Chapter 17 The New Look Fashion Conformity Prevails Notes PDF

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1 Chapter 17: The New Look: Fashion Conformity Prevails Notes C. 1947-1960 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ● Air travel ● Almost instant transmission on international news ● Europe in capitalist and communist economies ● WWII ended European imperialism in Middle East and Asia ● Space race ● Western Europe was capitalistic ● Eastern Europe was communist and pro-Soviet ● Germany ○ East: German Democratic Republic ● Cold War ● War-damaged economies vulnerable to Soviet domination ● Marshall Plan increased industrial production in western Europe ● Europe underwent a spurt of population growth ● Exodus of people from rural to urban areas ○ Urban culture began in imitate that of the US ● 1950s, number of automobiles almost doubled, increase in motor scooters ○ Highway system was limited ● United Nations 1947 resolution intended to divide Palestine b/w Arabs and Jewish refugees ○ Arabs rejected terms and war ensued ○ Jews held off and established the state of Israel in 1948 ● Middle East was a mix of undermined imperialism and communism ○ India granted independence in 1947 ○ China under communist Mao Zedong in 1949 ● 1950s, Soviet Union launched Sputnik ● 1953, Joseph Stalin dies ○ Troops put down a Hungarian revolt The United States ● After FDR dies, Harry Truman takes over in 1945 ○ Atomic bomb on Japan ○ Ordered development of hydrogen bomb ○ Korean War in 1950s ■ Truced signed in 1953 ● Communist conspiracy in US ○ Joseph McCarthy ○ Turned into a witch hunt ● 1944 GI Bill ○ Benefits to veterans of WWII and Korea ● 1949, US and Canada joined other nations in NATO ● Men and women attended college ● 1960s ○ Silent generation: those born between the Great Depression and WWII ○ Beatniks: predecessors of the youthful protests of the 1960s, appeared in latter part of the 1950s ■ Eccentric habits of dress and grooming ■ Rejected the “square” world ● During Eisenhower presidency, civil rights became a dominant part of American life

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During Truman years, congress rejected any civil rights bills proposed by president ○ Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka ○ Little Rock, Arkansas and Central High School ○ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ○ 4 men sat at department store counter in Greensboro, NC

INFLUENCES ON FASHION The Silent Generations’s Move to the Suburbs ● Baby boom: bumper crop of babies starting in 1947 ● Family-oriented lifestyle ● Expanding highway systems ● Fast food ● Camping ● Suburban shopping malls ○ Esp. adolescents The Young ● Postwar socioeconomics kept adolescents dependent on their families for longer periods of time ○ Seventeen ○ Young Miss ● Teddy Boys: working class British adolescents who adopted styles in menswear that had a somewhat Edwardian flavor ○ Elongated, loose jackets with wide, padded shoulders, and a velvet collar ○ Trousers were narrow, tight, and short enough to allow garishly colored socks to show ○ Narrow neckties ○ 1950s, flat broad shoes replaced by winkle pickers (shoes with exaggeratedly pointed toes) ○ Hair somewhat longer, with sideburns and a duck-tailed shape at the back known as the DA (duck’s ass) (duck’s tail in US) ● Teddy Girls ○ Long gray jackets over tight, high-necked black sweaters and black skirts ○ Combined dark stockings with a feminized version of the winkle pickers with very high heels and pointed toes ● Significance of Teddy Boys ○ First outfit promoted by the young, for the young ○ First fashion to begin among the lower classes ○ First fashion to be the outward evidence of a lifestyle cult Television ● Commercially available to American public about 1948 ○ More than 5 million by 1950 ● White bucks: white buckskin shoes after singer Pat Boone ● Elvis Presley pompadours ● Davy Crockett coonskin caps ● I Love Lucy Internationalism ● Traveling by plane was quicker and cheaper ● Influence from other countries brought back home ● Steady increase in imports The Fabric Revolution ● Before WWII, clothes made from natural fibers (silk, wool, cotton, linen) and manufactured fibers (rayon and acetate)

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Marketing of nylon after the war encouraged production of other synthetic fibers ○ Modacrylics ○ Acrylics ○ Polyesters ○ Triacetate ○ Spandex ● Most of not all were easy to care for ● Drip-dry fabrics ● Wash-and-wear fabrics: late 1950s ● Permanent press: replaced wash and wear in 1960s, chiefly cotton and cotton blended with polyester ● Textile Fiber Products Identification Act in 1960 by Congress ○ Labels for textiles in a garment The Changing Couture ● Originals: garments shown and sold by couture houses, made in establishment of designer ● 1947, House of Dior made fashion history ● Cristobal Balenciaga ○ Spanish-born ○ Opened first establishment in Paris in 1937 ○ Sculptural forms and shapes ○ Major force in 50s and 60s ● Chanel reopened in 1954 The American Mass Market ● New York the center of design ● Originate, manufacture, and distribute clothing to retailers ● Knock-offs: pirated copies of popular designs by couture and American ready-to-wear designers ● Price of original Chanel suit in Philadelphia was $3,500 ● Line-for-line copies: relatively faithful copies of an couture original made by department stores by arrangement with designer, sold at lower price New Centers of Fashion Design ● By 1950s: Florence, Rome, and London had joined Paris and New York as important centers of fashion ● Centers for men’s design began to expand after WWII into 1960s COSTUME FOR WOMEN: 1947-1960 Style Features of the New Look for Women ● Skirt lengths dropped sharply ○ Radical to women who wore skirts to just below their knees ○ Within a year they were widely adopted ● Square, padded shoulder since 1930s was replaced by a shoulder line with a round, soft curve ● Enormously full skirts ● Others had pencil-slim skirts ● Waistline was nipped in and small, rounded curves of body were emphasized ○ Many daytime and evening dresses were cut quite low ○ Curve of hip was stressed ○ Basque was stiffened and padded into a full, round curve COSTUME FOR WOMEN: 1947-1954 Garments ● For confining undergarments that haven’t been seen since before 1920s ● Now made of synthetic fibers that pulled the body in without the rigid, painful boning and lacing

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Brassieres (bras), emphasized an uplift ○ Strapless available in both short lengths or constructed to extend to the waist (merry widow) ○ Boned with synthetic materials ● Waist cinchers, boned or elasticized fabric ● girdles/foundation garments are now corsets: usually extended well above the waistline and were made of elasticized panels with some stretch combined with panels of firmer, non-stretching fabrics ○ Some had zippers ● Full petticoats required for skirts ● Starches crinoline half-slips were used ● Permanently stiffened nylon plain-weave fabrics or nets were generally preferred ● Beneath full skirts, slips with full skirts with ruffle around hem ● Narrow skirt garments required a narrow slip ● Hoop petticoat under evening or wedding dresses ● Dual silhouette with full or slim skirts of daytime dresses ● Necklines were plain, round, or square and ended either close to the neck ot lower ○ Small Peter Pan collars ○ Larger square or round collars ○ Chinese style, or mandarin, standing collars ● Most sleeves were close-fitting ● Short cap sleeves just covering the shoulder ● Short, medium, longer set-in sleeves that fit the arm closely ● “Shirt sleeves” similar to those on men’s shirts, but fuller ● Summer jacket dresses ○ Usually sleeveless with small straps or halter tops and short jacket or bolero ● Shirtwaist dresses with full skirts ● Coat dresses with full skirts ● Most suits tended to be made with narrow skirts ○ Jackets fit closely at the waistline, extending below the waist where they either flared out into a stiffened peplum or had a rounded, stiffened, and padded hip section ending several inches below the waist ○ Necklines tended to stand away from the neck somewhat ■ Peter Pan ■ Notched ■ Rolled ■ Shawl types Maternity Dresses ● Two-piece, with loosely fitted tops over narrow skirts that had a stretch panel or open area to accommodate the expanding figure ● Still photographed on non-expectant women ● Day and evening dresses typically the same length ● Ballerina length: predominated length ● Fish tails: elaborate puffs of fabric at the hips, worn on narrow-skirted styles of evening dresses Outdoor Garments ● Coats either followed silhouette, having fitted bodice and full skirts, or were cut full from the shoulders ● Fitted coats cut in princess line and belted ● Kimono and raglan sleeves ○ Some had turned back cuffs ending well beyond the wrists (long gloves worn with these) ● Fur coats for affluent women ● shorties/toppers: jackets ending above the waist, convenient way to accommodate wide skirts

5 Sportswear ● Skirts full or narrow ● Blouses followed body contours with darts or seams to fit smoothly through bust and rib cage ● Sweaters fit close to the body ○ Smooth shoulder lines ○ Sweater twin sets: matching cardigans and pullovers ○ Shrugs: bolero-like cardigans ● Early part of period, shorts were upper-thigh length and fairly straight ○ Bermuda shorts in 1954 ● Narrow pants fit legs so closely ● Pants lengths ○ Ending at ankle ○ Houseboy pants: ending at calf ○ Pedal pushers: short, midcalf-length pants Clothing Worn for Active Sports ● Jacques Heim credited with introducing a scanty, two-piece bathing suit in Europe ○ Called the atom ● Lous Réard advertised smaller version as the bikini after Pacific atoll where atomic tests were conducted ○ American women didn’t adopt them ○ Cotton, nylon, Lastex ● Shorts, trousers, skirts and sweaters worn for golf ● Ski pants narrowed with slacks ○ Stretch yarns ○ Nylon windbreakers ○ Skiwear in bright colors ● White for tennis Sleepwear ● Fuller skirts with figure-hugging bodice ● Nightgowns ○ Sheer and full-skirted models available ○ End of 50s, more colorful prints in floral and abstract replaced pastels Hair and Headdress ● Longer hair in fashion in mid 50s ● Hats worn for all but most casual events ● Small to large, wide-brimmed picture hats ● Later 50s, hats consistently smaller and fit head closely ● Turban styles in bright prints or plain colors Footwear ● Nylons: long sheer stockings ○ Some seamed, others seamless ● Through 40s, and mid 50s, rounded toes and very high heels and open-toed, ankle-strap, sling-back, or sandal styles ● Lower heels and flat shoes were available ● Moccasins, loafers, ballet slippers, canvas tennis shoes (sneakers) ● Mid 50s, toes grew more pointed and heels narrowed ○ “Stiletto heels” made with a steel spike up the center of heel to prevent breakage Accessories ● Gloves in cotton or nylon, or leather, many different lengths and textures

6 ● Handbags moderate in size, usually with small handles Jewelry ● Necklaces (fit close to neck) ● Bracelets ● Earrings ● Costume jewelry: rhinestones, colored stones, imitation pearls in colors Cosmetics ● Bright red lipstick ● Face makeup in natural skin tones ● Mascara ● Pencil on eyebrows ● After 52, eye makeup became more pronounced ● 56, colored eyeshadow in magazines ● Nail polish in shades of pink and red SILHOUETTE CHANGES: 1954-1960 ● Dior presented the A-line in his collection of 1955 ○ Unfitted or chemise styles did not catch public fantasy immediately ● By 1957, most suits had shorter jackets, loosely fitted and ending shortly below the waist ● Shirts grow gradually shorter and narrower ● Coats were straighter ● Hair was longer and usually arranged higher and wider around the face ● 1958, women bought unfitted dresses, like chemise style or A-line trapeze ● By mid 1960s, unfitted style was universally worn COSTUME FOR MEN Garments ● Boxer shorts, jockey-type shorts, athletic shirts, T-shirts ● Bold Look: term/look introduced by Esquire magazine in October 1948 ○ Continuation of the English drape cut with greater emphasis on a coordination b/w short and accessories and the suit ● Broad-shouldered jackets had lapels with a long roll ● Jackets somewhat longer than in war years ● Most pant legs were cuffed ● Shirts tended to have wide collars ○ Cotton favored ○ Some made of nylon ● Teddy Boys moved look away from Bold Look ○ Suit with less padding in the shoulders and narrower silhouette ○ Single-breasted styles ○ Dark gray (charcoal) was most popular ○ Gregory Peck ○ Era of the grey flannel suit is the 1950s ● Shirts provided touch of color ○ Small collars ● Vests in bright colors for informal occasions ● Late 50s, gray flannel suit abandoned ○ Continental suits: New suits with shorter jackets, a closer fit through the torso, and rounded, cutaway jacket fronts

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Evening wear ○ Tuxedos or dinner jackets ○ Tailcoats were rare, only for very formal occasions ○ White dinner jackets worn in summer Outdoor Garments ● Trimmer, narrower lines ● Overcoats of 1950s had natural shoulders and more slender cuts ● Late 50s, wraparound, belted coat was revived ● Casual coats were hip or waist length in light or sturdy fabrics ○ Buttoned or zipped ○ Set-in or raglan sleeves ○ Emphasis on leisure activities Sportswear ● Ivy League Look ● Sports jackets like business suits ● Mid 50s, sports jackets had interesting textures ● Leather-buttoned corduroy ● 50s casual trousers were slim and straight ● Chinos: khaki-colored, twill-weave, cotton trousers ● Late 50s, self-belts and beltless trousers were worn ● Slacks tapered to the ankles and were cuffless ● 1954 Bermuda shorts revived for sportswear ○ Combined with knee-length stockings Clothing for Active Sports ● Tailored trunks preferred for swimming in early 50s, especially medium length boxer shorts ● Sometimes wore sets of matching sports shirts and trunks ● End of 50s ○ Variety of trunks similar to Bermuda shorts ○ Even longer Jamaica shorts ○ Tailored trunks all worn Sleepwear ● Pajamas, not night shirts Hair and Headdress ● After WWII, short crew cuts ● Flat top: when hair was cut flat on top ● 1950s, longer hairstyles ○ Younger men either short or long ○ Older men somewhere in the middle ● Fedora ● 1952, Eisenhower reestablished the homburg ● Straw fedora hats in summer ● Brims decreased ● Russian-style hat ● Tyrolean hat with a sharply creased crown Footwear ● Synthetic fibers and one-size, stretch stockings ● Varying leather color, and detailing, manufacturers could use same style of shoe for day and evening wear ○ Oxfords

8 ○ Brogues ○ Moccasins Accessories ● Functional items ○ Wristwatches ○ Handkerchiefs ○ Umbrellas ○ Jewelry such as rings, identification bracelets, cuff links, tie pins COSTUME FOR CHILDREN ● Used new synthetic fibers Infants and Preschool Children, Girls and Boys ● Trousers with snaps at crotch for easy diaper change and reinforced knees ● Small girls ○ Loose, yoked dresses ○ Long corduroy pants or overalls ● Young girls ○ Full skirts and fitted bodice ○ Princess-line styles ○ Tailored shirts with similar collars ○ Pants followed cut of adults’ ○ Hair tended to be short ● Small boys ○ Romper suits or short pants ○ Long corduroy pants or overalls ● Young boys ○ Jackets and knickers before adolescence abandoned after the war ○ Suits had long pants ○ Eton jackets (younger) and blazers (all ages) ○ Dress shirts with suits and jackets ■ Knitted T-shirts ○ Hair was cropped short or in crew cut Outdoor Garments ● Mini versions of adult men and women Notable Youthful Fads ● Long, full black skirts with leg-of-mutton plaid blouses and ballet slippers ● Denim jeans with saddle shoes and large shirt with loose tail ● Poodle skirts: full-circle felt skirts with a poodle appliquéd in different color on felt POST PRESENTATION NOTES ● Jack Kerouac ● Conformity in everything, especially for adults ● Men and women unisex styles ● Jeans take off in specific groups ○ Denim usually relegated to outside activities ● Bomber jackets ● Elvis and James Dean...