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THE CLOTHES of The 1950’s
Kids Dress Code
As mentioned elsewhere, Khaki shorts, striped elastic ‘snake buckle’ belts, ‘sloppy joes’ (T-shirts), cowboy shirts and long woolly socks were the normal day to day wear, with jeans making an occasional appearance (not Levi’s or designer brands). Long trousers were not normally worn until you attended secondary school. Raincoats were worn with belts, mainly navy blue or sometimes beige, Shoes were saved for best, and you only wore the old ones during the week. There were also black rubbers (plimsoles), white rubbers, blue bumpers or baseball boots. Trainers were unheard of back then. You had to make sure mum got you the black ones with the laces in them. Anyone wearing the dreaded slip-ons with the piece of elastic across the front was automatically branded a ‘Cissy boy’ as were those who wore short white socks. There were many army surplus stores around in those days. Apart from supplying the backpacks and water bottles for our fishing trips down the 'cut' or over Vicky Park, they were also the source of another popular type of footwear, the hobnail boot. Rows and rows of metal studs hammered into the leather sole enabled all but the hardest of hearing know you were coming for miles. They also made them extremely slippery and you could run and skid for yards, with a shower of sparks flying out behind. These were taken over by the Tuf rubber soled boot or the Commando boot with screw on rubber soles a few years later. Short sleeved pullovers and long sleeved cardigans were tghe winter garb, with a wind cheater jacket if you were lucky. The girls, when not wearing school uniform, normally wore dresses or frocks. Shorts in the hot weather. White ankle socks with normally, white rubbers or shoes a bit fancier than the boys. The other thing I mentioned before were the commonly worn navy blue knickers! Kids in the 50s >>How We Dressed Back
Then
The main things I remember about the way people dressed in the fifties were, for boys, khaki shorts, snake buckle belts, a sloppy Joe (T-shirt) and if needed, a sleeveless striped V neck pullover. Then there were shirt-tails, studded collars, pinafores, hair nets and men in hats. For some strange reason, the girls all wore dark navy blue knickers! Whether there was a surplus of this colour material left over from the war I don’t know, but there must be an explanation for it somewhere. It’s not really the sort of thing you ask about really. Unless you want to end up with the wrong kind of reputation! How do I know they wore them? Simple, because girls didn't wear jeans or trousers back then. When we played in the street the girls tucked their dresses into the elastic of their knickers legs to make doing cartwheels and climbing easier. As our sexual awareness seemed to evolve much later than today's youth we didn’t really think about it that much.Detachable Collars and
Silk Scarves
Men wore shirts, although in the hot weather, or indoors they would wear just a singlet, a sort of sleeveless vest. The shirts had collars held on by collar studs at the back of the neck. This meant that you didn’t have to buy a shirt when the collar frayed. They just bought a packet of stiff collars and replaced them. Most of the older men wore silk scarves or cravats around their neck. One thing they all had in common, apart from hats, was that they all wore a suit at the weekend while out. Whether it be for a stroll in the park or a trip to the pub, a suit was worn. Gabardine raincoats were another thing I remember seeing all the time. It’s funny to look back and remember how uniform the men were in those days. None of the different styles of clothing that people wear today. Maybe they were the suits they got when being de-mobbed from the forces after the war, known as ‘the full Monty’ because the tailor supplying them was called Montague Burton.Adult Dress Code
As I said before, most men wore hats. Either a flat cap or a Trilby. Have a look at any photo taken in the 50’s, especially the ones outside the pub before a beano (coach trip to the coast), and you will see almost everybody wearing one. Having said that, the photo of my father and grandfather shows nobody wearing a hat! They also wore double breasted suits for best. I had a Sunday double breasted suit too. With short trousers! The women wore hats too, when going out, and a few of the older ones wore them every day whether they were in the street or not. Head scarves were worn by the younger housewives. Women of all ages always wore a pinafore in the house. They were floral printed overalls without sleeves. These were put on like a coat, and tied at the back with tapes. They were always the normal Christmas present for your Nan and aunts. They wore them all day long. They only took them off when they went farther than the next street.Hairnets and Pinnies
The older women all wore hats and most had a black Astrakhan coat. The younger ones wore head scarves and a Mack (a light raincoat). The scarves were worn folded into a triangle, over the head and tied under the chin for shopping. For housework and talking over the back yard fence to the next door neighbour they were worn turban style and tied at the forehead. If it wasn’t a hat or scarf, it was a hair net to make the last hairdo last a bit longer. These sometimes covered a mass of rollers underneath. Apart from all the other worries women of these times had, they must have spent most of the time worrying about their hair. Come the weekend, all scarves and hair nets were discarded for the trip to the pub. As the smell of the ‘Twink’ disappeared it was taken over by the choking hair lacquer spray being pumped from its squeezy plastic bottle. No aerosols back then. I always managed to take a breath through my mouth and have the taste for hours after (much the same effect as the dreaded ‘Flit’ gave).
