1950s Hourglass Silhouette

The 1950s is remembered for the hourglass: a defined bust, a small waist, and either a full skirt or a slim, figure-hugging sheath. Both versions descended directly from Christian Dior's New Look of 1947, which FIT notes remained the dominant silhouette until at least 1954. Through the decade, couturiers varied and gradually loosened it, until by 1957 a completely different, waistless shape had appeared, pointing toward the 1960s.

The two silhouettes

• The full skirt. A fitted bodice over a skirt that stood out from the body, supported by petticoats of stiffened net or tulle. Circle skirts, gathered dirndls and pleated skirts all belong here, and the look was especially popular for day dresses, party dresses and teenagers' clothes.
• The sheath or pencil line. A close-fitting dress or skirt that followed the curves from bust to knee, often with a slit or kick pleat at the back for walking. It was fitted with long darts and shaped seams, and worn over firm foundations.

Both depended on underwear: the girdle, the waist cincher, and the conical, stitched "bullet" bra that gave the bust its pointed shape. See Evolution of Undergarments.

How it evolved

• 1947-early 1950s: the New Look dominates, with full skirts, cinched waists and rounded shoulders.
• Mid-1950s: a move toward straighter lines. Dior's own seasonal "lines" explored different shapes. Coco Chanel reopened her house in 1954 with easy, unstructured suits that offered an alternative to the highly constructed look. Hubert de Givenchy and Cristóbal Balenciaga developed straighter suits and dresses that skimmed the figure.
• 1957: Balenciaga introduced the chemise, a loose dress that dropped the defined waist. Commonly nicknamed the "sack", it was widely copied and widely mocked, and it marked the end of the New Look's dominance. Dior died the same year.

The home sewing boom

The 1950s were a high point for home dressmaking in Britain and America. Many women had learned to sew at school, sewing machines were common household appliances, and pattern companies produced vast numbers of patterns, many with designer names. Magazines carried pattern offers, and fabric shops were everywhere. A home-sewn dress could follow the latest fashion at a fraction of the cost.

New fabrics helped. FIT notes nylon twinsets being advertised in British Vogue in 1954 as "easy-to-wash and easy-to-dry". Nylon net made light, stiff petticoats, and drip-dry synthetics and blends spread through the decade. See Synthetic Fibers. Cotton remained the everyday dress fabric: crisp printed cottons, piqué, chambray, gingham and poplin.

How 1950s dresses are constructed

• Bodice: closely fitted with bust darts, waist darts and often princess seams, attached to the skirt at a waist seam. Evening and strapless dresses had boned bodices.
• Skirt: gathered, pleated, gored, or cut as a full or half circle for full styles. Long darts and back vents for sheaths.
• Closure: typically a metal zipper in the left side seam, often inserted as a lapped zipper, running from under the arm to the hip. Some dresses closed at centre back or with buttons down the front.
• Finishes: pinked or overlocked seam allowances; hems hand-stitched, often with seam binding or lace hem tape; facings at necklines; collars and cuffs interfaced.

Sewing a 1950s-style dress

1. Decide on the foundation. A modern longline bra, a waist-shaping slip, or a reproduction girdle changes the fit considerably. Fit the bodice over what you'll actually wear.
2. Fit the bodice closely. The waist should sit at the natural waist, with the darts pointing correctly at the bust. See Fitting and Alterations and Dart.
3. Get volume from a petticoat, not the dress. A separate petticoat of nylon net or tulle, gathered in tiers, gives the full-skirted silhouette without making the dress heavy. For a strapless or very fitted bodice, use boning.
4. Choose crisp fabrics for full skirts (cotton poplin, sateen, taffeta, faille) so they hold their shape. Softer fabrics collapse over a petticoat.
5. For a circle skirt, use the Circle Skirt Calculator to work out the radii, and hang the skirt before hemming.
6. Insert the zipper in the left side seam as a lapped or centred zipper for a period look, or use an invisible zipper for a modern finish. See Zipper Insertion.

The late-decade chemise is worth sewing once just to feel the difference: instead of fitting closely and then flaring, it skims loosely from the bust, and the decisions about ease and drape are completely different. That looser shape is where the 1960s began.