Vintage 1950 Ladies Fashion

1950s Winter Sweaters

          1950s sweaters followed the New Look shape of the hour glass with protruding bust, tiny wasp waist and full hips. The look was snug tight to balance out the full circle skirt bottoms or match the confining pencil skirt. In reality they were no more snug than most sweaters on the 1940s but the lingerie made them look more fitted.

          To keep women modest and refined was still the moral game of the 1950s. A new invention, the sweater set, allowed a woman to wear a tight short sleeve sweater top but was covered up with a matching (usually, not always) cardigan. The cardigan was usually worn with the top button buttoned only- otherwise it would defeat the peek-a-book seduction. Button size was also small and dainty. Sleeves were slender with a long narrow cuff that could be folded over.

               The look was also rich with finer knit yarns of lambs wool, angora, nylon Dracon and acrylic synthetic Orlon. Milk beads were an expensive embellishment sewn into the sweater around the collar and lapels or all over if you were rich enough to afford one. Designs were floral and maybe snowflakes in winter or other novelty themes.

          In the early years it was a fad for teens to wear their cardigans backwards but by the end of the decade it just meant they were too poor to own a real pullover. Nearly all girls owned and wore a cardigan or pullover sweater twin set with their school clothes. It was so polished and pretty to do so!