1950's Fashion

To go with along with their conservative clothes, men wore conservative shoes. No surprise there. Black and white converse tennis shoes, two toned suede or white bucks.
Don’t forget the standard oxfords. The Teddy Boys wore suede shoes with thick soles called “brothel creepers,” worn with vivid Day-Glo colored socks. How shocking.

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Gloves were the order of the day. They were worn everywhere in the 1950s and completed a woman’s grooming. Without gloves she was not properly accessorised. Clean gloves were also the hallmark of a lady and white or cream were the most favoured gloves.

Gloves worn in so many colours were usually made of cotton as this was more affordable than leather gloves or the newer nylon and they could be washed very easily. Even so many women owned a special pair of leather gloves. You can see from the picture right, why they were sometimes referred to as 1950s Gauntlet Gloves.

Dents and Pittards were popular glove names, but women could also make their own gloves using a McCall’s pattern such as this vintage pattern above from anothertimevintageapparel.

The formality of wearing gloves even continued into the sixties with interesting cut out peephole variations in the popular stretch nylon and designed almost like a golfing glove. By the 1970s gloves were more used functionally for keeping the hands warm than for any other reason.

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Above is a picture of the spiked umbrella so popular in the 50s and 60s.
The long slim umbrella was available in many bright colours and price 28 shillings and sixpence.

Almost as if to match the spindly heel, umbrellas were elongated with 6 inch steel spikes and many a woman considered a furled umbrella as protection from attack when walking home late at night. Taxis were not only a rarity, but also a luxury in the fifties.

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By the mid 1950s pointed toe shoes called winkle pickers with stiletto heels up to 5 inches were a common sight. There is no doubt that the trademark of the fifties was the stiletto heeled shoe, first seen in 1952 at a Dior fashion show.
Many a floor was ruined by stilettos from shoes and umbrellas. The main problem was caused by the stilettos being metal tipped as still somewhat economy conscious after the war British wearers preferred the longer life of steel than rubber tips, despite the click clacking irritating noise they made.

So stilettos became banned in many buildings and remain banned in National Trust properties and stately homes. So take your spare flat shoes if visiting such places, as the stiletto sandals and shoes of 2005 often bear a very similar look to 50’s footwear.

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Early 1950’s shoes were often very high, but with rounded or peep toes and low cut front uppers and sometimes had sturdy Cuban heels. Strapped sandals with finer heels were popular as were heavier thicker heels for lower shoes, but by the mid fifties kitten heels and metal tipped steel stiletto heels replaced styles that owed more to designs that had been brought out to compliment the New look of 1947.

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Bags in the 1950s were literally handbags and usually held by the hand or over the arm in the fashion followed by Grace Kelly who used her Hermes bag to hide her pregnancy. Many handbags had side pockets, or even grip clasps or rings for a woman to keep track of her gloves. Right – 1955 Handbag and Flat shoes.

Larger bags to hold possessions were also popular when women travelled using public transport some distance into towns. They could keep all their essentials with them as very few women realistically had regular car access in those days in UK.

Bucket bags and raffia bags were also useful accessories as winkle picker stiletto shoes were not so comfortable. Often a pair of flat shoes lurked in the bags out of necessity just in case entrance was forbidden. Carpet was not universally used then in buildings and many floors of the period were linoleum or wood tiled and the stilettos indented the tiles easily.

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This gorgeous old wallet has intricate tooling on both sides. The reddish brown leather has a rich patina and seems to glow from being handled. Closed it measures 7” long by 3.5” wide. The snap closure and the zipper are brass. There is some green corrosion to the zipper but it still works fine. There is a silver metal snap on the interior change pouch that isn’t brass. The snap was painted brown at one time, but much of the brown paint has worn off. The mirror has a lot of corrosion and age to the backside so that it no longer works as a reflective surface, but it would be cool to slide a business card into that pocket instead. This item is in very good vintage condition. In fact, it is one of those items that becomes more beautiful with age.

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