New Look Revolution in a tailored suit that features a long pencil skirt and a fitted jacket with peplum. Photograph by
Toni Frissell for ''
Harper's Bazaar'', London, 1951 On 12 February 1947, Christian Dior, aged 42, presented his first collection at 30 Avenue Montaigne, which was strewn with flowers by Lachaume. The Editor-in-Chief of ''Harper's Bazaar'', Carmel Snow, strongly believed in the couturier's talent, which she had already noted in 1937 with the
Café Anglais model that he designed for Robert Piguet. At the end of the fashion show, she exclaimed, "It's quite a revolution, dear Christian
! Your dresses have such a new look!" A correspondent from Reuters seized upon the slogan and quickly wrote it on a note that he threw from the balcony to a courier posted on Avenue Montaigne. The news reached the United States even before the rest of France, where the press had been on strike for a month. by Dior, silk taffeta, 1954. Indianapolis Museum of Art. (center, with
Tab Hunter) and
Louella Parsons wear ballerina-length evening dresses at the
Academy Awards, 1956.With his revolutionary New Look, Christian Dior wrote a new chapter in the history of fashion. Furthermore, in order to write it, he literally constructed it with his own hands. The designer had to hammer away at a Stockman mannequin that was too tough and unyielding to bear the preparatory canvases of his visionary wardrobe, says his friend Suzanna Luling: "And so, with big, nervous blows of the hammer, he gave the mannequin the same form of the ideal woman for the fashion that he was to launch." His aim was clear; his hand did not tremble. "I wanted my dresses to be 'constructed', moulded on the curves of the female body whose contours they would stylise. I accentuated the waist, the volume of the hips, emphasised the bust, In order to give my designs more hold, I had nearly all the fabrics lined with percale or taffeta, renewing a tradition that had long been abandoned." Thus, on 12 February 1947, the announcer introduced "numéro un, number one". The first outfit was worn by Marie-Thérese and opened the show during which the audience saw 90 different creations file past, belonging to two principal lines:
En Huit and
Corolle.
Bettina Ballard, the influential editor of American
Vogue, had returned to New York a few months earlier after 15 years spent covering French fashion from Paris: "We have witnessed a revolution in fashion at the same time as a revolution in the way of showing fashion." This silhouette was drastically changed from its previous more masculine, stiff, triangular shape to a much more feminine form. Throughout the post-war period, a tailored, feminine look was prized and accessories such as gloves and pearls were popular. Tailored suits had fitted jackets with peplums, usually worn with a long, narrow
pencil skirt. Day dresses had fitted bodices and full skirts, with jewel or low-cut necklines or
Peter Pan collars. Shirtdresses, with a
shirt-like bodice, were popular, as were halter-top sundresses. Skirts were narrow or very full, held out with
petticoats;
poodle skirts were a brief fad. Evening dresses were ankle-length (called "ballerina length"). Cocktail dresses, "smarter than a day dress but not as formal as a dinner or evening dress" were worn for early-evening parties. Short
shrugs and bolero jackets, often made to match low-cut dresses, were worn. Meanwhile, in Israel, simple
Biblical sandals, blue cotton shirts and utilitarian, khaki military-inspired dress remained popular choices for many women due to ongoing economic austerity and the need to feel prepared for war.
Intimate apparel Christian Dior's 'New Look' collection in 1947 brought a revolution to the fashionable silhouette of the 1950s. Dior's nostalgic femininity of round shoulders, full skirts, padded hips and tiny waists replaced the boxy style of the wartime period at WWII. The trend of hourglass silhouette brought by the popularity of Dior guaranteed the market for intimate apparel. Although intimate apparels are usually hidden by outerwear, intimate apparel is especially emblematic for the contradictory beauty in the 1950s as the silhouette was created depends on the type of foundation garments worn. Foundation garments became essential items to maintain the curvy silhouette, especially waspies, girdles and horsehair padding. For example, the sales of corsets doubled in the decade 1948–58 (Haye, 1996 p. 187). Dior's 'New Look' collection brought back the boned intimate apparels for women of all ages in order to create the feminised silhouettes the dresses required. Symington Corset Company of Market Harborough was one of the famous intimate apparel producers in the 1950s as they are the official producer of Dior's corselettes and girdles. "All the girdles were produced to the same design, in either black or white. The sugar-pink cotton velvet trimming was a particular feature of the range, and some were woven with Christian Dior's initials in the elastic panels on the side..." (Lynn, 2010, p. 106). A brand new 'Bri-Nylon' fabric was introduced by the British Nylon Spinners. This fabric was popular fabric to be applied on intimate apparel in the 1950s because it was one of the first easy-to-launder and drip-dry fabric. There was a full corset advertisement in 1959 shows the popularity of 'Bri-Nylon' and the design of the corselet in the 1950s. 'This exquisite Dior corselet features jacquard elastic net with the down-stretch back panel of stain elastic. The enchanting front panel is in Bri-Nylon lace and marquisette highlighted with criss-cross bands of narrow velvet ribbon. It has side fastening - partly hook and eye with zipping extension. The very light boning is covered with velveteen.' (Warren, 2001, p. 30 ) From the above advertisement, it is not hard to find that the corselets in the 1950s were constructed in details with boning, panels, different fabrics in different elasticity. While the corselets reshaping the women's body with tiny waists and big hips, a new shape of bra called 'cathedral bra' was introduced and became popular in the 1950s. It is called 'cathedral bra' because there would be pointed arches created by the bones over the breasts when the bra is worn. The bones also separate and define the shape of the breasts by pressing them into a pointed or bullet shape. Therefore, 'cathedral bra' was also called the bullet bra. This brassiere design was popularised by actresses like Patti Page, Marilyn Monroe, and Lana Turner, who was nicknamed the "Sweater Girl." Although this brassiere design was designed for wearing strapless cocktail dresses and evening gowns and became popular during the 1950s, the market for this design was short-lived because it was 'likely to slip down or need adjustment throughout the evening' (Lynn, 2010, p. 152). Spanish designer
Balenciaga had shown unfitted suits in Paris as early as 1951 and unfitted dresses from 1954. In 1958, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior's protégé and successor, debuted the "Trapeze Line," adding novel dimension to the chemise dress. These dresses featured a shaped bodice with sloping shoulders and a high waist, but the signature shape resulted from a flaring bodice, creating a waistless line from bodice to knees.
Coco Chanel made a comeback in 1954 and an important look of the latter 1950s was the
Chanel suit, with a braid-trimmed cardigan-style jacket and A-line skirt. By 1957, most suits featured lightly fitted jackets reaching just below the waist and shorter, narrower skirts. Balenciaga's clothes featured few seams and plain necklines, and following his lead
chemise dresses without waist seams, either straight and unfitted or in a princess style with a slight A-line, became popular. The sleeveless, princess-line dress was called a
skimmer. A more fitted version was called a
sheath dress.
Sportswear New York had become an American design center during the war, and remained so, especially for sportswear, in the post-war period. Women who had worn trousers on war service refused to abandon these practical garments which suited the informal aspects of the post-war lifestyle. By 1955, tight fitting
drainpipe jeans became popular among American women. Casual sportswear was also an increasingly large component of women's wardrobes, especially the white T-shirts popularized by
Brigitte Bardot and
Sandra Milo between 1957 and 1963. Casual skirts were narrow or very full. In the 1950s, pants became very narrow, and were worn ankle-length. Pants cropped to mid-calf were
houseboy pants; shorter pants, to below the knee, were called
pedal-pushers. Shorts were very short in the early 1950s, and mid-thigh length
Bermuda shorts appeared around 1954 and remained fashionable through the remainder of the decade. Loose printed or knit tops were fashionable with pants or shorts. They also wore bikinis to sport training.
Swimsuits, including the
Gottex brand popular in Israel and America, were one- or two-piece; some had loose bottoms like shorts with short skirts. High waisted
Bikinis appeared in Europe and the South Pacific islands, but were not commonly worn in mainland America until the late 1950s.
Hats and hairstyles from 1955, featuring a typical
New Look-style dress with a brimmed "saucer hat". Hair was worn short and curled with the New Look, and hats were essential for all but the most casual occasions. "Beat" girls wore their hair long and straight, and teenagers adopted the
ponytail, short or long.
Maternity wear In the 1950s,
Lucille Ball was the first woman to show her pregnancy on TV. The television show
I Love Lucy brought new attention to maternity wear. Most of the maternity dresses were two pieces with loose tops and narrow skirts. Stretch panels accommodated for the woman's growing figure. The baby boom of the 1940s to the 1950s also caused focus on maternity wear. Even international designers such as
Givenchy and
Norman Hartnell created maternity wear clothing lines. Despite the new emphasis on maternity wear in the 1950s maternity wear fashions were still being photographed on non-pregnant women for advertisements. On September 29, 1959, the maternity panty was patented which provided expansion in the vertical direction of the abdomen. The front panel of this maternity undergarment was composed of a high degree of elasticity so in extreme stretched conditions, the woman could still feel comfortable.
Style gallery 1946–1949 File:Croquis Couture, No. CC 20329 en CC 20328 Mousseline plissée, RP-P-2009-3905.jpg|1 – 1946 File:Michèle Morgan - The Chase 3.jpg|2 – 1946 File:Rita Hayworth as Gilda, 1946.jpg|3 – 1946 File:Evening gowns, 1947.jpg|4 – 1947 File:Berlin, Gedächtniskirche, Juni 1948.jpg|5 – 1948 File:Fashioned young Lady, 1948.jpg|6 – 1948 File:Patchwork skirt by Tina Leser. 1948.jpg|7 – 1948 File:Mar del Plata 1948.jpg|8 – 1948 File:Color film strip depicting various photos of scenes and statistics from c.1949-1950’s Duplin County Schools, PhC.188. From Photograph Collections, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC. (9016764707).jpg|9 – 1949 File:Buenos Aires - Eva Perón de gala en fundación del Teatro Colón.jpeg|10 – 1949 File:Modeshow Offermans in Pays Bas, Bestanddeelnr 903-6130.jpg|11 – 1949 •
Dutch dress patterns, foreshadowing the New Look fashions, 1946 •
Promotional picture of
Michele Morgan for
The Chase, 1946 •
Promotional poster of
Rita Hayworth as
Gilda, 1946 •
Models wearing evening dresses designed by Dorothy O'Hara,
Orry-Kelly, Al Teitelbaum and
Howard Greer, 1947 •
Berlin street fashion, 1948 •
Actress Probable unidentified young actress in
Cannes, 1948 •
Tea length patchwork skirt by
Tina Leser, 1948 •
Argentine women in
Mar del Plata, 1948 • Teacher in Raleigh, USA in 1949 •
Argentine First Lady Eva Perón wearing a custom
Christian Dior evening dress, 1949. •
Dutch model wearing the New Look style, 1949
Style gallery 1950–1954 File:Boleslaw Senderowicz - Sin título, de la Serie Modas ca. 1950.jpg| File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006252 023 Konsum-Modenschau "Ferienreise mit Konsumkleidun.jpg|1952 File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006307 006 Renate Rössing in einem See stehend.jpg|1952 File:Balatonfüred, Yacht Club. Fortepan 25786.jpg|1952 File:Audrey Hepburn screentest in Roman Holiday trailer 2.jpg|1953 File:Lucille Ball cropped 1953.jpg|1953 File:Corselette gossard1953.jpg|1953 File:Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell at Chinese Theater.jpg|1953 File:Martha Hyer Sabrina.jpg|1954 •
Argentine fashion photograph by Boleslaw Senderowicz, . •
Wide-legged trousers with cuffs (turn-ups) are shown with a short-sleeved, fitted sweater, Germany, 1952. •
Two-piece swimsuit, 1952. • Fashion in vacation in Hungary 1952. •
Actress Audrey Hepburn, 1953. •
Actress Lucille Ball in cropped houseboy pants at a press conference, Los Angeles, 1953. •
Fashion illustration of a "corselette", showing the pointed bust and curvy hipline of 1953. •
Actresses Marilyn Monroe and
Jane Russell wear halter-top summer dresses, Hollywood, 1953.
Style gallery 1954–1959 File:Mamie Eisenhower color photo portrait, White House, May 1954.jpg|1954 File:Diahanncarroll.jpeg|1955 File:Sarasota High School Sailor Circus acrobat Judy Laurent (8272465072).jpg|1955 File:Patti Page 1955.JPG|1955 File:Marilyn Monroe, The Prince and the Showgirl, 2.jpg|c. 1957 File:Teenage girl 1958.jpg|1958 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-37027-0013, Dresden, Kleiderwerke, von der Idee bis zum fertigen Modell.jpg|1958 File:Moda argentina 1958 II.jpg|1958 File:Queensland State Archives 7965 HRH Princess Alexandra at the Royal Ball Brisbane City Hall 21 August 1959.png|1959 File:MissBeatnik.jpg|1959 •
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower in bright blue day dress, 1954. •
Actress Diahann Carroll wears a full-skirted dress with a small Peter Pan collar, 1955. • Fashion in summer in Florida 1955. •
Singer Patti Page wearing a "bullet bra" brassiere design in 1955. •
Actress Marilyn Monroe in
The Prince and the Showgirl wears a fitted sheath dress with a sweetheart neckline, 1957. •
Short hair style, 1958 •
Summer dresses of 1958 are sleeveless with high, wide "boat" necklines, Dresden. •
Suit and
pillbox hat in an Argentine fashion spread from 1958. •
Princess Alexandra in a Princess Ballgown styled evening dress, 1959. •
Newspaper photo of "Miss Beatnik" contestants in Venice, California, 1959. ==Menswear==