~Bullet Bra & Briefs~
We’ve arrived in the fifties!
Its postwar and women were getting ready to start families and be ‘happy’…
On the luxury lingerie front, the bullet bra or cone bra was still very much celebrated to wear, next to having a nipped-in waist and showing off those feminine curves.
Lingerie sales went up big time as women close and far wished to achieve that shapeliness of a nipped-in waist and lift to their bosom.
And also in the luxury lingerie area, nylon was very accessible now, also in a greater variety of colors.
You now found the likes of Tap pants, now more the shape of high-waisted briefs, to be made out of nylon, with elastic around the waist and legs and less of the bulk of the original Tap pants.
~Corselettes~
Oh, the corselettes -also called ‘merry widows’- were popular in the fifties too…
It was shapewear to help you to achieve that highly sought-after hourglass figure.
But compared to its predecessors, the corselettes would nip in the waist even more than before.
Next to just a corselette, you also found two-piece sets existing of a bra and a high-waisted girdle or waspie.
So, yes, happy women, but not as much comfort as before, cause we wanted to nip it all in and create that feminine silhouette to perfection.
And we would certainly achieve this shapely form if we wanted to venture out in a snug pencil skirt in the fifties…
~ The ’50s Are Known For Their Puffy skirts~
In the fifties and with fabrics being widely available again after the war, creativity was amped up in the fashion industry and we started to crave those iconic full circle skirts and dresses.
The puffiness of these frilly skirts was achieved by wearing petticoats or crinolines* underneath, made from a variety of fabrics like layers of soft fabric and with many ruffles, tulle, or even stiffer fabrics.
A mighty lot of fabric went into achieving the perfect circle skirt for sure.
Hope we had a lot of closet space to house these fabulicious fabric-full petticoats and circle skirts!
*crinolines: a stiffened or hooped petticoat worn to make a long skirt stand out.
~Luxury Nightwear: Slip Dresses~
In the luxury lingerie world, we also find a desire to wear more slip dresses and other nightwear in the fifties…
Probably also a reflection of the stars wearing slips in the movies back then.
We see Elizabeth Taylor donning a gorgeous silk slip in ‘a Cat On a Hot Tin Roof ‘ for example.
Underneath the slip dress, one would often wear nearly invisible shapewear to keep everything beautifully in check…
~Nylon impact on luxury lingerie~
Before we conclude this fifties chapter, it might be interesting to mention that within the luxury lingerie industry, nylon (as fore-mentioned) was a huge thing!
Because nylon was very affordable and colorful, beautiful things could be made out of this magically gorgeous fabric.
There was now luxury lingerie for every flavor and age and not only for the well-off.
Isn’t that blooming marvelous!
~*~
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