Author Description

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 44. Chapters: 1945-1960 in fashion, Levi Strauss & Co., Top hat, Aloha shirt, Ray-Ban Wayfarer, Western wear, Petticoat, Teddy Boy, Winklepickers, Fedora, Coonskin cap, Perfecto motorcycle jacket, Pompadour, Slim-fit pants, Horn-rimmed glasses, Beanie, Bolo tie, Hobble skirt, Browline glasses, Pork pie hat, PF Flyers, Duck's Ass, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Deerstalker, Longchamp, Harlequin print, Crew cut, Trilby, Bobby sock, Mary Jane, Barkcloth, Homburg, Poodle skirt, Newsboy cap, Sweater girl, Saddle shoe, Spaghetti strap, Bobby soxer, Pedal pushers. Excerpt: Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute couture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look" silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s. Innovations in textile technology following the war resulted in new synthetic fabrics and easy-care fabric finishes that fitted the suburban lifestyle of the 1950s with its emphasis on casual sportswear for both men and women. For the first time, teenagers became a force in fashion. By 1947, the Paris fashion houses had reopened, and once again Paris resumed its position as the arbiter of high fashion. The "orderly, rhythmic evolution of fashion change" had been disrupted by the war, and a new direction was long overdue. A succession of style trends led by Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga defined the changing silhouette of women's clothes through the 1950s. Television joined fashion magazines and movies in disseminating clothing styles. One result of the Post-World War II economic expansion was a flood of synthetic fabrics and easy-care processes. "Drip-dry" nylon, orlon and...