Vintage 1950s Teen Shoes

Vintage 1950s Women's Shoes

 Teen shoes

New 1950s style shoes for Teens were more than just black and white saddle shoes.

Saddle Shoes Teenagers and housewives wore saddle shoes. These were black and white oxford shoes most associated with teenage girls in felt poodle skirts. They were usually worn with a pair of bobby socks-– white socks rolled or folded down 2 or 3 times. The soles and heels were black along with the center panel. White shoes and heels had to keep in pristine condition. Girls would clean and shine their shoes nightly and buy new ones as soon as they began to show signs of wear. Learn about the history of saddle shoes. 

White “bucks or nubucks, were another style of Oxford shoe for teens. They had to be kept perfectly white all the time. Small “bunny bags” of chalk powder were included with each white buck shoe so girls could powder them on breaks. Another white shoe was the clunky Joyce, which resembled nurses shoes or senior orthopedic shoes today. They also had to be kept perfectly white at all times. Bleaching laces, polishing leather and washing soles were all part of the nightly routine.

Mary Jane They were a young girl’s shoe that to teens meant you were too young to know how to keep your shoes on. Graduating to a strapless shoe meant growing up. There was a trend for the T-strap shoes, which returned everyone back to strapped shoes again.  Black or red were the most popular colors among 12-15 year-olds.  Even women jumped on the trend with T-strap evening shoes and sandals.

Bunny Shoes Another teenage shoe trend in the late ’50s was bunny shoes or just bunnies. They were leather slip-ons in white, black or red with two “ears” for a tongue and wings on the heel for a bunny tail. The fad for bunnies, also called Pixies, was widespread but short-lived among girls and teens. Women’s shoes, however, adopted the “ears” calling them twin peaks and placing them onto loafers and flats. The two peaks stayed in fashion into the early ’60s.