Fifties Fashions

Rosemary Clooney's "Come on-a My House" was #1 on the charts the day I was born. This happens to be the song that made her a star, an accomplished singer who performed for more than 5 decades. Since I managed to make it through most of the fifties, there is a lot I remember of it (not 1951 or 2 for sure). It's the first fashion era I have a memory of first-hand. Many people find their families to be "perfect", especially unable to see the flaws at a young age. Recognizing that fact, I still think my mother was perfect. And she was perfect for the fashions of the day. She was 5'6" tall and 110 pounds. The shirtwaist dresses, the sweaters, and many of the styles suited her figure beautifully. I thought of her as the ultimate picture of the '50's, surpassing even Harriet Nelson of "Ozzie and Harriet". I mention this because my mother's figure enhances my outlook of fifties fashion as very "stylish" even now.

The "New Look" introduced by Christian Dior in the '40's-flowing longer skirts, wasp waists and more feminine lines-opened the door to the fashions of the '50's. Accentuating the female figure was big and new undergarments became popular to add to the styles. Bullet bras (a cone-shaped cup), girdles, and corsets were the order of the day. They were the fifties "over the top" look. Over these delectable undergarments were the shirtwaist dresses, pencil skirts, and other items popular at the time. Pencil skirts were form-fitting straight skirts to the knee or just below. Since they were tight enough to inhibit a woman's ability to move, they became "wiggle" skirts. A shirtwaist usually has buttons on the top portion, like a shirt, with a full skirt. The skirts were held "aloft" with netting petticoats and crinolines. Some of the petticoats had boning to keep the fullness in them. The boning was ribbed and/or hoop-like for a bigger effect. They were belted to add emphasis to the waistline. Here is one of Heffy's shirtwaist dresses:
at heffyscollections.com

A similar look could be achieved with a full skirt like this one:
Rose print skirt

Skirts of all styles, full to pencil, were topped with sweaters we now call pin-up style such as this one:

Beige cashmere sweater by B. Siegel Co.

Peep-toe shoes and stiletto heels were very popular, adding to the feminine image. After the war, many women left the workplace and became stay-at-home moms (not a '50's term) and the original trophy wives. Women were expected to entertain and attend functions with their mates. The more accomplished they were at this, the better it looked for their men and the more it aided the male's career climb. Right or wrong, it was a popular view at the time. Many of you who remember the fifties may have a different vantage point. My mother worked and never wore heels, but I can see her friends arriving for Mother's Club or a card game in their party dresses and high heels. Peep-toes were my favorite!

During the fifties, Balenciaga designed the sack dress. This was a move away from the New Look drastic figure enhancement to a looser, less fitted style. These paved the way for the shift dresses of the '60's. Check back again for the Sixties blog.

1940's Fashion

There were many factors at play in the '40's affecting the fashion of the day. In 1940, the US was coming out of the Great Depression and Europe was in World War II. As the war progressed, more countries were involved and rationing became more widespread. The rationing of all types of commodities including fabric caused people to cut back on their wardrobes drastically. Fashion was impacted by the shortages and the Forties style became a wide-shouldered look with a straight skirt. Frills were almost nonexistent. Clothing was functional and practical. Design elements like turn-back cuffs were eliminated to save material. This '40's silhouette is captured in this Heffy's Collections offering:

Red checkerboard suit

After the war, people were anxious to let go of the restraints imposed. Capitalizing on this desire, Christian Dior revealed his Corolle collection in 1947 and it was quickly dubbed "New Look" by the media. He featured a softer, more feminine style with long flowing skirts and a nipped waist which needed a corset. The new look took off, catapulting Dior to fame. This look continued into the Fifties.

Heffy's Collections has a "40's dress by Blakely that is really stunning. It is a departure from the early austere look, but not quite the flowing skirt Dior brought to fashion. It has exquisite details:

Check it out

For more information and pictures of 1940's fashion, check out Vintage Fashion Guild's timeline:

http://www.vintagefashionguild.org

Qiana by DuPont

Every once in awhile a piece of vintage clothing comes our way that causes us to go ahhhh. One such item was a novelty print Ship N Shore blouse. It had darling seascapes on it in browns and blacks on a white background. So cute! When I picked it up, I was amazed. The fabric had a wonderful silky feel and despite coming from an absolutely packed box, it was wrinkle-free. It turned out to be made of Qiana nylon, a DuPont invention from the '60's. They had developed nylon some 30 years before. This new fabric was intended for nice clothing, branching out into more lines later. I had forgotten Qiana and how wonderful a fabric it was for clothing. Here is the top:
at heffyscollections.com

Designers such as Emilio Pucci used Qiana for their clothing. It had a wonderful feel and drape, especially for a synthetic fabric. It was used widely in the '70's for evening wear to disco (the look popularized by John Travolta) to everyday:

in our men's clothing at heffyscollections.com
The fabric became a popular one for all types of clothing. Synthetics started to wane in the '80's as people pushed for more natural alternatives. You can go back to the days of wonderful Qiana by buying vintage clothing made from it! Here is an example of how well the material drapes and how fantastic it can look:
Shrader Sport Qiana dress


A news story appeared in Time magazine about the new fabric. Check it out at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,941636,00.html?iid=chix-del

Daring?

One of Becky's friends came to visit over the weekend. She lives in Michigan, much closer than she has been to us for awhile. It's always good to see her and listen to her exploits at work and otherwise. She takes chances, including leaving school for her latest job and moving back closer to her roots. I am at an age where thinking of moving sends me into a catatonic state. So I don't think about it. Changing my haircolor took 10 years.

Becky tries to come up with interesting things for them to do together. This time, she decided the Scottish Festival at the Amherst Museum would be the place to go. Her friend was all for it, especially after she heard about the "hot guys in kilts" participating in the heavy games (or Highland games, if you prefer). The sound of bagpipes is one of life's special highlights and at the festival there are many. It's tough to get our fill of the pipers, but for one day we feel almost sated.

I feel like I get into terrible ruts as far as fixing meals is concerned. I think about it (actually quite often) and wonder how it happens. I love to cook, so that's not a problem. I like to experiment. But when I take into account our likes and dislikes, cost, do I for heaven's sake have everything I need on hand, then I fall back to our usual list of suspects. I worry the family won't like the new. I worry I won't like it either and that would be awful. So we eat pretty much the same things. It's a little different in the summer because I do grill, but even that gets rutty.

So back to Becky and her friend. Becky mentioned they would have haggis (a traditional Scottish dish of a variety of innards cooked in a casing) at the festival. After learning what it was, her friend said she'd try it. We have all been to many, many Scottish events and have never even thought of trying it. Her friend did and ate it all. I admire her bravado. They went to the Taste of Lockport on Sunday and her friend tried the chocolate ice cream with Guinness in it. New flavor, new idea. We have watched her introduction to chicken wings (that's Buffalo wings), beef on weck and didn't question it because they were foods we're used to. Why can't I make that pork chops with peaches recipe I saw? Do I dare? I'm going to follow the example of one much younger than I and step out and take a chance. One never knows where it may lead.... Besides, I've changed my haircolor 3 times in the last 6 months, maybe I'm ready.

Moving along maybe up maybe out

Becky and I had an interesting event a couple of weeks ago. We had an opportunity to pick up the clothes from an estate before the auction began. We have been trying to negotiate with estate appraisers and sellers to give us a go at the clothes. It is difficult to display the clothes, especially if they need cleaning or sprucing up to make them desirable. We don't mind packing them up and then bringing it all home where I can try my hand at bringing them to wearable condition. It's fun for us, and is often more than the seller is willing to do for the return expected. We have made our pitch, but up to now, it didn't go anywhere. Then voila! We got a call to look at the clothes from a house. The owner is a woman in her '90's and the clothes stretch back to at least the '40's. We actually went over twice before a deal was made. Of course, the second trip I didn't bring the bags with us, so Becky returned home for them while I started packing up the clothes. I packed dresses, lingerie, shoes, hats, you name it. One of the closets had an extra pole, allowing a double layer of clothing to be stored. It was dusty and we had no idea really what we were pulling out and packing up. I figured we could look after we got them here, especially since we had paid for them and they're ours now no matter what.

A little sidebar is needed here. We are packing up the house where Becky lives for her upcoming move. I am also packing up the contents for the sale of my dad's estate. So I'm not sure what the rationale is to bring 2 carloads full of clothes into this space. Becky lives and we work in my dad's house. It is full. I have been working on packing it up for 5 months and though I've made progress, it's a long way from done. So we carted in clothes and more clothes. We ran out of places to put them. We started to wonder if we were going to have to put Gus the cat on a coathanger so he had a place to sleep. Talk about dumb and dumber! :0)

The first part of the process is writing down what we have so we can keep track of it. I write down what it is, what it needs, and anything else that will help us in the future. I take this list with me and if I can find the item on it (it's a challenge), I know have start on what to do with it. We looked at clothes and wrote on the list. We did more. We groaned eventually at the enormity of our task. Even worse because we should be packing and such. 700 items later and roughly a week of heavy lifting, we finished. There are clothes down cellar being cleaned. There are clothes in the living room just sitting there. The hall is piled with bags waiting for the laundry. It has sent us into fits of giggles over the craziness of doing this. Hopefully, it will result in fabulous new items for Heffy's Collections after Becky moves and we get situated in the new place. Until then, we'll show you the goodies we have in stock and keep moving toward... well, moving!

This is one we have in stock now, a "50's shirtwaist.
Check it out!

Heading to Fall

We're past the midpoint in August already. I'm sad because it means fall isn't far away and August is my favorite month. I wish it could be extended an extra couple of weeks. It's not that I don't like fall and winter, it's the passing of the nights on the porch, the sounds of birds everywhere, and the fun things summer has to offer. The stores are filled with back to school supplies and clothes. Heffy's Collections has several jackets and sweaters to throw on for the cooler nights. Here is a sampling, and we have lots more!

1950"s blue cardigan by Amana

a fantastic '60's sweater jacket from Saxony

Add some pizazz with the right top:

Fabulous shirt jacket from the '70's

There are many more in our men's section, shirts blouses tops-all eras, coats and outerwear, and jackets blazers and sportcoats-check it out!

Hippie-style

Our hometown, Lockport, NY, was lucky enough to land the Molson Canal Concert series for the summer. Every Friday, the town fills with people eager to hear music and have fun. The bands have been really good and a definite flash to the past (especially for those of my era and older since we rocked to them at a younger age). Lou Gramm started off the series in a big way, mixing old Foreigner tunes with some of his own. Blood Sweat and Tears rocked City Center with tons of old favorites like "Spinning Wheel" and "God Bless the Child". They could have played all night! So it has been mostly old rockers who can definitely still hold their own. It's great that they are still playing and delighting audiences wherever they play. Tonight Riders on the Storm pull in with two original members of the Doors, and we're hoping to hear favs like "Break on Through" and "Light My Fire". Back to hippie days, even if it's just in our heads.

The hippie movement that started in the "60's had a big impact on all of us and does now. In an effort to be different and stand out from the norm, many hippies wore a casual look. Part of this was to help hippies identify other hippies. Peasant dresses, bell bottoms, and colorful ethnic tops like dashikis were very popular. The laid-back attitude of the era may not have been so laid back. Hippies protested loud and long, against "establishment" rules, clothes, and lifestyle. Part of the aim was conversion to their philosophy. Long hair was "in", straight-laced was out. The overall result of the movement can still be seen today. It was the beginning of shedding neckties, wearing comfortable, individualized clothes, and "doing your own thing". So even those who never had the chance to go to Woodstock benefit from those hippies. Isn't that great?

Heffy's Collections offers flares and bell bottoms for anyone into the '60's hippie look, or just for anyone who wants something different. Becky has two pairs, and they have both been to the concerts. I finally made myself a pair and they're going tonight. I haven't worn bell bottoms since, uh...the '70's. We'd love to make you a pair using your jeans or ours. We only use gently worn jeans so we know they fit properly and are eco-friendly. Here are Becky's:
Coming soon to Heffy's Collections