1950s Women’s Fashion Book: Readthrough and Try-On

Hello vintage neighbors! Welcome to the Vintage Girl Next Door. My name is Laci and today we are talking about 1950s women's fashion. So I did make a video a little while back on how to identify vintage clothing. I will link that for you. What we're talking about in this video however is what did women's fashion look like in the 50s. We're going back to the basics and I'm so excited to share with you. A wonderful subscriber sent me some awesome books and I'm really excited to share them with you. So today's video we are gonna go through this book by Roseanne Edinger, 50s popular fashion for men, women, boys, and girls. Specifically the part about women. I feel like this is gonna be a fun series to just break down the fashion for each of those categories and really just kind of go into it so that you can see what does 1950s women's fashion even look like. This is a really good informative book. If I can I'll put a link in the description for Amazon if I can find it on there. Hopefully I can for you. And so we're gonna go through the book, see what they say about 50s women's fashion, show you some examples, and then also I'm going to show you some examples of what they're talking about pulled from my own wardrobe and try them on for you so you can see the 50s fashion in action. So if you are excited to learn a little bit more about 50s fashion, specifically 50s women's fashion with me, then you can go ahead and give this video a thumbs up. That would really help me out. This video is actually sponsored by Native. Native is a vegan cruelty-free deodorant brand. Here is an example of their plastic-free version. I love these. Here's the thing. For the last several years I have been a clinical strength kind of girl when it comes to my deodorant and held strong. It is the perfect time to try plastic-free for Earth Month. 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So many distinct changes occurred in the fashion industry in the 1950s that it's impossible to capture the entire essence of the decade in one volume. New look in fashions, which is credited to fashion designer Christian Dior, sparked the beginnings of modern-day costume for women in February of 1947. Sadly for some, however, this new look marked the beginning of the end of extravagant Paris couture. Social and economic influences became more important, and inspirations were drawn from sources other than Paris. American style began to stand on its own after World War II. Let's talk about some of the fashion designers. During the 1940s, clothing was lacking in ornamentation due to war restrictions. A boxy silhouette with padded shoulders was the norm. Christian Dior's new look in fashion incorporated softening of the silhouette and unboxing the shoulders by removing the shoulder pads. A return to femininity was evidenced with Dior's dresses, suits, and coats designed with fitted bodices and flowing full skirts incorporating yards and yards of fabric. Foundation garments, particularly the boned and laced waist cincher, was a big part of this new look, creating the so-called waspy waist. Each year, Dior created two new lines, one for spring and one for fall. In 1951, the princess line evolved. The H line came into existence in 1954, and by 1955, the A and Y lines were created. Fashionable tunic dresses appeared in 1956, and the chemise dress in 1957, although credit for the loose-fitting chemise belongs to the Spanish-born designer Cristobal Valenciaga. After the untimely death of Dior in 1957, his protégé, Yves Saint Laurent, launched his first line in 1958. This was the trapeze line. Another influential designer of the 1950s was Coco Chanel, who reopened her fashion house in 1954, bringing the public designs very reminiscent of her earlier works of the 20s and 30s. Colorless suits, later referred to as Chanel suits, were the height of fashion by the end of the decade. Other popular designers of the decade include Herbert de Givenchy, Elsa Schiaparelli, Jacques Pfaff, Pauline Tregary, Hattie Carnegie, Nettie Rosenstein, and Claire McArdle. Ready to wear. Besides the fabulous designer labels of the 50s, the ready-to-wear fashion industry became big business. More people were unable to pay high prices for high fashion. Mass-produced garments were offered through mail-order companies such as Sears, Montgomery Ward, Spiegel, National Bellas Hess, Lane Bryant, Alden's, and many more. Designer clothing was still available and consistently advertised in the top fashion magazines. Major department stores across the country such as Bergdorf Goodman, Magnum, Julius Garfinkel, Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, Marshallfield, and Saks Fifth Avenue sold dresses, coats, and suits with designer labels. Other popular labels from the period were Lillianne of San Francisco and Jonathan Logan. Side note, I did just thrift a Jonathan Logan cocktail dress, and if you have not seen it in action, I will link my recent thrift haul where I found it. The average consumer, however, relied on mail-order or off-the-rack spin-off of designer wares. Fashion for Women Dresses The first half of the 1950s dresses for women, especially belted shirtwaist dresses with full-flowing skirts, were tremendously in vogue. In the spring of 1951, the Spiegel catalog boasted that sheers were top fashion news. Sheer rayon chiffon, sheer rayon marquisette, and sheer pure silk organdy were headliners. Sweetheart necklines, shirtwaist tucks, and caplet collars were extremely stylish. Slimline casual dresses with lace trim were also being offered in butcher rayon, which was cool and crisp as linen. Exciting print dresses, especially florals, were made of rayon crepe, which resembled silk and had excellent draping qualities. Certain characteristics of 1940s dresses were still somewhat visible in the fashion of the early 50s. For instance, peplums on dresses and suits were often seen, but as the decade progressed, the peplums were beginning to get smaller. By the end of the decade, they were gone all together. So there is cotton wrap-and-tie dress, and this happens to be a cotton wrap-and-tie dress. It is by the label Swirl. That, also cotton sundresses with matching bolero jackets, and one was recently gifted to me by one of you lovely subscribers. I'm so excited to wear it this summer. Cannot wait. I love the huge floral print on it. So pretty. So summery. Wonderful. There's a lot of really cool house dresses by Fruit of the Loom. I would love to get my hands on some of those. Awesome. Love the prints. Love the huge pockets. Love the appliques. So cute. Some more fun prints. I love novelty prints so much, you guys. I just can't. Like with these Scotty dogs. So cute. Man, Fruit of the Loom was on it. These dresses are awesome. So we also have some two-piece dresses. Dresses made with rows of horizontal tucks. Extremely popular, not to mention they were flattering to the figure. Decorative scroll embroidery, or passimentary, was applied to dresses and suit jackets. Two-piece suit dresses were also stylish, made with either a sundress and a bolero jacket, or a short-sleeved belted dress and fitted jacket, sometimes accented with a peplum. Navy blue and black, being advertised as the most flattering colors for the spring of 1951, were utilized to the fullest with dresses and suits made of rayon crepe, rayon veil, rayon taffeta, and puckered nylon. Orlan. By 1953, women's fashions were made of the newest wonder fabrics, such as nylon, acetate, and orlan, an advertisement for orlan found in Women's Home Companion stated that orlan was a new blueprint in fashions with a carefree future. The ad went on to say that the young idea in clothes as in homes is to look smart with the least upkeep. Amen. DuPont Orlan acrylic fiber makes it possible with women's suits and dresses that have a warm, soft feel, an extravagant look, but new and better behavior. Their press is not just for today, but for tomorrow and tomorrow. They're neat-keeping, pleat-keeping, and keep their first day look with easy care. Sounds good to me. So here we have some peplum styles and some drop waist styles. I have a very cute 1950s floral drop waist with an awesome collar. I love this dress. Uh, this dress looks super familiar. I have one almost identical to it, except it doesn't have beading, but it has a whole bunch of buttons. So very cool. I love the pleating on the hips on this one. So pretty. Oh, that house dress. Oh my. Printed cotton day dresses by Maryland of Philadelphia and Majestic. Yes, please. Can we just. With that green cutout collar and pockets with the cutout butterflies, I love it. I love it and I'm in love with it. Let's talk about some more fabrics. We got nylon. Nylon by DuPont was another popular choice for summer dresses, blouses, and lingerie. Almost all of my vintage nightgowns are made of nylon. Nylon washed easily, dried quickly, and needed little or no ironing. Many varieties were available, including plain or fancy puckered nylon, part nylon sheer, flocked nylon, nylon peak, and Orlan, and nylon blends. They were used consistently throughout the decade. Also, cotton. Cotton always being a good choice for plain or printed summer dresses was used tremendously throughout the 1950s. Many varieties of cotton were available. Embossed cotton, cotton broadcloth, cotton batiste, polished cotton chambray, cotton taffeta, and cotton pleat plissé were a few of the favorites. All right. A-line and Y-line. In 1955, dress styles began to change to a certain degree with the creation of the A-line and the Y-line, but that did not mean the previous styles did not exist. Tilted shirtwaist dresses with full flowing skirts were still in vogue and constantly advertised for sale, along with new designs featuring dropwaists or empire waists. Now we have jersey. In September of 1956, an article in Family Circle made mention of the newly fashionable jersey, with its many new faces being the most exciting fabric for that fall. The article went on to say that the new jerseys are firmly knit and asset in draping and tailoring. Textures go all the way from the smooth surfaces to bulky novelties and tweed types. Because of their unusual style interest, you'll find jerseys in every type of apparel. Dresses, suits, blouses, and pullover tops were made of this fabric. Here are some examples of nylon dresses. I love sheer 1950s dresses, you guys. I need more of them in my life. I love them. They are so pretty. Most of them made of nylon. Advertised in 1953 as sheer loveliness in Mrs. Frocks. These dresses were made of organdy combined with cotton and cotton wool. Some of these fabric names are hard to say, guys. I'm sorry. I know I'm butchering some of them. Novelty cotton dresses, popular in the summer of 1953. Sheath dresses were extremely fashionable in 1957, either with empire waist or the blouse look with a belt. Tailored shirt waist dresses were being featured for day or evening wear. Nylon lace over taffeta was popular combination for evening dresses. Jumpers and cotton knit t-shirt dresses were gaining in popularity at this time. We're getting into some evening dresses with silk chiffon. So pretty. And, of course, we must with the formal cupcake dresses. I definitely would love to have some more of these style in all the pastel colors. Send them my way. Oh, my. It's like when will you wear it, but you must have it. Let's talk evening gowns. Evening gowns were attractively made of brocade satin, lamé, silk, and rayon in long and short forms. The basic black dress, however, has always made a dynamic fashion statement for evening wear, especially accented with the right accessories. Buffon style dresses were made of tulle, rayon, chiffon, and acetate, and nylon lace. Ballerina length evening gowns were extremely fashionable, made of nylon net decorated with nylon lace or imported French lace. Fancy. Talking about suits, fashionable for fall of 1953 were tailored suits for women, made of wool, garbadine, rayon, and acetate, sheen, garbadine, rayon, and acetate, veil, and virgin wool. Silk shantung was another fine choice for suiting. Belted suit jackets were in style, as well as those with double flared peplums. Two-piece sweater outfit made of virgin wool and decorated with beads and sequins in a starburst pattern. The label reads Kim's Kimberly Knitwear Incorporated. I do love a good sweater set, you guys. I have one. I hope to acquire many more because I love them. They are, I'd love to find some in bright colors. I'm all about the bright colors. You know this. Love it. Let's read about skirts. Skirts of the 1950s were straight, circular, pleated, pocketed, tailored, gored, and tiered. Italian-influenced tight-fitting straight skirts were well remembered, as well as quilted or felt circle skirts. In 1953, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. offered a nine-yard taffeta whorl skirt, which was three yards fuller than the normal circle skirts of the period. That's a lot of taffeta. Nine yards? Oh my. I love it. Perfect for jitterbugging, the generous amount of fabric accommodated your perkiest petticoats. Printed cotton skirts with floral or whimsical designs were popular throughout the decade. Rayon, wool, corduroy, broadcloth, flannel, taffeta, and garbadine were also used for skirt making. By 1958, more slim straight skirts were featured for sale than full skirts. The length of the skirt was also beginning to rise. Some of these skirts and patio sets from 1954. Love it. I do have a awesome turquoise patio set that I love. I will show you. Well, let's talk blouses. Blouses for women, made in many fabrics, came in all shapes and styles. In the early 1950s, rayon crepe, nylon, and cotton were used frequently. By 1955, dacron was considered another wonder fiber. Similar to nylon, dacron was easy to launder. It dried quickly, needed little or no ironing. It was a perfect choice for the fancy pleated and ruffled blouses of the period. Puckered, flocked, and sheer nylon blouses came in all colors and were perfect to use with suits. Let's talk sweaters. Neatly tailored sweaters made of nylon, australian zephyr wool, virgin worsted wool, cotton and rayon, and cotton boucle were fashioned in the early 1950s. Button-down cardigans, fitted pullovers, and v-neck hollywood style coat sweaters were the rage. As the decade progressed, orlon became one of the more popular fibers used for knitted sweaters. Tweed sweaters were made of nylon flecked with wool. New colors were introduced for spring and for fall. Holiday season was the time for dressy sweaters made of angora and cashmere with hand beaded decorations. Mohair was also introduced in the 50s. Sweaters were trimmed with fur, metallic braid beads, sequins, floral appliques, lace, and embroidery. Adaptable and versatile sweater shrugs with dolman sleeves were popular throughout the decade. I do love a good 50s beaded sweater you guys. Beaded cardigan, I have a few of them and they are beautiful. Honestly would not mind collecting more. Also would not mind collecting some just regular old pullover sweaters. Now we're talking casual sport clothes. Casual sport clothing for women consisted of bermuda shorts, short shorts, slacks, halter, and camisole tops, swimsuits, sunsuits, and culottes. Pedal pushers which came below the knee were extremely popular in the early 50s. Capri pants which came above the ankle were fashionable in the late 50s. Dungarees for women were popular in the early 50s made of sanforized cotton. In 1955 the nude denim which was made of rayon and acetate was available in a wide range of fashion colors. Mexican and Indian influences were visible in peasant style clothing. In 1957 Montgomery Ward advertised casual clothes with many looks from many lands. Items like French inspired over blouses, Italian gondola jackets, Jamaican type bandana print blouses, and Caribbean look shorts were offered. Western style clothing was also popular for women with embroidered shirts taking top billing. Oh boy you guys popular styles and swimwear for the summer of 1955. Yes please I'll take one of each. Oh my I love 1950s bathing suits so much and I need more of them in my life. The end. I do have a few 50s bathing suits and I love them. They are so flattering. I love the swimsuit designer Rosemarie Reed. I feel like her suits were just the best. So flattering, so well made, awesome construction. Love them. Okay let's talk nightwear lingerie. Glamorous nightwear for women consisted of gowns made of rayon crepe, knit rayon with satiny stripes, nylon tricot, acetate and rayon crepe, and acetate tricot. Cotton plissé was extremely common throughout the decade and gowns, pajamas, and robes were made of this fabric in plain or printed styles. Cotton plissé was another wash and wear fabric of the 1950s. Pajamas were man-tailored or mandarin style. Colorless and peter pan collar styles were also popular by 1955. Dacron and nylon blends created nightgowns with permanent pleated designs. Lounge and sleep sets were fashionable consisting of pajamas and matching robes. Robes came in all shapes and sizes. Dusters were stylish as well as tailored coachman style robes. Brunch coats and wraparounds were popular throughout the decade. Quilted cotton, embossed cotton, chenille, rayon, satin, silk, acetate, flannel, and terrycloth were used. Robes made of dacron and nylon were advertised as miracle robes in 1955 because they were luxurious yet economical with features like wash, drip dry, needs no ironing, and resists rips and wrinkles. Please can we have a moment for this summer duster made of navy blue crinkle cotton with white trim and red cat appliques on each packed pocket made by Fruit of the Loom. Fruit of the Loom, where have you been? Because why have I not known of your greatness until now? What in the world? Oh my, there's a turquoise one. I need, I need the cat pocket robe. Help, it's so cute. The chenille robes, yes please, I still am on the hunt for a chenille peacock bath robe. Oh, can we just take a moment and appreciate the shoes. Battle shoes, that's from the 1951 Sears and Roebuck catalog. Oh, I love these jewel brights. Oh my goodness, I need those in my life. Advertised as bright color mates for your house coats, these slippers were offered for sale in 1953. Slippers, man, I'd wear those out and about. Those are awesome. And we've got leather and nylon mesh shoes, popular 1957. That's quite a high heel, you guys. Lovely assortment of high-heeled shoes, fashionable 1953. Shoes and handbags styled for 1959 summer season. Oh, I love those pastels, yes. And the ones with the matching purse. Yes, please. Lastly, we've got some accessories in here. There are handkerchiefs, very pretty novelty print handkerchiefs, so pretty. I do have a small collection of handkerchiefs. And then we have some gloves made of nylon, solid and sheer, striped and flocked. I love sheer gloves so much. Ooh, those black and white striped ones. Those are amazing. And lastly, we have some belts. I actually don't have any true vintage belts aside from ones that have come with dresses, vintage dresses, but these ones are very cool. I like these wide elastic cinch belts, simulated pearl buckles, very cool. That is it for the women's fashion section. We made it through. Thank you again to Eric for sending me this wonderful book, as well as a few other wonderful books and vintage treasures. Thank you so much. I love it, and it's been so fun looking through this book with you guys. I hope that you enjoyed doing a little bit of a deeper dive into 1950s women's fashion with me. It was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun showing you some examples from my own closet, and let me know. I think it would be fun to go through the rest of that book, talk about the children's fashion, teenage fashion, and men's fashion of the 1950s. So if you would like to see that, let me know in the comments, give me a thumbs up on the video, and I will continue this little 50s fashion book series. Thanks again to Native for sponsoring this video, and you guys want to check out the description for a link, and you can use my discount code right there. Thank you all so much for being here, and if you are new and you have not subscribed already, please do so. We would love to have you join our vintage neighborhood for more of our vintage fun, and I hope that wherever you are in the world, you are feeling safe and feeling loved, and I will see you very soon in my next video. Bye. Hello? You're kind of in the way there, dude. You know that? Did you know that you were kind of in the way? Thanks for your help. You are wonderful.