Fashion and Celebrities of the Fifties

Fashion of the 50’s

Late forties into the fifties considered to be the golden age of couture.

Textile design was heavily influenced by science and technology. British designers such as the Aschers, team up with major artists of the period to produce artists scarves and textiles. Artists include Picasso, Matisse, Henry Moore, Miro

The impact of new artificial fabrics and fibres were felt in the underwear and leisurewear industry. Nylon was one of the main fabrics used, not just in tights but in men’s underwear, socks and sportswear.

Wear ability and easier laundering were key features.

In fashion the relationship between waist and hips, the neck and shoulders become clear. Both show the same emphasis and contrast. A figure of eight is repeated from top to toe – it was the same for high fashion and discount of the peg clothes alike.

Fashion was moving slowly from the catwalks of Paris, New York, Rome, London and select boutiques into the bigger shops and chain stores.

Mass production techniques and processes introduced in wartime to fill bulk clothing order’s, were now going into action to supply new domestic demand.

Quality in ready to wear garments was better. Increasingly the haute couture designs seemed far removed from the actual world.

The clothing industry still paid attention to the major fashion shows, taking one or two features from the collection and incorporating them into their garments.

Soon it would be the streets that set the pace in fashion.

The Aschers

Henry Moore Ascher Art Scarf

Horrockses Fashions

Noted designers of the fifties

Emilio Pucci, Christian Dior, Balenciaga ,Jaques Fath, Pierre Cardin, Hardy Amies, Hubert De Givenchy, Pierre Balmain, Norman Hartnell, Aschers, Horrockes, Bianchini Ferier, Digby Morton, Charles Creed, Yves Saint Laurent, Nina Ricci, Aage Thaarup, Jaques Heim, Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli

Yves Saint Laurent for Dior

Nina Ricci

Lanvin

Illustrators

Rene Grau

Photographers

Irving Penn, Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson

Cecil Beaton

Irving Penn

Norman Parkinson

Living Dolls – The housewife of the 1950s

After WW11 there was a concerted move to persuade women to leave their wartime jobs and return to looking after their family.

Women were encouraged not to compete with men

By the end of the 50s the media and TV were talking about ‘trapped housewife’ syndrome

The image of the housewife was that  of a doll like figure, dressed in rustling full skirts, nipped waist and narrow fitting bodice! Not the ideal outfit for cleaning, cooking and childcare!

The idea was a woman should be able to catch her man with her young, slim hourglass appearance, long legs all precariously supported on stiletto heels!

Even working women adopted a fragile sloping shoulder line, wearing a little hat with veiling and small gloves and handbags.

Celebrities of the 50s

Music

Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Etta James, Cliff Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Darin, Bill Haley and the Comets, Eddie Cochran, Brenda Lee, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Thelonius Monk, Johnny Cash, Charles Mingus

Film Stars

Elizabeth Taylor Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Debbie Reynolds, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Doris day, Bridget Bardot, Kim Novak, Pat Boone, Grace Kelly, Kay Kendall, Deborah Kerr, Jayne Mansfield, Cyd Charisse, , Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Gene Kelly, Natalie Wood, Montgomery Clift, Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck

Top Films of the 50s

Vertigo, On the Waterfront, Seven Samurai, Bridge on the River Kwai, Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, Singin In the rain, Some Like it Hot, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebel Without A Cause, The African Queen, Ben Hur, The Searchers, The Blackboard Jungle, The Wild One, The Seven Year Itch