https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 06:06:04 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238617 Sun, 14 Nov 2021 18:53:55 +0000 Mary Beth (formerly LBD) 2238617@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am just sighing over how wonderful all these dresses and the stories behind them are! The swimwear is fabulous, too! </p> <p>I’m trying to wrap my head around the Easter dress… you actually made that yourself?? It looks like a film-quality costume. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238566 Sun, 14 Nov 2021 14:10:26 +0000 anne 2238566@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Really enjoying all the photos and stories! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238229 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:41:56 +0000 Laura 2238229@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I love reading your stories and the styles that go along with them. Fabulous! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238197 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 16:22:12 +0000 Helena 2238197@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>These are so awesome ... thank you so much for sharing your memories and fashions!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238105 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 04:36:29 +0000 Sally 2238105@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you for sharing these.&nbsp; I had a silk dress similar in style to pic 7.&nbsp; My grandmother had had it custom made for her and I used to wear it in my early 20s. It was a beatiful dark green with white.&nbsp; &nbsp; Somewhere in between my moving and purging, I must have given it away.&nbsp; I hope someone is enjoying it somewhere.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238097 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 03:18:30 +0000 avicennia 2238097@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The bermudas with long socks would be Just in style today. Have always laughed at that Dorothy Parker saying — I’ve worn glasses since age 11. I find there is some truth to it — which is a good thing! Thank you Ms Maven for sharing the photos. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238066 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 01:11:03 +0000 Anonymous 2238066@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Love 13 and 14 especially! They remind me of my aunts prom dresses I played dress up in </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2238058 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:51:21 +0000 Anonymous 2238058@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>These are fun, Ms Maven. &nbsp;I remember car coats and parkas, Bermuda shorts and full crinolines under skirts., saddle shoes and Bobby socks,<br />pantygirdles and first stockings. &nbsp;Guarder belts were considered risqué so I used the panty girdles to hold them up, or tried to. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236859 Sun, 07 Nov 2021 01:52:29 +0000 Jaime 2236859@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>These are so much fun! Wow, did styles change from one decade to the next. Thanks again for sharing! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236807 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 20:30:26 +0000 Katerina 2236807@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What a treat to read your fashion story and to see the gorgeous photos. Your dresses in 13 and 14 are like a beautiful fairytale. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236724 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 15:51:56 +0000 The Cat 2236724@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you for sharing your fashion memories. I love seeing old photos like these. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236721 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 15:47:36 +0000 Tanya 2236721@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Please keep sharing these, MsMaven!&nbsp; I am having so much fun looking at the photos and reading all the stories.</p> <p>Smitten with the dress in #7! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236720 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 15:43:46 +0000 Angie 2236720@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh my word! DELIGHTFUL.&nbsp;</p> <p>I LOVE the fashion and stories. Captivating. Hope you were VERY celebrated yesterday </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236677 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 12:32:21 +0000 RD 2236677@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Beautiful photos again, dresses are gorgeous and all of you ladies look so ladylike ! My mom is about the same age but had very few pictures taken at that time. Hope you have more to post, I thoroughly enjoy your stories. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236673 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 12:09:26 +0000 Janet 2236673@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So fun to see all these! I have photos of my mom in those eras and styles but she was a young wife and then mother at that point (my sister is 10 years older than I am). </p> <p>Isn’t it crazy to look back and remember what we loved wearing, or felt self-conscious of when we were young? I was hyper aware of the size of my thighs even at 16 years old and 120 lbs at 5’7”. My 30 lb heavier self laughs at that! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236671 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 10:54:26 +0000 ChristelJ 2236671@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wonderful photos! You had great style then as you do now. I am impressed by your sewing skills. Those are amazing dresses. I was also taught to sew young and my mother and I made many of our clothes. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236641 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 02:39:34 +0000 Bijou 2236641@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Such beautiful photos and the fashion is stunning. I too love the cats eye glasses. I need some readers and have been thinking that cats eye specs would be fun. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236639 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 02:35:09 +0000 rachylou 2236639@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The ‘50s feel ‘contemporary’ to me. Maybe because my home ec book was from the late 50s? I loved the section on clothing, grooming and makeup. It was ‘just so.’ </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236638 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 02:22:26 +0000 Ginkgo 2236638@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm dazzled by your movie glamour dress but all of the outfits have such style and elegance. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236624 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 01:13:18 +0000 Sloper 2236624@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you so much for sharing these memories!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236623 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:49:22 +0000 Jenni NZ 2236623@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I remember the Dorothy Parker saying too, since I wore glasses from age 11. Happy to say there was enough interest from males to give the lie to it here as well! Until I settled on my man at age 24. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236621 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:17:32 +0000 NancyW 2236621@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The photo with you and the fish! Your current WIW photos show the same smile and openness. Great trip through that ‘ladylike’ decade. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236618 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:10:32 +0000 MsMaven 2236618@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying them. Carla, I had to start wearing glasses when I was 14. I hated them! All three of us were nearsighted. Got my first contacts in my first year of college. Both my sisters had cataract surgery, I'm told I'm still not ready yet.&nbsp;</p> <p>Darn you Dorothy Parker! "Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses." Well, what did she know anyway?&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236603 Fri, 05 Nov 2021 23:28:26 +0000 Carla 2236603@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What I&nbsp;notice, is how absolutely&nbsp;<i>fabulous&nbsp;</i>the cat’s eye specs are!!! &nbsp;And the ‘new look’ silhouette is just so amazingly beautiful. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236602 Fri, 05 Nov 2021 23:27:33 +0000 Jenni NZ 2236602@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>These are killing me! I am yet to respond to your other two posts but I loved them too. Glamour all the way here- even in the Bermuda shorts xx </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/on-to-the-1950s#post-2236601 Fri, 05 Nov 2021 23:13:01 +0000 MsMaven 2236601@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>During the 1950's we were better off. We had a new 1950 Ford and we could now take regular trips. I moved ahead to Jr. High--such a challenge. My Big Sister warned me--the girls in Jr. High were so neat, so smooth--when you first start there you'll feel like a hick in New York. It wasn't that bad, but then I'd never been to New York. </p> <p>The two biggest fashion styles were fitted sheath dresses or else full skirts with crinolines, and if you didn't have enough of those, some times we wore multiple skirts layered one on top of the other. You may have noticed in the 40s photos that we were beginning to wear saddle shoes.</p> <p>I don't know if this was a national trend, but where I lived, a girl had to have a pair of Joyce shoes, usually a style called Spoonbill Alerts, and Jantzen sweaters and swimsuits. 9th grade girls had a semester of sewing, and my Mom sent me to a local department store for sewing lessons in the summer. Big sister got a summer job at the ice cream parlor, so she could afford to buy the sweaters and the shoes. I had to wait for my birthday.</p> <p>Sophomore year (10th grade) changes appeared and skirts got shorter and shorter. The skirts you'll see here are mostly long.&nbsp;</p> <p>In high school one of the biggest events of the year was the Girls' Dance, usually in February. I invited the boy next door to be my date. I knew what I wanted: a sheath dress with an organdy or similar fabric gathered skirt that went on top. Mom was dubious, but she made one for me. Some of the girls didn't understand it--they just weren't heaped in glamour as I yearned for.</p> <p>Not just the movies but now TV. I started to buy Seventeen magazine. I found the local library had a shelf of books on clothing design, make up, how to dress, and so on. The summer I was twelve my Mom signed me up for a modeling class at the YMCA. I loved it.</p> <p>That same year I went to the Ice Capades for the first time, and Mom was hired to work for them repairing costumes every year when they came to town. That led to a job at a local costume company where she learned how to cut layers of fabric to be used in making uniforms.&nbsp;</p> <p>I still loved ice skating but I kept growing and learned I was now too tall. The figure skaters were all petite. And my Mom absolutely wouldn't let me have a short skating skirt. So I forgot skating with the Ice Capades and decided to become a journalist.</p> <p>##1-2 San Juan Capistrano. That skinny kid on the left is me. 1950. Then a beach photo a little later.&nbsp;<br />#3 was on a trip--I think this is Las Vegas. My swimsuit was my Mom's until she decided to give it to me. I was embarrassed because it was puffy around the hips. Now I think it looked great.</p> <p>##4-7 Easter photos. My sister and friends. Young ladies. The dress with the black bow was the one I made in the 9th grade. It was yellow, and that little strap above the waist went all the way around the back. My aunt gave me one of her panty girdles. Because ladies wore one with sheath dresses. Then my next year's dress which I made. Look at that waist! Big sister criticized it for "fitting like a glove."</p> <p>#8 end of 9th grade. I will go on to high school. Mom made both our dresses. #10 about the same time. That skirt style I was wearing was popular then. Could either be a full skirt or a straight skirt.&nbsp;</p> <p>##10-11 Another outfit I made for myself. We went to a fish farm and look! I made the Bermuda shorts--big that year, and the top. We called those belts cinch belts. I forgot we wore knee socks with Bermudas. One newspaper columnist criticized the style, saying from the back, women looked like two pigs fighting under a blanket."</p> <p>#12--this was the style for coats. Something called a car coat was just coming into style.</p> <p>#13 is my movie glamour skirt dress. I think that was my aunt's jewelry. She was very glamorous.&nbsp;</p> <p>#14 is my high school graduation dance dress. Mom made it. She often scoured the fabric remnants in the department store bargain basements. Here there probably wasn't enough for the skirt and top.</p> <p>There were so many changes taking place in this era. I have more photos.</p> <p>I thought I was so skinny, but looking at some of these? Not by the next decade standards. In my senior year I went on a diet to gain weight. Think Marilyn Monroe etc. I was 5'8 1/2". I went from 125 to 130 pounds.&nbsp;</p> <p>Ready for college!</p>