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.

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.

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.

Sophomore year (10th grade) changes appeared and skirts got shorter and shorter. The skirts you'll see here are mostly long.

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.

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.

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.

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.

##1-2 San Juan Capistrano. That skinny kid on the left is me. 1950. Then a beach photo a little later.
#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.

##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."

#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.

##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."

#12--this was the style for coats. Something called a car coat was just coming into style.

#13 is my movie glamour skirt dress. I think that was my aunt's jewelry. She was very glamorous.

#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.

There were so many changes taking place in this era. I have more photos.

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.

Ready for college!