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Thu 22 Mar, 2007 01:34 pm
I need to go to a fifties-themed party. I plan to wear:
- A "new look"-type cotton dress -- cinched natural waist, full mid-calf skirt.
- 3/4 sleeve cardigan
- Some vintage-y heels I have -- they're more 40's than 50's but they'll do (I don't want to buy new shoes for this).
- Pearls
Questions:
- What should I have on my legs? If I were wearing this outfit normally, I'd have black tights if it were cold or bare legs if it wasn't. I'm thinking that flesh-colored/ "nude" hose would be more fifties-ish?
- What should I do with my hair? I want to look approximately my age, not like a high schooler, plus I'm wearing heels rather than saddle shoes. A chignon? Any pointers, if so? (My hair is mid-back, approaching waist-length.)
- Red lipstick?
Anything else that would lend that fifties vibe? (I'm gonna look for a bullet bra, doubt I'll find one though.)
Thanks!
If you really want authenticity, you'll find a pair of nylons (Frederick's of Hollywood may still carry them) and a garter belt or girdle. No such thing as pantyhose in the 50's, you know.
Check imdb for actresses of that period. Sandra Dee, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell. Many women wore their hair shorter back then, pixie-ish, but there were lots of waves, especially in long lush hair.
Absolutely red lipstick. Matte, not shiny. And dark, defined eyebrows ala Audrey Hepburn.
Brave lady!! :-D
That's gold, eoe, thanks.
Should I wear a pin on the cardigan? (I may have one...)
soz,
i'm disappointed you won't be wearing red bandanna with white polka-dots, blue workshirt and dungarees(?)...
Wrong era!
Close, but too early. :-)
A while back I was part of a group that did the Pink Ladies thing, like from Grease.
My hair is long (past my shoulders) so I did a teased flip with bangs. Basically my hair style anyway, but about 3 inches higher.
There's definately a skill to teasing hair, a friend did it for me. To keep it all in place, we used good ol' Aqua Net....The Aqua Net was part of the costume anyway, had a can of it sticking out of my big handbag.
Or, you can really make a statement with a beehive.
I think you'd look great with that, with your long hair.
Any chance of getting to see pictures?
I saw one site that mentioned holding the rolled up long hair in a hairnet at the bottom, like a "bun" at the back of your neck. I remember wearing a pony tail and using a "switch" of my mother's old cut off hair (back when she had her first hair bob, must have been in the early twenties) - anyway, I put my hair and it together in some kind of roll/twist held by hairpins fairly high up on the back of my head... but I think I didn't try that until the early '60's. I have a faint memory that all those hairpins hurt.
I'd go for the ponytail, I guess. Do you ever wear one? I think that would be heavy if done high up, and I almost remember that people also did them lower, towards the neck, but not sure re which years.
I remember the beehive as quite late, more like '60..... will have to check.
GOOD GRIEF BEAR! You are a hoot! How did you find us here?
Looks like it started in the 50's but remains a symbol of the 60's, according to -
http://www.retrogalaxy.com/remember/beehive.asp
This side features a couple of pages from numerous German fashion magazines with models - for sewing at home, of course.
Although it's in German only, it shouldn't be to difficult to navigate - just try and click :wink:
ossobuco wrote:I saw one site that mentioned holding the rolled up long hair in a hairnet at the bottom, like a "bun" at the back of your neck.
That's called a snood, but it's more "40s-ish" than 50s . . .
The pony-tail thing would work, if Soz were going for the teenager or college girl look--but not for a "matronly" look. For that, the snood might work, since "matrons" of the 1950s were girls in the 1940s, and probably wearing styles from their youth. Although i lived all through the 50s, i wasn't really paying attention to ladies' fashions--at least not when they were clothed . . . ahem . . .
Agree, Set. My aunt had a friend who wore a snood seemingly all the time, and that was around '55, '56 - but on the other hand, that was the only person I remember seeing wear one.
Altho' this too seems more 40's, with long hair I'd lean towards Virgina Mayo, Liz Scott or Lauren Bacall. They wore their hair long and sexy.
Cool, Walter!
These are my shoes, almost exactly:
Happy to see them paired with a similar skirt to what I'll be wearing. My dress is really low-cut though, I'm not seeing a lot of that -- the early-50's neckline seems to be very high.
This won't be strictly historically accurate anyway though...
Set, right, that's what I meant about not wanting to look like a high-schooler. I wear a ponytail often (I am right now) but doesn't seem to go with the rest of the look.
Check these girls out. This is what you do with retro long hair, IMO. (I mentioned Virgina Mayo above but meant Veronica Lake)
![http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][img]http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7428/starsic9.png](http://[URL=http://imageshack.us][img]http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7428/starsic9.png)
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