Candid Article 13

The American Way

The era of the 50s is synonymous with a seven letter word – glamour. With the rise of American stars such as Katy Perry, and more recently, Lana Del Rey, the days of slicked back hair, Cadillacs and milkshake bars has been given a whole new lease of life.

Some design houses were quite subtle with the trend, such as at Proenza Schouler, where hair was set in barrel curls and block colour t shirts were given the ever popular Peter Pan collars and paired with plastic coated skirts. Also featured were retro floral print knee length skirts worn with crop tops – showing just the tiniest slice of flesh around the smallest part of the waist. Elbow length black gloves and the use of animal print cemented 50s Americana as the inspiration behind the outfits. For the brands print advertisement shoots, model Natasha Poly was placed on 50s style chairs in classic pin up poses.

It is an era I am particularly fond of, having been a huge fan of Dita Von Teese since I was about 15, who is perhaps one of the most famous contemporary 50s style pin ups. In more recent decades, glamour is a quality that is so often overlooked in favour of appearing slimmer or being practical, so it was interesting to see such an injection of it on the current catwalks.

Sky blue gingham and ankle high school girl socks were used at Marc Jacobs, harking back to visions of Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz. The super high waisted skirts cropped up here as well, and head scarves were tied in a band around the head. Jil Sander took the use of gingham to a whole new level, making two piece suits out of the fabric for a more full-on effect.

Aside from headscarves, another piece of interesting head gear that was used was a bizarre contraption at Nina Ricci. Constructed out of straw, it sat on the back of the head like a hat, but from the front almost gave the impression of a tiara. It perfectly complemented the pretty printed blouses worn by the models.

Prada probably won in how literal they took the trend, creating leather skirts with appliqué cars on, and shoes that had rear car lights and flames shooting off the heel. Creative director Miuccia Prada chose cute pastel pinks and blues paired with a dark bottle green to add a sex kitten attitude.

Other designers to embrace 50s glamour were Bottega Veneta, Valentino and Rochas, who quiffed model’s hair into a Danny from Grease effect. And, of course, cat’s eye sunglasses were never far from the catwalk, a sure investment for when the sun comes out this summer!