In the decades that followed the second world war, economies became more and more business-minded and fashion of the 1950s for men was heavily influenced during the rebuilding phase of all the economies. In the 1950s' men's clothing had become modern and more liberal in nature. From a personal prospective, I feel that modern business fashion that has been in vogue is influenced by the way the men back in 1950s dressed.
1950s Formal Wear
In the 1950s the economic and social conditions were improving and life was becoming comfortable, hence people started dressing accordingly and tailors and designers started using cloth more liberally. The 1940s fashion for men depicted a sort of simplicity and the military dress influence of the second world war had made men's clothing, better fitting. The fittings thus, was more precise yet simple and designers excluded any part of the clothing which was not needed. For example the early 20th century three-piece suit was modified. The inner vest was excluded and the length of the tail coat was shortened. The tail coat usually had two series of buttons running parallel to each other. The two set of buttons was reduced down to one and the number of buttons were also reduced to a couple or a triple. Next, the height of the collar was brought down and the upright, erect collars became short, folded and comfortable. The usual bow tie was replaced by the necktie.
The idea of 1950s clothing was to keep the wearer comfortable. This evolved and modified designs were also easier to manage and handle. Basically, the fashion from this era was practical. On any ordinary day at work, a person would wear the following:
- Suit Jacket: the stripped patterns were rather popular, but an equal number of people also used plain jackets
- Shirt: Shirts were usually white, and in many cases were also pale colored with a single pocket in the front. Many designs also started introducing pocket-less shirts. The cuffs were modified to fit the wearer properly and comfortably. The cuffs became shorter, narrower and more comfortable. A distinct feature that is seen in many shirts from the era is the good fitting of the sleeves which were shaggy and ill-fitted in the earlier designs.
- Pants: The pants were creased, (in some cases not), and well measured. In the 1950s good, proportionate, bell bottoms were coming into vogue. However, people never wore them to work. The modern trouser and jeans that we wear today, are largely modeled on the same lines of this fashion design.
1950s fashion for men highlighted the focus on simplicity and comfort in design. Fashion trends from this era were heavily influenced by the western spaghetti and up coming rock and roll fashion. The fashion designers took influence from cowboy wear while designing casual clothing. The shirts for casual wear started having embroidery designs and bell bottom over leather boots had started coming into fashion.
Another men's clothing style that came into being was that of casual shirts. Casual shirts were colored in liberal shades, were short, half-sleeved and loose. Fashion clothing by famous tailors and designers had also started appearing and fashion icons such as Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley become the advocates of fashion in the 50s.
The 1950s is considered to be an important era as many noted fashion exerts, companies and famous clothing brands such as Ralph Lauren started doing their innovations and businesses in this decade.
