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1950s American Fashion Essay

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1950s American Fashion Grace Kelly, who was award-winning actress and Princess of Monaco said a very independent quote “Women’s natural role is to be the pillar of the family.” (Brainyquotes.com). In the 1950s popular women were considered fashion icons, one of these icons were Grace Kelly. She dressed elegantly with her full skirt dresses, fit and flare dresses, and the tea-length skirts. These fashion icons charmed everyone and had the chance to bring several trends into the world that are still very popular today. Christian Dior, the fashion designer who has created many brilliant pieces once said “A dress is a piece of ephemeral architecture, designed to enhance the proportions of the female body.” Fashion being a major impact in America brought many different trends to the people and showed their sense of nobility. “At the end …show more content…

“...the nation’s leading libraries converted their buildings into fallout shelters and disseminated survival information to millions of Americans.” (Spencer, Brett). While the men worked to earn paychecks for their families, women stayed home to clean the houses and to keep their dresses without a wrinkle on them. “The second half of the 1950s still emphasized women dressing for ‘their men”.” (1950 to 1960). Women during this decade were to look uniquely beautiful , but dress like every other women in America, they had to look attractive and suitable for outgoing errands. “... practical but attractive housedress, not only for household chores but suitable for quick errands or the school run.” (1950 to 1960). The Cold War brought women into where they had to play the role as the uprising wife who would take care of all the cleaning. “Women’s focus was on rearing children and keeping house as they had largely left the war years’ workplace.” (1950 to

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Alina Serbina Pd 3 Essay #1 Compare and contrast United States society in the 1920s and the 1950s with respect to TWO of the following: role of women and consumerism The 1920’s and 1950’s played a big role in women’s roles and consumerism. The 1920’s was a time of an economic boom , due to the end of World War I. Once the soldiers came home , the life of women drastically changed. Many women were no longer satisfied with staying home and wanted to continue to work and perceive careers. The 1950’s were also a post-war decade , marking the end of World War II. This decade sparked an intellectual and economic boom because of the struggle to become a world power.

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The time of the 1920’s and 1950’s both saw changes to the political and social structure following the conclusion of World War 1 and 2, respectively. The United States entered into an era of wealth and prosperity after these wars, and with more money and access to material goods, the public desired more consumer products. Also, social movements after these wars dramatically changed what the role of women are in society. While some argue that these eras are completely different, the 1920’s and 1950’s, separated by three decades, still have many similarities relating to the roles of women and consumerism. The roles of women, especially, dramatically altered after the Second World War.

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In the months leading up to World War Two, additional labor was needed in the United States. Men had to fight in the war, so they left their jobs unoccupied. Women were needed to work in the war front, as well as in “essential civilian” jobs--jobs that kept the home front running smoothly. Examples of these occupations are teachers, taxi drivers, child-care workers, bank tellers, restaurant workers, and police officers (Colman). Housewives were the only group of people who were not contributing to the war efforts, or in Teresa English’s words “the only untapped demographic.”

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Gender roles were reasserted in 1950s America postwar. Even if there was an increase in divorce rates popular culture and mythology upheld hetronormative marriage as a key to spiritual, financial and spiritual success. In the 1950s, the term “containment” referred to the foreign policy-driven containment of communism and atomic proliferation. In Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (1988)

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During WWII all of this changed and a revolution in the work force was eventually seen. Numbers of women working outside the home rose exponentially. Women were brought into the factories from their stay-at-home jobs and America saw some of its highest production rates in history.   But not all women wanted to work even with the country’s propaganda ploys.

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One of the biggest factors that caused the roles of women in the united States to change during the 1920’s was the work they did during World War I. While the men were serving overseas, the women stepped into the men’s jobs and made up the majority of the labor force at that time. This allowed women the chance to show that they can do some of the same jobs that men could do. After the war, the number of women in the workforce increased by twenty-five percent. This opened up more opportunities all over the country to earn their place in providing for their families. Another thing that changed for women, during the 1920’s was “flappers”.

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The television, air-conditioning, dishwasher, and cheaper phone calls and air travel all made life easier (Foner, 728). The “postwar baby boom” caused a large demand for “housing, television sets, home appliances, and cars” (Foner, 739). Automobiles became an essential part of daily life, causing a trend of “motels, drive-in movie theaters, and roadside eating establishments” (Foner, 740). During WWII, women had a vital role in working during the war; in 1955, the tendency continued and a higher amount of women worked than during the war. However, the motives were different in that the purpose was no longer “to help pull it out of poverty or to pursue personal fulfillment or an independent career” (Foner, 742).

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According to thepeoplehistory.com, the clothes had been very simplistic but once World War II was over, new and larger amounts of fabrics, threads, and needles came about. Some of those new fabrics include taffeta, nylon, wool, and leather. Women’s dresses in particular exploded with new colors and patterns. The fifties marked an economic boom for America which spurred the rise of consumerism since more was available to the people. According to worcesternews.com, Marilyn Monroe was another huge fashion influence on the style for girls.

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Brigitte Bardot wore original clothing that caught the world’s attention in the 1960s. Brigitte differentiated from other models and actresses because of her irregular sense of style and taste in clothing that she wore, according to imdb.com. Her iconic look was what caught a lot of people’s attention, wearing bouffant waves in her hair, winged eyeliner and nude lipstick (Instyle.com) Her decisions on what she

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Christian Dior and Chanel were one of the most famous fashionista during 1950s. As they were very famous, they gave a vast effect on the fashion history. Coco Chanel, started working again at the

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Washing, ironing, sweeping, ferreting out the rolls of lint from under wardrobes—all this halting of decay is also the denial of life; for time simultaneously creates and destroys, and only its negative aspect concerns the housekeeper” (Beauvoir 380). "The Married Woman" is a chapter in Simone de Beauvoir’s book, The Second Sex, which demonstrates her negative thoughts about marriage and the overall treatment of a married woman. I agree with Beauvoir’s argument concerning the inequalities between spouses and the exaggeration of house work because of the time the book was written. In 1950, women’s roles were greatly changed because the men came back from war and took their jobs back.

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