Fashions of the Fifties - Women's retro pants and swimwear

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1950s FASHION

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New: Bonus pics of 50's swimsuits at the bottom of the page!!

Pants, shorts and swimwear

The Basics. Represented on either side are everday casual pants and shorts.

However, women did not go about dressed casually very often. The Fifties were a more formal time. These outfits would probably be worn at a barbecue or picnic. Girls had a bit more latitude, but not much.

You did not pop over to the market in shorts like those at right. Let alone show up in a sweat suit, or tee shirt.

Yes, young women wore jeans, only we called them dungarees. And we wore them to play outside.

In the Fifties, no one ever went anywhere looking sloppy. Period.

The sailor look at left was popular. Although culottes would gain wider appeal in the Sixties, you could have worn the blue outfit anywhere.

The capri outfit at right conforms to what many people now associate with a Fifties look, my Mother wore them alot. But me, I wouldn't have been let out of the house in that get-up. The sailor suits at left, sure, but nothing as sexy as the pink would ever grace my body under Mom's watchful eye.

This is me. Either the coveralls or shorts and blouse at left or the very preppy look at right.

The sleek sets at left features a very tapered leg. Like the pencil skirt, this accentuated the hourglass figure.

Play or beach clothes at right. Please note, even with a halter top - no belly buttons visible!

Swimwear was tame. And very ladylike. And again, even the skimpiest two piece suit covered the belly button.

The wild floral at right reflects America's 50s fascination with Hawaii, which would become a state in 1959.

DID YOU KNOW?
Technically, any two piece suit is a bikini. But do you know where the name comes from? Originally created by Parisian designer Louis Reard in 1946, he named it after the Bikini Atoll, where the atomic bomb was tested!