Fashion Furore of Women in the Fifties

by Tashina Cariappa



The fifties was the onset of a peaceful and progressive America. 

With the culmination of the world wars, life was getting back to normal. Women's Fashion basically was a very simple one. It was a typical conservative life which was meant to be according to our fore fathers. 

The men were the earning members of the family and the women attended to household chores. Children, and in particular teenagers were seldom heard.

The Fashion, as suggested by the title began when there was creativity and talent encouraged not only in America, but in the world over. There were changing trends in the clothes shoes and hair styles. 

Elvis Presley started the rage of the side burns in men. Where women were concerned, the very curvaceous look was in as compared to the slim look of the 21st century. Marilyn Monroe was the one to look at. She was fashion personified.

The boys wore jeans and leather jackets (normally studded with metal) and the girls indulged in wearing poodle skirts, scarves and pedal pushers (similar to the Capri’s worn these days). 

The jean and jacket concept with the greased hair appeared to give ‘the cool dude look’ and the ladies liked their skirts to look elegant yet comfortable to dance and twirl around.

This was the time when the younger generation was beginning to get a little bit of freedom as well as an opportunity to experience independence by way of their thinking. It was a mild attempt to bridge the generation gap. 

It was just before the fifties that Christian Dior brought in a phenomenal change in fashion. It was a great transformation from the limited cloth given during the world war to yards of cloth available to play around with. 

His style statement was a slim fit jacket with the waist narrowed down and a flare skirt which was calf length. Chanel, in contrast created slim fit skirt with a jacket that were made of wool and tweed. These were often lined with the finest of silk fabrics. This became very popular and most importantly very wearable. Her gain to fame was the ever popular collarless jacket which was revived again in the nineties. These were apt for women working in offices. 

Towards the latter part of the fifties, women and in particular teenagers imbibed the little girl look. They were stylish yet childlike. This was truly a unique fashion statement. Nylons and synthetics found their place in this era they were so wearable and easy to manage that they emerged popular. These fabrics that took birth in the fifties have been revolutionized and are used even now. The other popular company which brought out unique designs in fashion during the fifties was Marks and Spencer’s.

The hairstyles of the fifties started off with pony tails being fashionable. They graduated into the French braid, and other complex hairstyles that were often compared to bee hives. Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and even Queen Elizabeth II were popular style icons.

The accessories that complemented the style were spectacles that arched with twirls and they could often be studded. Another rage was a conical shaped cu p of a bra. The seamless stockings came to be accepted at the onset of the sixties.

The shoes worn in the early 1950’s were often very high. They were rounded or with peep toes and low cut front capers. Strapped sandals with finer heels were considered ‘hot ‘n’ happening. What were given equal importance were heavier thicker heels for lower shoes. While closing on to the sixties, the kitten heels and metal tipped steel stiletto heels were in vogue. 

Hence forth there was no looking back. The craving for glamour was replaced by the freedom to create and express. So, being fashionable was a stress buster. This gave birth to fashion indulgence in the years ahead. 


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