Fall Fashion Through the Years: 1950s

Here we are at part two of our little series! 
My personal favorite decades would the the 1940s-50s, so I was excited to do this one. 
 My rather long hair just wouldn't cooperate with me and refused to hold any curls, so I had to opt for a more Grace Kelly look and pulled my hair in a simple bun. 
 Grace is my favorite fashion icon from that era, so it wasn't too a big a disappointment for me. *winks 

Random Facts from the 50's: 

On January 3, 1959, Alaska becomes the 49th state of the US, and on August 21, 1959, Hawaii becomes the 50th state

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the beloved Peanuts gang are introduced to the world

Disneyland opens to the public!

Some of my favorite TV shows air, including Father Knows Best, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Rawhide, and Laramie... Who am I kidding? Like every western ever. *heart eyes*

Queen Elizabeth takes the throne after her father dies 

NASA is born

Audrey Hepburn makes her screen debut in Roman Holiday 

The Cold War beginsThe first McDonald's opens. The price of a burger is 15 cents. 

Disney's Cinderella premiers and becomes the one of the highest grossing movies of the year

Elvis Presley first appears on TV and Ricky Nelson begins his career 

Grace Kelly marries and becomes the Princess of Monaco  

Hula hoops are all the rage, as well as Record-Hops and its the age of crooners, dancing and some of the best music in history

Songs from the decade include: 

• Great Balls of Fire 
• I've Got You Under My Skin 
• When I Fall in Love 
• I Walk the Line 
• Walkin' After Midnight
• All Shook Up 
• That'll Be the Day 
• Jambalaya 
• Rock N' Roll Music 
• Singing the Blues
• Tammy 
• Sixteen Tons
• Love Me Tender
• Young Love
• All I Have to do is Dream 
• Be-Bop Baby 
• Down the Line 
• Hound Dog 
• That's Amore 
• Little Bitty Pretty One 

Can we just stop and say that Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra are some of the greatest singers to have ever recorded? Just me.... okay then. "They just razz my berries!" (50's slang)

The fashion for the 50's woman was very feminine. Cinched waist and full skirts accentuated the hourglass curves and gloves, hats, earrings and other jewelry kept the outfit glamorous.

 Sweaters were very common in fall, and usually paired with a wool skirt, either full and flared or tight and straight. 

  

These cute sets were quite poular

Hair was usually fairly short and curled, although some girls and movie stars wore their's a little longer, like Rita Hayworth . (top photo)

The makeup on the everyday, American girl wasn't always like the Hollywood starlets of the golden era, and most woman opted for the more natural look, focusing on maintained brows, rosy cheeks and full lips. On a night about town, the black 'wing' was used to line the eyes, eye shadow was added and dark mascara was popular, although the experts of the time encouraged blond girls (like me!) to use brown for a much more natural look.

In the 50s, green was worn with green eyes, blue with blue, and so on

Personally, I always preferred Grace Kelly's clean look over 

that of Elizabeth Taylor's 'dolled-up' face.

And so I tried the best with what I had on hand! My stubborn straight hair had to be pulled back and thus I look a little bit like a bald man, but it is what it is. *winks* 

The sweater I'm wearing is an authentic vintage piece, so that was cool!

And that is all, folks! 

 It's not as on point as I would have liked, but I don't have the hair or face of a starlet, so you'll have to forgive me. I couldn't get as 'chrome-plated' as I wanted. (yes, more slang) 

 The skirt with my sister's crinoline beneath was a lot of fun, and Daminika had a hard time taking any pics of me, since I spent a lot of my time doing the Twist so my skirt would bounce around. As they would have said 60 years ago, "It gave me a big tickle!" (I'm just having too much fun with this vintage talk)

Frank Sinatra's catchphrase "Ring-a-ding-ding" is also a lot of fun to say. Say it a couple times, I dare you. Ring-a-ding-ding. Ring-a-ding-ding.  

Please don't stop with the requests! I promise I am seeing them.

Later, Gator!