Fashion backtracks to the 1950s

Fashion outfits in the 1950s involved high-waisted pants for women and men, extravagant knee-length skirts for women, patterned button-up shirts for men, and blouses for women. At this time, women’s and men’s apparel was seen as formal, but they also symbolized elegance. Women had porcelain makeup, while men had their hair slicked back.

If you are thinking that you weren’t born in the ’50s so it doesn’t matter, think about how the fashion of the ’50s is still prevalent today. Fashion is all about learning new styles and ways to enhance your creativity through your clothing and accessories.

Kathryn Bloch, a senior at North Central, exhibits a fashion style that is reminiscent of how women dressed in the 1950s. Her style is filled with elegance. One outfit of hers in particular consisted of a floral high-waisted skirt, a vintage white blouse with floral lace around the collar and a pair of light brown ankle boots.

“Fifties fashion opens the door to adding more vintage items to my wardrobe,” says Bloch.

Fashion became an important part of culture back in the ’50s. During that time, fashion became one of the ways in which people expressed their own individuality. The styles and different types of clothing in then emphasized the way people should dress. However, ’50s fashion focused more on helping women define their roles in society.

Women were expected to dress in particular ways. In every clothing store, women were sold body shapers to help slim their waistlines. As a result, buying body shapers to give them thinner waists put young women under a lot of pressure. It was seen as a negative influence to women and it also gave people the wrong impression of beauty and fashion.

Corsets, controllers and bustier tops were the standard fashion apparel that women would die for. To this day, women are still in love with the style of the ’50s. Fashion wasn’t just all about how men and women dressed. People also focused on how women and men actually presented themselves in certain outfits.

Women usually paid more attention to what they were wearing compared to men. Throwing it back to the ’50s, this was a time when women chose their outfits according to the roles they played in society. For example, women were known to have different outfits to do housework, run errands, attend social events and parties and even to go to the gym.

Women dressed to impress their husbands, friends and even their neighbors. Men, on the other hand, did not care as much about impressing or pleasing others. They paid attention to how they looked, but focused more on expressing their personalities.

The fashion of the 1950s allowed both women and men to feel a little more comfortable by giving them the right motivation to pick out their own fashion choices.