"A billow of chiffon" (Vanity Fair, June 1956)

 Here we have a couple of wildly romantic dance dresses in chiffon.  (The one in the background is "ballerina length", or just reaching to the bottom of the calf.)  The object of fashions like these was to look attractive in a ladylike way rather than being blatantly sexy.

OUR COVER GIRLS... dance in a billow of chiffon... two versions of the same dress, by Roecliff & Chapman... candy pink... pineapple ice... note the longer length.

Vanity Fair's "VANITIES" column noted some of the latest fashion trends for June 1956:

NEW AGAIN... THE ORGANDIE BLOUSE (Dior showed it time and again with his little city suits.)  Make it like a shirt in whitest cotton organdie and let the collar turn over the collar of your suit's jacket...

NEW ANCHORAGE...  for a floating, fragile , tulle stole... wear it straight across your throat, held in position by ropes of pears, the ends of the stole flung over your shoulder and flying free.

PRETTIEST POSSIBLE WAY TO LOOK...for the season's most formal occasion... carry a sunshade to match your dress... perfect for a garden party, Henley or Ascot... and a wonderful way to shelter a sun-shy skin.

HOW MANY SUMMER DRESSES IN YOUR WARDROBE?  Collecting summer prints can be an expensive business... Easiest to wear... the rose prints (that Dior adores and uses time and again; Digby Morton, too), the Van Gogh prints, mere smudges of colours, exquisitely merged, spots, diamonds (in fact most geometricals).  If you can be really strong-minded... keep your prints colour coordinated so that you can indulge in a brilliant pair of shoes.

Australian Home Journal, September 1955

 The free patterns for Spring "frocks" which came with the September 1955 issue of the Australian Home Journal were so typical of their era that they've almost become cliches.  They are all variations of styles which combine cinched-in waists with bouffant, calf-length skirts.  The artist who illustrated them for the cover of the magazine has accessorised them with hats and white gloves.  The two figures on the right are wearing fashions for younger women: the woman on the left is wearing a "matron's frock" designed for older women.

As usual the Australian Home Journal has lots of fashion news and advice, including some suggestions on how to spark up your accessories!

Full-skirted, sleeveless cotton frocks are featured in teenage styles for the coming season.  In bright prints or soft pastels, many of them have special petticoats or hip stiffening to accent their swirling skirts.  Simplicity of design is combined with trends which characterise the spring silhouette for adults.  The elongated line is seen in long torso dresses and in frock with a hipline emphasis (a band of braid, velvet or ribbon extending extending around the skirt at hip level is one of the ways in which this is achieved).

Coat frocks, buttoning from neck to hem, have established themselves as  a classic which appears in many attractive versions nowadays, from slim sheaths to styles with graceful fullness in the skirt.  Their capacity to look equally dressy when worn on their own or when partnered with a coat makes them a particularly practical style.

Fashion's latest . . . Add a rhinestone buckle to a belt, the bow of a sash, or the centre or side of a scoop neckline: stitch brilliants to the curve of a turn-down collar or add a rose to either corner: pull a pert white organdie bow through slots at the jewel neckline of a dark frock: stitch groups of gay glass beads on to a cinch belt: brighten a round necked sweater with a collar of vivid felt flowers sewn on to a foundation.

"Choose Partners... Change Partners" (Good Neighbor Club Plan, Spring and Summer1954)

 At first glance, these demure, ladylike separates look as if they would have been right at home at the turn of the century—skirt lengths excepted, of course!

For the Beach (Vogue, British edition, July 1953)

 The 1950s aren't usually thought of as a decade of daring fashion innovation, but this model is wearing shorts that would have been considered daringly brief by the standards of the 1930s or 1940s (the better to show off her long tanned legs!)  Of course this outfit would never have been worn anywear but a beach, or possibly the wearer's own back yard.  That's a pity, because this outfit is undeniably stylish.

COVER: latest in beach news—tan tones to match your sun tan—worn with mouth-melting pastels.

Unfortunately for the curious fashion historian, Vogue doesn't provide much information about this outfit, such as: Who designed or manufactured it? What was it made of?  My guess is cotton, which, then as now, was popular for informal summer wear.

Butterick Pattern Book, Fall 1952

 In Fall 1952, Butterick Pattern Book showed readers how one pattern would look made up in two different fabrics.

on the Front Cover

One pattern equals two dresses... or as many dresses as you wish!  All you do is make the same design in a variety of fabrics.  We show you an example on the Front Cover of this issue... Butterick design 6292 is made in a dark grey crepe for daytime wear and in subtle pink silk taffeta for late day and evening occasions.  You could make the same designs in various other fabrics such as; wool crepe, wool jersey, flannel, rayon jersey, faille, cotton jersey, gold or silver printed cottons, Shantung in silk, rayon or cotton, Jacquards, brocades, surah and many blends.. wool and rayon, wool and nylon, orlon and nylon.

(Capitalisation and ellipses as they appeared in the original.)

The design is classic 1950s.  I've been trying to imagine how it would look made up in the different fabrics listed above!

David Jones catalogue (Autumn and Winter 1951)

 These pictures came from David Jones's Autumn and Winter catalogue of 1951.  David Jones was (and is!) an upmarket department store, and its catalogues were aimed at its country customers.  The clothes advertised inside would have been good quality, but fairly conservative in style.

Apart from that I don't have much to say about the fashions below.  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

JAEGER coats box or belted style, all fully-lined

These beautifully tailored coats are made in camel-coloured wool and fully lined with good quality lining.  In cosy "Jaeger" with easy-fitting raglan sleeves, you'll be ready for the coldest winter.  Each has vent back.

"Bridal Fashions" (Australian Women's Weekly, June 17 1950)

 After the distressed 1930s and the turbulent 1940s came the placid and conservative 1950s.  The parents of the baby boomers were getting married and settling down in the suburbs, so I think that a bridal gown is the perfect way to kick off this decade.

This is a classically simple dress, made in what appears to be satin.  You'll notice that though it is quite décolleté it has sleeves and covers the model's shoulders.  This is because bare shoulders were not acceptable at a church wedding in the 1950s (and brides wearing this kind of dress would have almost certainly have been married in a church).

For some reason I couldn't find a description of the dress on the cover of this issue of The Australian Women's Weekly. (There were, however, plenty of other bridal designs inside the magazine, which you can browse here.)  And of course there were plenty of ideas in the issue's advice column:

As a constant follower of your dress column I am seeking your advice about my wedding frock.  Clothes are so expensive to buy, I wondered if it would be possible to have a frock I could convert after the wedding into a dress for dances.  Would a removable train be suitable and possible?  I am having white silk organdie for the frock, and as I am rather a girlish type I thought a frilly trim would be nice.

White silk organdie with self-pleated ruffles for the trim would be charming for a spring wedding.  The train could be made detatchable (yes, I think it an excellent idea) at the waistline.  Have the bodice top form-fitting with long sleeves plus a ruffle to form a yoke effect.  Later, sleeves and yoke can be revised.  Have the ruffle again to finish the hemline and outlining a long, oval-shaped train.

"Dress sense" by Betty Keep, Australian Women's Weekly, June 17 1950

June is in winter in Australia, so the fashions depicted here would probably been used in planning a spring wedding in September or October.