Fashion In The 1950s Essay

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, television quickly emerged into a popular and greatly desired entertainment system in America. Although expensive, the television was still found in over fifty million American homes. Socially, the television not only embellished what the time period believed to be the “ideal” family, but the new technology also helped pull women closer to a world vacant of sexism and stereotypes, while also drawing African Americans closer to a society without racism, segregation, and prejudice. As well as social benefits, the television substantially impacted the world of politics by airing the platforms of political candidates and broadcasting important news concerning America. Additionally, the fields of advertising and

Around the world, The United States is widely known as a leader in mass media production, like television and movies. There are very few inventions that have affected America as much as the television. Before 1947, the number of TV’s in the US could be measured in thousands, and by the late 1990’s about 98% of homes had at least one television set in it, which were on for on average, more than seven hours a day. The Typical American spends about 3-5 hours watching TV a day. TV became a way for Americans to either escape their lifestyle, relate to it, or keep up with current events. It has become a tool that the US uses to relate to each other

People may say that the true years of fashion began in the late nineteen forties and went on through the early nineteen sixties. If you look at fashion today, its almost repeated the look from sixty years ago. In each generation fashion trends become based on history and/or important events. in the nineteen forties fashion was being modeled by the military wear. World War II caused a drastic change in the way clothes were being made and worn. In the nineteen fifties Americans admired the fashion of movie stars and music artists. Media had a strong influence on the wordly trend. The people of the sixties expressed there personalities and emotions through

The television gave much of the country something to do. It reflected the homogenization of the United States. People began to envision a futuristic nuclear world after the start of the Space Race between the United States and Russia to land on the moon. The United States launched Alan Shepard into space after the Soviets launched “Sputnik” in 1957 as we launched our first man in 1961. Meanwhile, computers were developed into large room size machines to do simple computations and made things portable. One of the characteristics of the mass media during the 1950’s, as the T.V., was that the sitcoms was directed to make viewers think about the idea of the perfect family living the American dream. The only problem with those T.V sitcoms was that not every American family fitted into that mold. For example, Jews, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and other minorities were not portrayed as part of that image that most people wanted to imitate because these T.V. families were white-collar, middle class, and Caucasian.

Americans’ everyday life. The Golden Age of television was a period of intense growth and expansion of

“Many in the 1950's strove for the comfort and conformity depicted reality TV shows (“Voices Against Conformity.”1).” One of the biggest things to come out of the 50's was the global sensation known as television. Everybody was watching TV, families would gather around and just sit for hours watching television. “They would watch popular sitcoms (such as “I Love Lucy”), and later in the decade, westerns ("Gun smoke,” “Wagon Train,” “Have Gun Will Travel,” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”) (1950's TV Turns On America.”6).” Before the growing popularity of TV many Americans got their fill of entertainment from the movie business which included going the movie theater or going to the newly popular drive in theater. With all of its acclaimed popularity “TV threatened the movie business, and studios and theaters tried to attract crowds by introducing novelty technologies such as 3D, Stereoscope and CinemaScope (1950's TV Turns On America.”6).” TV was popularized so much that the biggest selling periodical of the decade was the TV Guide. Although television was used largely for entertainment, it too was used very commonly for advertising purposes. Think for just a moment. The best place to advertise or push a product to Americans would be where they spend most of their time, and most of their day; at home watching the television. With the invention of television, suburban life became not only enjoyable and peaceful, but very informative as

If there was one word to describe the decade of the 1950s, that word would “fabulous”. The 1950s was a memorable time in history, characterized by rock and roll, social conformity, mega-projects, and new technology. The lives of many Canadians cannot be generalized, but their values were all shaped by two major events: the Great Depression and World War II. After a period of cold war and depression the fifties became known as a time for new beginnings, for everyone including African-Americans. Events like Rosa Park's refusal to give her bus seat to a white rider triggered the civil rights movement that would bring an end to segregation.¹ There were many reasons why there was an uproar with African-Americans at this time, and one of those reasons was because of a new form of music. Then called Rock and Roll, this new type of music appeared to revolutionize musical tastes among many young people, and changed the world in more ways than one. The 1950s was also an age of the construction of many mega-projects in Canada, for example, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Trans-Canada Highway. Much like the media portrayed life in the 1950s as peaceful and happy, in reality, the Fifties were not much different than they were on television.

Pop Culture and life today is nothing as to what it was in the 1950s. During this era it was known to be more conservative and strict. But, Pop Culture changed that by introducing new fashion, film, and music that caused teens to rebel. As a result, parents questioned the music their children listened to. American Pop Culture had a huge impact on teens, music, fashion, and film in the 1950's.

     Some may call it the “fabulous fifties,” but others call it a time of “tensions and insecurities.” Several people think back on the fifties and remember them as the “good old days,” while others think of it as a time of crisis and terror. Although Americans were faced with many hardships throughout the fifties, I think that the positive aspects such as the new technologies, growing economy, higher focus on education, and growing job opportunities of the era outnumber the negative aspects, such as racism that African Americans faced, and the changing roles of women, making the fifties an overall “happy” period in American history.

Annotated Bibliography Phillips, Paul. "Fashion in the 1960s." RetroWaste. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

Fashion has evolved over the past century and as culture and attitudes shift, the depiction of an era, as defined by fashion, directly impacts the decisions of what to wear. Fashion symbolizes the spirit of the times and throughout history, women have embodied every decade by distinctively making a statement with garments created by various top fashion designers. Due to the burdens of World War II, the early 1940’s was a time of conformity, regulation, and limited accessibility of basic needs for every citizen in the nation. Encouragement and support of the war effort in all ways possible and making the best of out what resources were available was expected and considered patriotic. Being in style was not necessarily top priority during the war years, however at the same time, fashion had a great influence on how people dressed.

Many families had television as a form of entertainment in the 1950’s. Theater was broadcasted on television but was short lived, but quite popular. Also, in a way television, theater, and film had some type of impact on each

However, portrayals of ideal families are not always accurate. To understand the influence TV shows have on American individuals and families, it is important to first know the numbers and statistics of TV viewers since the post war era up until now. Lynn Spiegel, Frances E. Willard Professor of Screen Cultures at the School of Communication at Northwestern University, wrote a book called Make Room For TV. In the mentioned publication, Spiegel notes that “between 1948 and 1955, television was installed in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s homes” (2).

Fashion in the 1950s had spawned a wide variety of styles with elements of originality as well as new distinctive styles, which had added a classic new age twist to the history of European fashion. Recovering from the catastrophic tragedies from the Second World War, the fifties had given hope to the people and also a new start of life of many people to choose their future freely. Due to the massive recover of the economy, the technological advancement allowed mass production of clothing in the fifties. As the economies of the world expanded and the living standard and income level of the people were improving after the war, the European societies had started to embrace the mass consumption culture hence leaded a new trend for accessing consumer goods which one of them is the television. Nearly every family owned a television at their place and the American culture soon became dominant in the Europe due to the influence from Hollywood and rock’n’roll music. Accompanied with all these different medias such as music, films and magazine, it had shaped the strong youth culture in the fifties and had hugely impacted the fashion world. It allowed the teenagers to become trendy and unique through the different information from the media they are getting. Celebrities such as Marline Monroe and Audrey Hepburn became the fashion icon, which had a huge impact to the people on their views of fashion. Inevitably, the advancement of technology has allowed different kinds of media to bring

The Years between the 1950’s and 1960’s was an explosive time in fashion. The 50’s represented an out coming of the new generation. People began to gain their own personal style and appearance, influenced by films and singers (“Vintage Fashion”). Their styles incorporated leather, jeans, corduroy, and the ballet shoes for the girls. Men’s wear began to drastically change. Men would wear a leather jacket, with jeans that narrowed at the bottom, and a simple t-shirt (Peacock 210-211). This was the first time in history that jeans were not just worn by the working class but by all men (“Brief History”). The man’s lust for flesh grew during this time, so women’s skirts began to get shorter and the bikini was invented. Clothes were made to glorify the female body and emphasize every curve. It wasn’t until the Barbie doll was created in the late 50’s that young girls began to have a separate fashion from their mothers. Young girls would wear sweaters with full skirts or pants