Teen Fashions of the '50s

Rock-and-roll was a major influence on 1950s teen fashion.

The 1950s is considered a period of conservatism, optimism and prosperity. Industrial production increased and the economy expanded. People moved to the suburbs and began spending money on many consumer products. During the '50s teenagers with disposable incomes from part-time jobs became an important demographic that dominated popular culture and fashion. Teen fashions were heavily influenced by popular music, television, magazines, literature and movies.

The Dude

Dudes were dandies who wore white socks, white buckskin shoes and trousers with pleated waists and turned-up cuffs. They topped this outfit off with five-button jackets, beaded belts and colorful, patterned hats. The early rock star Little Richard frequently wore an exaggerated version of this style.

The Preppy

Preppies were proper young men and women who imitated the fashion sense of their conservative parents. Boys wore slacks, button-up shirts, pullover sweater vests and cardigans. Boys' shoes included suede or buckskin dress shoes and canvas tennis shoes. Girls wore wide skirts, petticoats and cardigan sweaters. Girls' shoes included saddle shoes, flats and ballet slippers.

The Greaser

The 1953 film "The Wild One" helped popularize the greaser image.

The greaser was originally a working class rebel without a cause, a local street tough and a hoodlum. His style included a leather motorcycle jacket, a T-shirt, blue jeans and hair slicked back with pomade into a style such as a pompadour. The style was popularized by the films of Marlon Brando and James Dean and later depicted -- or parodied -- in the 1970s musical "Grease" and the TV series "Happy Days."

The Beatnik

Cool! Beatniks were inspired by late '50s counterculture.

Cool daddy-o. Coined by San Francisco journalist Herb Caen, "beatnik" referred to a stereotype loosely inspired by the works of the Beat Generation such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William S. Burroughs. Male beatnik fashions included loose-fitting T-shirts, berets, sunglasses and goatees. Female beatniks wore chunky sweaters, skirts or stirrup pants, heavy eye makeup and French twist or beehive hairstyles.

The Teddy Boy

The Teddy Boy or Neo-Edwardian style originated in England in the late 1940s as boys rejected the shabby but functional clothes of their working-class fathers. The style included knee-length coats, close-fitting "drainpipe" trousers, brocaded waistcoats, stiff shirts, thin ties and suede shoes. It is believed the style originated with the Zoot suits worn by Jamaican workers who entered England in 1948.

References

• Fashion Era: 1950s Teenagers
• Head Over Heels: The 1950's
• "The Oxford Companion to United States History"; The Fifties; 2001
• Lone Star College: American Cultural History 1950 - 1959
• Retro Galaxy: Beatnik
• "Dictionary of American History"; Beat Generation; 2003

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish