History of the Shirtwaist Dress

Icon: Tracing the path of the 1950s Shirtwaist Dress through Dior & Goodhousekeeping By Heather Vaughan

Far From Heaven (2002) Pleasantville (1998) Mad Men (AMC TV series 2007)

September 1950 May 1954

Shirtwaist c. 1915 Women’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences. Wartime Shirtwaister, 1943

Mademoiselle , March 1947 Mrs. Edwin Vare, Jr , Ladies Professional Golf Association Hall of Fame Winner, 1950

Christian Dior, 1947 Dior’s ‘New Look’

"Chérie," Dior, 1947 “ Pactole,” Dior, 1949 Dior,1948

“ The pleats stitched down below the hips, then released like a fan.” Harpers Bazaar , April 1947

From April 1947, Harper’s Bazaar : “ [It] is the essence of femininity . . . fitted tightly to the body and buttoned from neck to wasp waist . . . . Skirts are tremendously full, and from ten to twelve inches from the ground. Yards and yards of material swing and swirl because pleats are hand–pressed and flare to the hem.… Inside the pleated skirts are padded, stiffened yet perfectly comfortable , and wonderful for women with small waists, large hips. In the house of Dior, French draping met its death—it was vanquished by pleats and under-padding. ”

Pauline Trigere, Diana Vreeland (editor of Vogue); and Nancy White (of Harper’s Bazaar ) 1964. Nancy White, 1956 Good Housekeeping

“ Although the clothes you see on Good Housekeeping ’s pages are the kind that set you dreaming, the dreams are the kind that can come true . For with all their flattering distinction, these clothes are sold in many stores and at prices retailers call ‘popular’—virtues not always found in clothes you see featured as fashion news .” -- Brooks, Christopher. “One year and 350,000 yards ago.” Good Housekeeping , May 1948.

Good Housekeeping , January 1950

‘ New Look’ Elements in Good Housekeeping
pleating
full hips
pinched-in waist
and rounded shoulders
Harper’s Bazaar , April 1947

“ Swing into Pleats,” Harper’s Bazaar , February 1947

Good Housekeeping , April 1947 and March 1948

Good Housekeeping , April 1948 A “petticoat that whispers” “ An organdy beauty with a deep flounce made to float out your skirts.” A “crunchy white cotton hope-chest treasure”

Good Housekeeping , April 1948

“ The Waspie by Warner, 1947 ( Thesander, 159) Lily of France, 1955

Good Housekeeping , November 1947 “ Like an old fashioned corselet, a nylon-marquisette and nylon-and-cotton mesh-elastic bra rounds your hipline”

Good Housekeeping , May 1948

Good Housekeeping, September 1948

Good Housekeeping, January 1950 Saturation & Reinvention ca.1950s

Good Housekeeping , March 1950

Dior, Spring 1951 (Keenan, 81)

“ The shirtwaist in flower, its natural up-to-the-minute aptness made suddenly more so by one of this spring’s miraculous botanical prints—sharp acid greens and yellow and the tart vermilion pinks that blaze this time of year in a hundred country gardens.” (“Flowered Cotton” Harpers Bazaar , March 1955, 134).

Father Knows Best , 1954 Leave it to Beaver , 1961 Donna Reed Show Cast Photo, n.d

Donna Reed, 1962 Donna Stone was a: “ wife, mother, companion, booster, nurse, housekeeper, cook, laundress, gardener, bookkeeper, clubwoman, choir singer, PTA officer, [and] Scout leader…” - William Roberts, creator of The Donna Reed Show

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) Grace Metalious, author of Peyton Place , August 1956.

Published in 1957 Anne Fogarty Dress, 1957

Shirtwaist 1949 Clothing for Moderns , Erwin. Shirtwaist 1957 Clothing for Moderns Erwin.

Starr, Management for Better Living , 1956

“ Mrs. Square and Miss Hip”, Gernriche Resort 1967(Moffitt).

“ Mrs. Square and Miss Hip”, Gernriche Resort 1967(Moffitt). “ [Rudi] Gernreich, the showman, surprised the audience at his October [1967] collection by showing a model wearing a belted shirtwaist dress that covered her knees. As if that weren’t shock enough, she wore a padded bra, nylon stockings, and spike-heeled pumps with bag and gloves to match. Just as bewildered reporters and buyers started to gasp in amazement, out came Moffitt in a thigh-high mini of the same print as the shirtwaist dress and little-heeled shoes.”

c. 1960 (My great-grandmother) c. 1957-1960 (My grandmother) Early 1940s. (My grandmother and Aunt)

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History of the Shirtwaist Dress

by Heather Vaughan on Aug 01, 2008

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