1950's Social Trends

Fashion has always been a representation of the current social values of any given time. These representations were seen when women began entering the workforce, where the fashion changed to accommodate their new environment. With new social values and technological developments in the 1950's, it was expected that fashion trends would change as well.

The 1950’s era saw significant changes in the social values held at the time as well as large amounts of technological advancement with the introduction of advanced machinery and world-wide trade. The 1950’s was right after World War II, where women had begun to gain an independence that was rare before the war. They had begun to find work in offices and factories, ditching their usual roles as wives and housekeepers to earn and manage their own money. This meant that equality between men and women became an important social value in the 1950’s society. Due to the restrictions in the workplace,

Their new line used a variety of silhouettes, including the A-line, Y-line, wasp waist with full skirt and the slim fitting pencil skirt to create a curvy hourglass figure. These clothes were tightly fitted and extremely hard to walk in, with the addition of fitted skirts and tight bodices prohibiting women from working. This was initially met with huge backlash as the women had just gained a significant amount of equality and weren’t ready to give it up — both in work and in fashion. Dior’s ‘New Look’ used needed constant maintenance, excessive amounts of fabric, not to mention a complete coordinated accessory collection in order to appear “perfect.” However, after the hardships and tragedy of the war, everybody was more than ready for a change, and by the start of the ‘50s, everybody was wearing the ‘New