyles like the short, curly poodle cut and later bouffant and beehive became fashionable.[30][40] "Beat" girls wore their hair long and straight, and teenagers adopted the ponytail, short or long.

Maternity wear

In the 1950s, Lucille Ball was the first woman to show her pregnancy on TV.[41] [42] The television show I Love Lucy brought new attention to maternity wear. Most of the maternity dresses were two pieces with loose tops and narrow skirts. Stretch panels accommodated for the woman's growing figure. The baby boom of the 1940s to the 1950s also caused focus on maternity wear. Even international designers such as Givenchy and Norman Hartnell created maternity wear clothing lines. Despite the new emphasis on maternity wear in the 1950s maternity wear fashions were still being photographed on non-pregnant women for advertisements.[43]

On September 29, 1959, the maternity panty was patented which provided expansion in the vertical direction of the abdomen. The front panel of this maternity undergarment was composed of a high degree of elasticity so in extreme stretched conditions, the woman could still feel comfortable.[44]

  1. Actress Probable unidentified young actress in Cannes, 1948
  2. Wide-legged trousers with cuffs (turn-ups) are shown with a short-sleeved, fitted sweater, Germany, 1952.
  3. Two-piece swimsuit, 1952.
  4. Actress Audrey Hepburn, 1953.
  5. Actress Lucille Ball in cropped houseboy pants at a press conference, Los Angeles, 1953.
  6. Fashion illustration of a "corselette", showing the pointed bust and curvy hipline of 1953.
  7. Actresses Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell wear halter-top summer dresses, Hollywood, 1953.
  8. Actress Martha Hyer's hair is worn in a short and curly poodle cut in this publicity photo for Sabrina, 1954.
  1. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower in bright blue day dress, 1954.
  2. Actress Diahann Carroll wears a full-skirted dress with a small Peter Pan collar, 1955.
  3. Singer Patti Page wearing a "bullet bra" brassiere design in 1955.
  4. Actress Marilyn Monroe in The Prince and the Showgirl wears a fitted sheath dress with a sweetheart neckline, 1957.
  5. Short hair style, 1958
  6. Summer dresses of 1958 are sleeveless with high, wide "boat" necklines, Dresden.
  7. Singer Anita O'Day performing in 1958 wearing a tight-fitting sheath dress.
  8. Princess Alexandra in a Princess Ballgown styled dress, 1959.
  9. Newspaper photo of "Miss Beatnik" contestants in Venice, California, 1959.

Menswear

Writer Truman Capote wears a pullover sweater, casual shirt, and cuffed trousers, 1959.
Elvis Presley's look – especially his pompadour hairstyle – was very influential in the mid-1950s. Jailhouse Rock, 1957.

Suits

Immediately after the war, men's suits were broad-shouldered and often double-breasted. As wartime restrictions on fabric eased, trousers became fuller, and were usually styled with cuffs (turn-ups). In America, Esquire introduced the "Bold Look", with wide shoulders, broad lapels, and an emphasis on bold, coordinated accessories.[45][46] In Britain, clothing rationing remained in place until 1949. Demobilised soldiers were provided with a suit by the government, usually in blue or grey chalkstripes. Savile Row, the traditional home of bespoke or custom tailoring, had been heavily damaged in the Blitz and was slow to recover.[45] In 1950, Harper's Bazaar proclaimed the "Return of the Beau". Savile Row introduced the "New Edwardian Look", featuring a slightly flared jacket, natural shoulders, and an overall narrower cut, worn with a curly-brimmed bowler hat and a long slender overcoat with velvet collar and cuffs.[46][47][48] This was the style commandeered by the Teddy Boys, who added bright socks and a bootlace necktie, achieving a "dizzy combination of Edwardian dandy and American gangster."[47] The horrified tailors of Savile Row dropped the overtly Edwardian touches, but the style of business suits continued to move away from the broad English drape cut, and single-breasted two-piece suits with narrower lines and less padding in the shoulders became fashionable everywhere. Dark charcoal gray was the usual color, and the era of the gray flannel suit was born. By the later 1950s, a new Continental style of suit appeared from the fashion houses of Italy, with sharper shoulders, lighter fabrics, shorter, fitted jackets and narrower lapels.[46][49]

Sports and leisurewear

Sport coats generally followed the lines of suit coats. Tartan plaids were fashionable in the early 1950s, and later plaids and checks of all types were worn, as were corduroy jackets with leather buttons and car coats. 49er jackets, originally worn by hunters, miners and lumberjacks, were a popular cold weather coat in America and Canada, and would later be adopted by the teenage surfer subculture.[50][51] On the West Coast many guys, including Howard Hughes and Ricky from I Love Lucy,[52] favoured two color gabardine Hollywood jackets with belts and Old West inspired detailing, often in black, white, cream, beige, burgundy, air force blue, mint green, sky blue, chocolate brown, dusky pink, or grey tweed cloth.[53] Khaki-colored pants, called chinos, were worn for casual occasions. Bermuda shorts, often in madras plaid, appeared in mid-decade and were worn with knee socks. Hawaiian shirts, worn untucked from suspenders, also became widely popular during this era. This summer fashion of the Hawaiian or Carioca shirt became particularly popular in America, with even President Truman being photographed wearing a marine flora shirt.[54] Knit shirts and sweaters of various kinds were popular throughout the period.[46] Some young men wore tight trousers or jeans, leather jackets, and white tee shirts.

Hats and hairstyles

Men's hair fashion favoured the wet look, achieved by the use of products such as Brylcreem. Young men often grew their hair out and, with pomade or other hair treatments, coiffed their hair into pompadours.

Accessories

Browline eyeglasses were commonly worn by men during the 1950s and early 1960s.[55][56]

Youth fashion

Hepcats

Cab Calloway wearing zoot suit, 1946.

Greasers

Marlon Brando's costume from The Wild One, 1953.

Teds

Ivy League

Beatniks

Modern actors dressed as 1950s Russian Beatniks or Stilyagi.

Children's wear

Roy Rogers was a role model and trendsetter for many boys growing up in the 1950s.

Hairstyles and cosmetics

See Hairstyles in the 1950s.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1940s fashion.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1950s fashion.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Brockman (1965), p. 54
  2. 1 2 Russell, Douglas (1983). Costume History and Style. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 453–454. ISBN 0-13-181214-9.
  3. ↑ Brockman (1965), pp. 54–55
  4. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (1994), p. 414.
  5. ↑ Historic costume
  6. ↑ Mao suit and Nehru jacket
  7. ↑ 1960s fashion
  8. ↑ British invasion
  9. ↑ Brockman (1965), p. 75.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Tortora & Eubank (1994), p. 413.
  11. ↑ "Stocking Series, Part 1: Wartime Rationing and Nylon Riots". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ "How Nylon Changed the World : 50 Years Ago Today, It Reshaped the Way We Live--and Think". LA Times. October 27, 1988. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  13. ↑ Handley, Susannah (1999). Nylon: The Story of a Fashion Revolution. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0756771720.
  14. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (1994) p. 406
  15. ↑ Brockman (1965), p. 76.
  16. ↑ Caen, Herb. San Francisco Chronicle, April 2, 1958.
  17. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (2005), pp. 415–420.
  18. ↑ Brockman (1965), p. 53.
  19. ↑ See "New Look" jacket by Dior, "New Look" suit by Hardie Amies, V&A Museum.
  20. ↑ Bigelow, Marybelle S. (1979). Fashion in History: Western Dress, Prehistoric to Present. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Burgess Publishing Company. p. 309.
  21. ↑ Cumming (2010), p. 51
  22. 1 2 Tortora & Eubank (2005), pp. 420–426.
  23. ↑ See Cocktail dress by Dior with matching shrug or bolero, V&A Museum
  24. ↑ History of Israeli fashion
  25. ↑ Haye, A. (1996). The cutting edge. London
  26. 1 2 Lynn, E. (2010). Underwear fashion in detail. London : V&A Publishing.
  27. ↑ Warren, P. (2001). Foundations of fashion: he Symington corsetry collection 1860-1990. Leicester:,
  28. ↑ "Lingerie from History We Would (Probably) Never Wear Again". 2 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  29. 1 2 Wilcox, R. Turner (1958). The Mode in Costume. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 417.
  30. 1 2 3 Tortora & Eubank (1994), p. 427
  31. ↑ See Balenciaga suit, 1954/55, V&A Museum
  32. ↑ Brockman (1965), pp. 39, 50
  33. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (1994), pp. 415–18
  34. ↑ Jeans from the year you were born
  35. ↑ Sandra Milo
  36. 1 2 Tortora & Eubank (1994), pp. 421–23
  37. ↑ Gottex swimsuit
  38. ↑ 1940s beachwear
  39. ↑ Vintage News
  40. ↑ Cumming (2010), p. 163
  41. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (1994), p. 414
  42. ↑ Scholarly Article. "Celebrate Women's History Month" Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. copyright 2008.
  43. ↑ Tortora & Eubank (2005), pp. 432, 439
  44. ↑ D. L. Rosenburg. September 29, 1959. United States Patent Office. Maternity Panty.
  45. 1 2 Walker (1988), p. 106
  46. 1 2 3 4 Tortora & Eubank (1994), pp. 432–33
  47. 1 2 Walker (1988), pp. 108–109
  48. ↑ See "New Edwardian"-style suit, at the V&A.
  49. ↑ Walker (1988), p. 116
  50. ↑ The plaid shirt
  51. ↑ Beach Boys
  52. ↑ Howard Hughes 1947
  53. ↑ Collectable 70s, page 112
  54. ↑ Chenoune, Farid (4 October 1993). A History of Men's Fashion. Paris: Flammarion. pp. 223–225. ISBN 978-2-08013-536-0.
  55. ↑ "Looking Back": an illustrated history of the American Ophthalmic Industry, by the Optical Laboratories Association
  56. ↑ Fassel, Preston. "Hindsight is 20/20: The Browline". The Optician's Handbook. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  57. ↑ The zoot suit
  58. ↑ V and A museum
  59. ↑ Rockers vs Mods
  60. ↑ Tokyo rockabilly gangs
  61. ↑ Cafe racers
  62. ↑ Edwardian Teddy Boy
  63. ↑ Teddy Boys
  64. ↑ The forgotten 1950s girl gang
  65. ↑ Gentleman's Gazette
  66. ↑ Boys Life 1959
  67. ↑ Life Magazine 1959
  68. ↑ Life Magazine 1954
  69. ↑ Removing the Ivy League stigma
  70. ↑ Fashion design
  71. ↑ Beatnik generation
  72. ↑ Stylehunters of Soviet Russia
  73. ↑ LA Times

References

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