Fashion In The 1950's

The Roaring Twenties brought many fads and fashion rages. During the 1920's, Americans were given the honor of being called the "best- dressed". Several things contributed to this honor: Affordable pricing, mass production clothing, the birth of the "flapper girl", and rise of fashionable movie stars that Americans wanted to imitate.

Women’s fashion was a social controversy in the 1920’s. This controversy was influenced by women’s clothing, swimwear, hairstyles, makeup, and attitude alone. This attire and new found character traits added a certain attitude and confidence to these women, starting what would eventually be remembered as a revolution.

When the 1970’s first hit polyester was a popular material and so was bright colored clothes. Women were wearing tightly fitted pants with platformed shoes as this decade was all about having fun. In the early 1970’s fashion was a mixture of some of the best clothes from the ‘60’s and was exaggerated and perfected. The style of the 70’s in some ways complimented the hippies of the time. Towards the end of the 1970’s almost every woman had a cowl neck sweater along with tunics, culottes, and robes. The color of clothing in this decade had almost disappeared by 1979 as more earth colors and greys became more of the casual clothing worn. Fashion was greatly influenced at this time by music. The followers of music rock bands dressed in

The Jazz culture inspired multiple dances, such as the Black Bottom and the ever-popular Charleston. These dances required lots of movement leading to a shift in women’s fashion. Women wore less undergarments, went without coresets, and designed dresses that allowed for more freedom of movement. In 1921, Coco Chanel introduced the “drop-waist” dress, which were worn with long strings of glass beads or pearls. By 1925 these dresses resembled the shifts that were worn under the dresses of the early 1900. Evening dress were made up of mesh material, sleeveless, low v-neckline or backless, and sometimes adorned with sequence. These new fashions were advertised in fashion magazines that made their appearance in the 20s, Vouge, The Queen, and the

As Coco Chanel quotes: “Fashion is an architecture: It is a matter of proportion.” Fashion during the Harlem Renaissance and the roaring 20s define the culture of males, females, whites & blacks.

The 1920s were a time of new and exhilarating things such as music, film, and most importantly, fashion. Fashion in the 1920s made political changes that influenced generational changes. Flappers made a big impact on 20s fashion, and we can still see how their sense of style and other fashion statements helped shape today's society.

“ Fashions fade. Style is eternal” - Once said the famous designer Yves Saint Laurent. In the 1950’s marked the era in fashion that people think of as the turning point in fashion. Teenagers would be looked at for their own fashion, and would have sexier outfits. Women would start to wear accessories such as hats, glasses and diamonds (Fashion History). They would show more skin and have tighter outfits. Men would start to wear suits and look more formal. The “cowboy” look would start to play a big role during this time. Many men would wear different colors including pink.

A Change in Times The new music, clothing style, and drug use made the 1960s into the decade it was. New genres of music was formed along with the release of new music that reached the top of the charts. The clothing style definitely changed as well.

New styles and culture were experimented in the 1950s. This decade, towards women hairstyle emphasized a more informal look and less ornate look than those in the1940s, concentrating more on hairstyling products. The hair was styled by the influence of the people across the world and the way they wore their hair and the product that was being used such as the hair cream, hair oil and setting sprays. Women in this decade hairstyle was diverse, the length of the hair varied from short to medium length hair. Women would often get their style and the colour of their hair by pivoting role models such as a actresses and models from fashion magazines.

Much like the stocks of the 1920’s, women’s skirts and hemlines began to rise. The Roaring Twenties is known as the Jazz Age, with new freedoms, women’s rights, and the dawn of the daring flapper. The 1920’s were buzzing after the Great War was over. Everything began to change and everything was roaring. The stock market and the 19th Amendment influenced fashion in the 1920’s.

”(Kallen) MTV broadcasted music video interpretations of many popular songs, causing people to take notice of the different hairstyles, and fashions seen in the music videos. A popular MTV showcase music video, “Video killed the Radio Star”, forever changed the focus of music and lyrics to fashion and theatrics

Mainly worn by the elite society, they displayed not only your class structure but how much the person stayed up with current events. Major designers of this time included but are not limited to, Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, and Charles James.

The 1950’s had a very interesting style, from poodle skirts to skin tight polkadotted pencil skirts. The 50’s was known for its bright colors and floral designs. Women began to express themselves later into the 50’s, icons like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor were the leading ladies in fashion during this time. One of Audrey’s most elegant looks was her Breakfast at Tiffany's sleeveless black dress made by her favorite designer, Givenchy. She accessorized with a triple-strand pearl necklace and some oversized sunglasses. Audrey’s style was known for being very unique and quite classy, which made it easier for young ladies to copy.

Fashion is the style prevalent at a given time. It usually refers to costume or clothing style. Everybody has to wear clothes, making fashion a part of everyday life. The way someone dresses says a lot about his or her personality, age, culture and experience. At times of economic or social change, fashion often changed. The 1920s and the 1960s are big eras were economic and social change were happening. They are both largely known for their fashion.

Through the 1950s, fashion trends have changed from beginning to end. “Clothing was heavily restricted throughout and just after the war. Everything from the length of skirts to the size of collars was regulated.” Many people felt they had more freedom in the new fashion they got to wear after World War II. They had to fix and make clothing that would last them because they would have other duties to do in their home.