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.
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