Fancy Dress Party Ideas > 1950s party

1950s fancy dress costume ideas

• 1950 class, style and sophistication
  • Christian Dior style - small waisted dresses with full skirts. The aim was to accentuate the female form.
  • Accessories - sleek plate-like hats were in, as well as gloves. Pointy stilettos  were worn.
    　
• 1950 - Rock and Roll style Men
  • Long colourful jackets (Elvis Presley style), teamed with baggy pants
  • White sports jacket; Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian jackets;
  • Jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket or denim jacket - see Grease notes below;
  • Black horned rim glasses;
  • Shoes - penny loafers, white buckskin lace up shoes, saddle shoes
    　
• 1950 - Rock and Roll style Women
  • Full skirts with motifs on them (eg. poodle with a leash) and tight fitting blouses tucked into the waist
  • Gingham dresses, petticoats, pleated skirts, cinched belts
  • Neck-kerchief
  • Bobby sox, ankle sox
  • Ponytails
    　
• 1950 - other styles
  • Turtle necks, capri pants (see Audrey Hepburn below)
  • Peter Pan collared blouse
  • Bathing suits: strapless, or haltered one-piece suits
    
    　
• Hairstyles of the 1950s
  Included - short hair, simple pony tails, beehives (which carried into the 60s), and the famous 'bob and five point cut' by Vidal Sassoon

　

Famous people from the 1950s you could imitate:

• Marilyn Monroe costume - short blonde curly wig, mole, red lipstick, round white earrings, white halter neck dress with full skirt, white heels.
  
• Audrey Hepburn styles:
   a) From 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' - long black sleeveless dress, chunky pearl necklace, hair piled up with tiara, long black gloves and cigarette in holder
   b) simple black sweaters, capri pants, flat shoes, hoop earrings, short hair
  NEW - see our Audrey Hepburn Fancy dress page with detailed tips on how to capture her classic Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady - Audrey Hepburn Fancy dress page>>
  　
• Frank Sinatra - suit with tie, hat with a band around it - worn on a tilt. If you can carry a microphone with you and sing his hits eg. New York, New York - you might look more authentic.
  　
• Characters from 'Grease' costumes:
  a) Danny Zuko played by John Travolta - slicked back, bouffant hair, white t-shirt, black leather jacket, tight jeans, cigarettes in back pocket. Walk with a strutt. (The hair is the most important part to carry this off. There are lots of wigs you can buy which emulate the Danny look).
  b) Sandy Dumbrowski was played by Olivia Newton John - you can play the good-Sandy, or bad-Sandy.
  　
• Jacqueline Kennedy - strictly speaking, it was in the 1960s that Jackie Kennedy was the wife of President JF Kennedy (she later became Jackie Onassis). However, a lot of her clothes were fashioned in the style of the 1950s than strictly the 60s.
  　
• Young Elvis Presley costume - slicked back black hair, medium side burns, long pastel jacket black shirt and baggy pants. A good accessory for an Elvis costume is a guitar strapped around your neck. Or go the jail house rock look with the striped t-shirt, black shirt and black pants, white socks, and black shoes.

• Charlton Heston starred in 'Ben Hur' and as Moses in 'The Ten Commandments'. Perhaps dress as either character.
  a) Moses: long camel coloured tunic, with red sash, red striped cloak, beard, arm cuffs (see photo below), sandals, and a wooden staff.
  b) Ben Hur: Leather sleeveless top, matched with a short leather skirt, leather boots, leather arm straps, a necklace, and a whip ought to do it.
  　
• James Dean - blue denim jeans, white tshirt, denim jacket, casually slicked back hair, cigarettes, sun glasses. Walk with a swagger.
  　
• Barbie - The Barbie doll was first sold in 1959. Blonde wig, fake eyelashes, handbag, high heels, pretty pink lipstick, nice nails, nice dress. (Helps if you have a good figure). Ken didn't come along until later.

Music
Boogie woogie blues, rock and roll.

Here's a pretty cool clip of Elvis doing the jailhouse rock: (in colour)

Dance
Bop, stroll (line dance), swing, bunny hop, the hokey pokey.

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