Cocktail dresses in the 1950′s were women’s best dresses appropriate for dinners, parties, and special dates! Like most 50′s dresses these came down to below the knee and were made of finer rayons, satins, silks and high end cottons. They were usually solid colors in vibrant colors like emerald green. saffire blue and deep red. Of course black was a popular color for cocktail dresses know as ‘little black dresses.”
Decoration could either be very minimal with a little glass beading around the neckline, or fully covered in sequins. The beauty in most 50′s cocktail dress was in the design of the pleating, ruching, folds, and gathers. Fabric was bunched and draped in interesting patterns around the bodice and sometimes in the skirt as well. Most dresses had a wide sash band or thin belt in the same material as the dress.
1950′s Cocktail Dresses: The Full Circle Dress
There are two 1950′s cocktail dress silhouettes. The first is what we consider house dresses or swing dresses. They are full skirts, often worn with petticoats, with tight fitted bodices, and either short cap sleeves or no sleeves at all. The sleeveless dress was a new invention in the 1950′s and women embraced the fashion.
The circle dress shape was the choice dress for housewives and casual office workers worn without petticoats. However for evening wear the dresses were dressed up with nicer materials and prettier decorations and usually had very puffy petticoats underneath. For very special formal wear these full skirted dresses were longer with large amounts of tulle.
1950′s Cocktail Dresses: The Sheath Dress
The other 1950′s cocktail dress silhouette was the sheath dress. These dresses were a bit shorter and very slim around the body. The terms wiggle dress or pencil dress describe sheath dresses although these various are tighter then 50′s dresses were. The idea was to make an nice high waisted hour glass shape yet still be able to walk and sit in them. Sheath dresses were especially popular with city women, Hollywood stars, and wives who married very well.
Today the sheath style dress is very common for cocktail attire. The TV show Mad Men features most women wearing sheath dresses, which remained popular though the 1960′s. With a conservative sophisticated 50′s flair to sheath dresses they have become new icons for the fashion runways today.
Both dresses can look amazing on any body type. Don’t let the 1950′s ads fool you. Many women were quite voluptuous in the 1950′s and they looked good in both styles.
Here are some 1950′s style cocktail dresses for sale from around the web. Also check out 1950′s Dresses and 1960′s/Mad Men dresses for more options:
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