Outwear Trends In The 50s

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Figure 2 is a photo of my grandparents on my mom’s side at my grandma’s high school prom in 1958. In our interview, my grandma stated, “I wore a gown that I re-used from a wedding. We were a poor immigrant family, so it was really hard to go out and buy something new” (Giorgi, n.p.). Her dress has a sweetheart neckline with a full skirt at ballerina length. The sweetheart neckline became popular in 1940s evening wear, but was still used in the 50s. Farrell-Beck and Parsons discussion on 50s trends spoke of how evening gowns were frequently boned or strapless, which is seen with the sweetheart neckline on my grandma’s gown (2007, p.149). The hemline of the gown sits below the mid-calf and above the ankle, which is more commonly known as the …show more content…
This picture is dated December 1963. My grandma is wearing a knee length full skirted black dress, a fur stole, and a pair of black gloves. Fur stoles were a popular style that emerged in the 1950s outwear trends. Even though it came out in the 50s, it was still a popular outerwear accessory in the early 60s. The mid 1960s Sears catalog is advertising a mink stole (Shih, 1997, p.104). The model advertising the stole is shown wearing white gloves with it, which means that it is more of a formal accessory during this time. The stoles presence in the Sears catalog expresses that these were popular amongst the middle class during the early 1960s. My grandmother is also sporting a modified bouffant style hairdo, which was popularized by First Lady Jackie Kennedy. Both the fur stole and the bouffant hair style were popular during this time period, showing that my grandma was with the mainstream in her evening wear choices. The photo quality is not great so it was hard to distinguish what exact style suit my grandpa is wearing. From what can be recognized, it looks like an evening wear style that John Peacock showed for the 1960’s. Peacock’s illustration was described as, “single breasted jacket with single button fastening, long roll collar faced with silk, matching covered buttons, hip-level piped pockets; straight cut trousers. White collared-attached shirt. Black silk bow tie. Black shoes” (1996, p.175). A key identifier for his suit style is the notable difference in fabric on the lapels; it has a shinier luster than the suit fabric meaning it could be silk. He is also wearing a white collared attached shirt and a black bow tie, but the analysis is still limited to pure assumptions due to poor photo quality. If this suit style is correctly identified, I would say that my grandfather chose to wear something that wasn’t

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