Hey guys, welcome back to the blog. 

We are back with a new post. In my previous post I explained the project, which is all about the 50’s and post war history. In my last class we talked about how Disney played a large part in immortalizing the 50’s. But one of the main things I noticed in the presentation was how all the people in the photographs were dressed so differently compared to today. So I bring to you, the fashion of the fifties baby…

Dress Designs in the Fifties

The fifties were a time of great prosperity for the western world. It meant people had money for things after the Great Depression and Second World War, and they quite often spent it on clothing. However in the 50’s, clothing was not just body covers, but was a movement, almost a religion for some. Women in particular adapted a fiercely elegant and feminine style, women were dressed up for every event. Famous designers like Christian Dior and Chanel popularized a silhouette of small tight fitted top, and large skirt (much like the poodle skirts we know and love). There were other very popular dress designs, but they lacked the icon status of the poodle dress silhouette.

The Poodle Dress

Menswear also evolved in the 50’s, but instead of ramping up the elegance like the women’s fashion of the time, it devolved to the most casual it had ever been. Men were no longer in full suit and tie, and in particular younger men mimicked the style of  celebrities like James Dean and Elvis Presley.

Teen of the Fifties

 

The change in fashion went right along with the transformative decade that was the fifties. Clothing became big, colourful, and high fashion became a “thing” or an “art”. Fashion houses like Chanel, Dior, and Balenciaga, began to start designing wilder, and wilder things. And in the day to day the fifties look became a thing people strove for. In a post war time when people had the money to live life larger, they began to consume, clothes, food, technology, and many other things from post war industry. It was a changing time and evidently fashion needed to change too.

Thanks for reading. 

Holly