Suits in the 1950s

How do women's suits change from the 1940's to the 50's? While we still see lots of interesting details, they are not as elaborate as those seen in the 1940's.

The most obvious change is in the length of the jacket which becomes shorter. Most sleeves are now 3/4 as opposed to full length. If the sleeves are full length, they will either have no cuffs or much narrower cuffs than those of the 1940's.

Skirts change too. While Dior's 1947 New Look line introduced the full skirt, it didn't start to show up in ready-to-wear until about 1950. The more common skirt for suits in the 50's was the slim pencil line, as opposed to the A-line skirt of the 40's.

Dresses with matching jackets add a new category to suits, in addition to the typical jacket and skirt combination.

We see lots of fur collars as the separately draped full pelt fur stole loses favor.

About 1958-59, suits start to change more radically. Stay tuned, as I'll take a look at that tomorrow.