50’s Dress Inspires Changes In Women’s Fashion

The 1950’s era certainly brought us many kinds of styles, trends and music. It was the decade of rock and roll, poodle skirts and drive in movies. In addition to all of the things that made the 50’s such an interesting decade and the inspiration that came out of it, the dresses of the decade still inspire designers all over today. There are many different dresses that inspired this generation and one of the most popular looks in 50’s dresses was the A line dress. These took on a different look than decades before with a lower waist and full skirt. One of the most common trends that took off from the classic A-line dress was the poodle skirt.

Another popular dress style was the sack dress. This style of dress embodied the new trend for a straighter waistline and the fitted and darted sheath kind of dress that turned into a loose shorter dress. The later 1950’s really began to showcase this style of dress. The trapeze dresses were swinging dresses that were almost triangular in shape and were made to be worn with low shoes and a big hairdo. After the 50’s dresses that were coined as the trapeze style started to be altered into the tent style dress, or the baby doll dress.

The empire line of dresses was seen as the swoop line in the mid 50’s dresses. This style of dress was very popular among teenagers in the late 1950’s into the 1960’s. In the 1950’s Chanel began to introduce a whole new and bold look in dresses and resembled the suit look. This was a contrast to the loose and flowing styles of the early 50’s dress. The Chanel look took on the persona of a more streamlined look and was looking towards the future of the modern woman.

The Chanel suit design of the 50’s dress was starting to take off and new details of different kinds of trimmings, buttons and fasteners were all customized to match the look of the dress. Many different fashions of the 1950’s were still being combined and the transition between the early 50’s and early 60’s was a pivotal point in women’s fashion. After the June Cleaver wholesome look started to give way to the loose and free hippie style of the 60’s, the dress evolved from that of proper and full to short and simple.

However the looks of the 50’s dress took place, it has been a transitional point in the fashion world, and is still an inspiration for designers of women’s fashion in today’s industry. Whether the poodle skirt or trapeze dress, the styles were defined during that era.