Are 1950s Clothing Styles Coming Back On Trend For Women?

CAMDEN, U.K. - April 22, 2013 - PRLog -- The figure the women of the 1950s aspired to was curvy and overtly feminine. They were seeing young women such as Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot  taking starring roles in movies so these and others such as Jayne Mansfield became the role models on which young women’s dreams were made.

You have to remember that the 1950s were just leaving the austere post war years of the late 1940s. Clothing had been rationed in order to make uniforms, parachutes and all manner of cloth related items for the troops so typical fashions for women were simple and made from the very thinnest materials.

Jackets and coats were shorter, not by design, but out of necessity due to the lack of materials to make them from and women had been going to great lengths to try to make themselves look glamorous on a shoe string.

The clever idea of using gravy browning  and a black pen line up the back of the leg to simulate stockings was a real stroke of genius, until it rained I suppose.

Come the start of the 50s, women really wanted to express themselves and the availability of more and more fabrics and cloth styles helped.

The post war boom was beginning to take place in the USA and movies showing  film stars in brighter colours, denim ,chiffon scarves and horn rimmed sunglasses showed what could be done and the best thing, it was no longer a pipe dream. These styles were attainable.

Young women now had the chance to model themselves on the movie-stars they saw each weekend at the Saturday matinees.

They were seeing voluptuous women not stick thin waifs and the days of rationing were long forgotten. A girl would accentuate her curves with a black broad belt made of strong elastic with a large metal clip at the front - guaranteed to give her a slim waist and stop her circulation at the same time!

Dresses were often in everglaze-cotton, which was the usual type of cotton but with a newly invented coating applied to it which gave a beautiful satin like sheen. Satin was too expensive and was still beyond the reach of the majority of women so this made a stunning alternative.

Skirts were either very full , or pencil-slim ones with a discreet split at the back to emphasise the wearer`s curvy hips and slim waist.

Full skirts also emphasised the waist - and to make them stick out even more, ingenious women wore home-made cotton waist slips with rows and rows of tiers added to the hem.

These slips were then stiffened by rinsing them in a sugar and water solution (home-made starch!) and worn under their dresses and skirts, to give the impression of a tiny waist that was a must have in those days.

The clothes for women in the 1950s were more feminine than in any other era in the 20th Century.

In contrast to the skimpy, cheap clothes of the 1940's, the shapeless shifts in mind-boggling psychedelic colours of the 1960s were terrific if you happened to be someone like Jackie Kennedy, the garish florals of the 1970s and the masculine power- dressing Dallas styles of the 1980s with their massive shoulder pads, would it be such a surprise if the styles of the 1950s came back?

There is absolutely no reason why the women of 2013 cannot recreate the stunning styles of the 1950s.

Blue Jeans and a sloppy-Joe (as sweaters were known then) can be worn with white ankle socks and ballet style plimsolls for a super casual Spring or Summer look.

A beautifully fitted pencil skirt will still look sensational now just as it did 60 years ago.

Grab a blouse and silk or chiffon scarf to go with it and some block coloured court shoes and you will be signing autographs like a film star before you can blink behind your horn rimmed sunglasses.

With the growth in popularity of Jazz Swing dancing among young people, the availability of these styles of clothes are becoming easier to obtain.

After recently having the pleasure of watching a Jazz Swing festival in Como in Northern Italy, we fell in love with both the women`s styles and the hundreds of Gene Kelly look-a-likes energetically dancing the warm evening away by the lake.

Retro swimwear is also very figure flattering and you can soon begin to look like a young Sophia Loren very quickly. The choice available is much wider than you may think.

Agent Provocateur has recently introduced their Mercy shape wear range.

Combining the glorious style of the 50s with modern manufacturing technology, women are able to recreate those bygone days of lacy and sexy glamour.

So the next time you are looking for a change of clothing style, take a look at some of the fantastic 1950s clothes and mix and match with some of the present designs to make a beautiful new wardrobe for this Spring and Summer.

Check out the fabulous collections of retro and current clothing designs for women at http://www.abiento.co.uk/