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

I thouroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was packed from start to finish with pictures. The book gives an excellent overview of what the average woman was wearing in the 1950's, unlike many similar books which focus on important designers.

While it is very light on text I still feel that it is a must for anyone interested in this period.

This is a primary source book that tells the prices and materials, which are very helpful to a costume designer. I also enjoy the book Fifties Forever, which is similar except it's color photos of actual vintage stuff (the color does help, but the Sears catalogue is still great without it).

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Whenever I take this book out, people fight over a peek into its glossy pages. It covers everything in fashion from the fifties, though mostly focusing on women. The pictures depict fashions, from dresses to shoes, hats and gloves to maternity wear; the women's hairstyles, makeup, and overall looks give the reader the most authentic possible view of fashion and the aesthetic ideals of the time. The catalogue also shows the prices and features descriptions that include fabric, color, and price. There are some pictures of teenage, male, and children's fashions. This book is thorough and unbelievably beautiful.

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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. :)

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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.

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