Everyday Fashions of the Fifties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)

Where's the chain? Cause this book is off it!! 120 pages full of 50's fashions! Each page is topped with the date that the garments were shown in the catalog. It's about 75% women's; dresses, 4 piece weekender wardrobes, winter wear, professional uniforms, pajamas, swimwear, and accessories. I love the descriptions, such as, but not limited to, "The bra is neat as a pin...". I also love that they refer to old lady fashions as "for the Gracious Lady", hilarious. I make vintage reproduction clothing and this book is the perfect guide for pattern drafting ideas. The descriptions of the clothing are top notch, everything from various colors (which is nice cause the pictures are black and white), hidden pockets, fabric, and built-in panties. Sure, it's not a lot of pages, but this slim lil lady has all the basics. Use it for dating vintage clothing, pattern drafting ideas, or, you know, whatever. I say get it and if there's one thing I'm known for, it's my book buying advice. :)

I ordered 3 of these, too, (in addition to the 3 I ordered of the Everyday Fashions of the Forties) for gifts at a 70th birthday party.I love this catalog just as much as I loved the 'forties' catalog. There were some changes in fashions from the 1940s to the 1950s, and it is tons of fun to look at them. The pages are reproduced clearly, and I love the variety of styles shown: children, youth, adults, etc. I remember these styles, too, just like I remembered the 1940s fashions.

Love the pictures and descriptions. Very useful and entertaining

I already owned Everyday Fashions of the Thirties as well as the Forties and was DYING to purchase this one. I was not disappointed. It's a fascinating look at some of the fashions that are offered back in the 1950s. It's all black and white, copied from actual Sears catalogs. Great for people who are into period clothing, fashion designers or people who love the 1950s and like to see what the style was. I use it for inspiration for my accessories line as well as making clothing for myself.

I was born in early 1953 so many of the fashions still mean something to me. I have to admit that I'm still drawn to the femininity of the period but I have my dreams and you have yours and we'll leave it at that. This is a good book for the money. Not too detailed, the reproductions can get a little bit fuzzy and there is no color; but this what you get for $15 these days. If you like what you see here, there are other resources to persue. It's a pretty good starting point.

This thin but satisfying volume is crammed with black-and-white photographs of 1950s clothing of almost every type (no high fashion -- this is department store clothing). There is an obvious effort to represent as many types of clothes as possible and focus on representative fashions of each year, from the 40s-ish fashion of 1950 to the beginnings of mod in 1958. Many of the garments are accompanied by catalog text, which provides a surprising amount of detail on the construction of the garment -- great for anyone looking to recreate similar styles. I suppose many of the prospective clients were home seamstresses and knew the vocabulary, and perhaps expected to be told by the store what type of fastening, seaming, or back vent a garment had. There is also a lot of information about fabric, as the catalogs tended to brag about whatever horrible synthetic fabric was considered advanced that year. My favorite item in the book may be the anachronistic "push up bra" from 1957, described as providing "above-the-bra loveliness."This book can't compete with thicker compilations that provide color photographs, and it may not contain enough of whatever your particular interest is (there aren't many undergarments, for instance). But it's a good source for information and inspiration for retro fans, and well worth the relatively low price.

My daughter is a highly skilled seamtress. She cried when I gave it as a gift...She's making some of these "old school" fashions...

I'm a costume designer for a community theater and I have most of these books in the series. They are invaluable when I costume a period show! There is just enough photos for me to get an idea of every item I need - from dresses, shoes, men's suits & ties to hairstyles. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in "authentic" fashions!