Ever seen the movie Grease? If you have, it’s not a stretch to say that you understand the fashion of the decade and could guess what many of the people were wearing. As silly as it seems, many people in the 1950’s wore very similar clothing and caught onto the trends of the times. Greased back hair for the men and ponytails on the females was the norm with cashmere sweaters, poodle skirts, rolled up t-shirts, and leather jackets first coming into real prominence in the fashion world during the ‘50’s. As opposed to the 1940’s, people could now become more involved with looking good and setting trends, instead of wearing what the could find due to fabric shortages.

One major change in the 1950’s that affected the fashion world was the emergence of rock ‘n roll music. Many saw this form of music as a disaster for the country that would make the kids act wild and crazy. In fact, as far as the fashion world is concerned, rock ‘n roll freed the children to dress in a new way. While it did make many of them dress in the “black jeans with a white t-shirt look,” it changed the face of the fashion times. Also, as opposed to the formal ‘40’s, the 1950’s ushered in a sense of more color and more exciting clothing. Things were more controversial at the time, so the clothes reflected this in the 1950’s fashion.

As far as females were concerned, the fashion of the 1950’s started to gear towards more of the thin ideal features of a woman, as opposed to the bustier forms of women earlier in the century. The clothing took shape with this and become more form fitting to show off the features of a female. The attitudes of the 1950’s dramatically changed the fashion of the decade and made it more Grease-like than any other decade since.