| Amazon cat eyes |
Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
1950s Cat Eye Glasses
Hoop Earrings
| Large stainless steel hoops from Amazon |
Tab Hunter
The Sigh Guy
Tab Hunter had the kind of clean, cool, uncorrupted good looks a pimple-cream manufacturer dreams of. Blonde, white-toothed, healthily tanned and impressively muscled - in the 1950s, he was a major teen heart throb.
As an adolescent, Hunter was the athletic type, excelling in figure-skating and horseback riding. However, he hadn't enjoyed an easy childhood - born in New York in 1931, his parents divorced early, evidently due to his father's abusive behaviour and his mother was plagued by mental illness, which intensified in later years.
| Cover from Tab Hunter's autobiography, Confidential |
As an adolescent, Hunter was the athletic type, excelling in figure-skating and horseback riding. However, he hadn't enjoyed an easy childhood - born in New York in 1931, his parents divorced early, evidently due to his father's abusive behaviour and his mother was plagued by mental illness, which intensified in later years.
Retro Televisions
| Musical Christmas TV. From Mr. Nostalgia |
I never realised just how many kitsch retro TV products there are out there until I did a casual Amazon search of "retro TVs". True, it's not something I've given much thought to in the past...
Surely these gems will one day be sought-after collectors items? Take, for example, the battery operated "wood, resin and plastic" musical 1960s style TV in the picture at right, which apparently displays an enchanting array of illuminated rotating Christmas scenes, set to classic songs of the season. At $134.99 those scenes would need to be riveting watching, although when I think about it, there's a good chance they're better than anything on real TV.
TV NeckLace
If that doesn't appeal, how about a retro TV necklace on an 18 inch sterling silver plated chain? This is something I could be tempted to wear...well, probably. I'm impressed by the 70s styling.
| TV set Necklace by Sour Cherry |
Anyway, enough of that. Let's get to ...
Real Retro Televisions
| Predicta Chalet |
| Predicta Meteor |
Some of the TVs feature a striking styling that is very retro futuristic, yet they are apparently based on real designs from the mid 20th Century. Predicta was an iconic television made by the Philco company and according to Wikipedia is the one most people think of as "the classic 1950s TV set", despite the fact that it proved too radical a design for the domestic market, causing the company to fold in 1960. Of course now, original Philco Predictas are highly collectable.
It may be iconic in the US but I'm unfamiliar with the brand and the 'detached picture tube' style, so for me, it's something of a revelation. Modern Predictas, with vintage styling but modern electronics, are now made by a Wisconsin company called Telstar Electronics and the attention to detail in the reproductions is reflected in the higher price tag, which according to the FAQ section of the website, is comparable to the average high-end TV.
There are 8 eccentric designs, many with hand crafted timber cabinets and brass fittings -Pedestal, Meteor, Holiday, Princess, Debutante, Corona, Chalet and Danish Modern. Far out. Also mentioned on the website is the fact that some vistors to the site are so astounded by the TVS they wonder whether it might be a fake website. It's not.
| Original 1958 Philco Predicta TV. Source |
That 50s Look
| Retro Style, paperback by Marion Haslam |
| 1950s Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen. |
Former Habitat buyer Marion Haslam has put together a book that looks at the design elements of the 1950s - anything from toasters to furniture - from a contemporary perspective. Haslam includes some workable projects in Retro Style , some of which seem to have had mixed reviews from customers. Most agree however, that the author provides an interesting text and some inspirational ideas for the 50s enthusiast. The book is now a few years old and out of stock at some online bookstores but I guess when you're talking about the 50s, it's not like it'll be 'dated'.
The 1950s House
TV Lamps
Black Lady Lamps
Vintage TV Table
The Crew Cut
| 50s Actor & heart throb, Tab Hunter |
Traditionally, a crew cut features short or medium length back and sides and tapered hair on the top of the head, beginning shortest at the crown and getting gradually longer toward the front.Variations include an Ivy League cut which favors longer length all over and a buzz cut, which is shorter all over.
The flat-top crew, often associated with uncompromising military types, is yet another high maintenance variation, where the hair is designed to stand-up, forming a boxy square shape -frequent cutting is required to keep the square look.
| In the 80s, Grace Jones gave the flat top new, cool meaning |
In the 1960s, the crew cut became deeply uncool, as it was emblematic of the establishment. The mod look, cultivated by British bands required longer hair and the general breakaway from conservative short cuts became a symbol of the youth revolution. However, as fashion has a tendency to recycle itself, in more recent times, crew cuts became fashionable again in a retro kind of way.
The Crew Cuts...were a Canadian vocal group who had a hit in the 1950s with a cover version of Sh-boom,which was originally released by The Chords.
The 1950s House
| Rose Seidler House. Image from the Historic Houses Trust |
Rose Seidler House
Nestled in Wahroonga, in the suburbs of Sydney, NSW, lies an intriguing time bubble in the form of a perfectly preserved 1950s house. Rose Seidler House is designed by noted Viennese born architect Harry Seidler - a striking Bauhaus styled monument to a then state of the art mid 20th century home and now lovingly preserved for the public by the National Trust. Originally built for his parents, Rose and Max Seidler, who lived in the house until 1967, everything about the design screams modernity, from the large Modrian- like window panes to the low, flat roof, bright colour accents, open plan-living and box like exterior structure.
"The house is divided into two distinct zones that are linked by a flexible transitional zone of playroom, stairs and sundeck, which can be used to extend either public or private areas"~ Historic Houses Trust
Chunky Necklaces
| Chunky necklace fan, Gloria Grahame |
Chunky jewellery had been popular in the 1920s, dipped in the 30s and early 40s and then came back bigger and bolder than ever. Post-war mass production also meant a drop in the price in jewellery, which appeared en masse in innovative shapes and cheaper materials, such as wood, plastic and glass.
Although thinner, streamlined jewellery - such as a single strand of pearls -also became popular in the 1950s, for those who were looking to make an instant impact, a chunky necklace lifted an ensemble from demurely understated to hot sensational.
| Lauren Bacall |
Chunky necklace designs were bold and big and when teamed with simple outfits, they emphasized drama and a sense of style - eg; a giant' seed pod' choker necklace with a high collar or a scooped neckline and rows of big beads.
Five 1950s Outfits
| Grace Kelly in an wide-brimmed hat and black capri pants |
Wearing a wrap skirt over tight-fitting, just-below-the-knee length capri pants was not uncommon in the 50s but Head simplified the style by combining stark contrast colours and in an inspired touch, a wide, straw hat with black scarf.
It's a dramatic look and Kelly carries it off with her usual ice-cool aplomb- head turningly different.
Jean Seberg - French New Wave
American born actress Jean Seberg exemplified 1950s hip European youth culture. Here, her gamine haircut, off-the-shoulder striped top and jeans combo is a modern classic A darling of French New Wave cinema, Seberg created a major splash with her appearance in the 1960 Jen Luc Godard classic, Breathless.
Seberg was a style icon on and off screen. Coco Chanel had already popularised French sailor stripes in the 1920s but Jean's appearance in a striped tee in Breathless brought them back into the limelight. Stripes in general, were popular in the 50s and worked a treat with cuffed pedal pushers and short hair.
| Jean Seberg..French -American style elements |
| Sophia Loren..evening glamour. |
Okay so this outfit may require near physical perfection to carry off but on the voluptuous Sophia Loren it looks nothing short of stunning.
It's the less is more philosophy of the ensemble which makes the impact.Only a pair of elegant drop earrings and a chunky bracelet interrupt the sleek flow of this look.
Marilyn Monroe - Dynamic in Red, White and Black
There's something very womanly and sexy about Marilyn Monroe's simple jacket and pencil skirt, which she wore in the 1953 film Niagara..maybe it's because it brings out the natural female curves in an unobvious, careless way.
Short jackets with big collars and cuffs were a feature of 50s fashion, as was the single, large button. Long waisted pencil skirts of course, virtually never go out of style, largely because they're flattering to most figures. - looks particularly good with the ankle-straps.
| Marilyn Monroe looking long and lean but not mean, in her 50s jacket and skirt |
| A Princess in disguise. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday |
Hepburn's reed thin figure helps with the effect but it's a timeless style anyone could wear today and look great in. Edith Head designed the costumes and won an Academy award for her efforts..as did Audrey Hepburn, for best actress.
The Chunky Charm Bracelet
| James Stewart and Grace Kelly in Rear Window |
In the same film, the character Miss Lonely Hearts, a despondent spinster in the apartment across the way, also wears a chunky charm bracelet, though not quite as divine a one as Ms. Kelly's and this time matched with an emerald green dress.
| Rear Window's Miss Lonelyhearts, played by Judith Evelyn |
Wrist Glamour
| Guess Pirate Booty chunky charm bracelet form Amazon |
Chunky Necklaces
1950s Cocktails
Gin (mother's little helper) was the big drink of the 50s and the basis for many cocktail concoctions - classics included martinis, highballs, screwdrivers, champagne punches, mint juleps and Tom Collins's. Here's a few recipes for drinks popular in the mid 20th century:
| Pretty Pink Squirrel |
3/4 oz creme de noyaux---> a red tinged, French liqueur with almond flavouring
3/4 oz white creme de cacao
1 1/2 oz of cream or a scoop of ice-cream!
Brandy Smash
Not exacty obscure but a fine old drink with the zing of mint, especially appealing to the sweet tooths.
2 and 1/2 ozs of Brandy
1 oz of club soda
1 tsp of fine sugar
A slice of orange
1 maraschino cherry
4 fresh sprigs of mint
Gin and Sin
This one sounds dangerous...but nice.
1 and 1/2 ozs of Gin
1 oz of lemon juice
1 oz of sugar syrup
1 tsp of Grenadine
Sea Breeze
This cranberry cocktail, invented in the 1920s was popular in the 50s up until1958, when the US Health Department announced that the cranberry crop had been tainted by toxic herbicides - kind of put people off and it didn't become popular again until the 1970s.
1 and 1/2 ozs of vodka
4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1 and 1/half ozs of cranberry juice
1 lime wedge
Put everything into a highball glass, stir and decorate with a lime wedge. For a foamy finish, shake in cocktail mixer.
An eternally popular drink and definitely big in the 50s.
1 sugar lump
1 or 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 measure of brandy
4 measures of chilled champagne
1 slice of orange
Place sugar lump into a chilled cocktail glass and saturate with the bitters. Add the brandy and top up the glass with champagne. Decorate with a slice of orange.
5 or 6 ice cubes
Half measure of dry vermouth
3 measures of gin
1 green olive
The atomic cocktail was a purely 1950s invention, inspired by the nuclear testing that was going on at the time. I'm not 100% sure of this one -might be a bomb, as I've heard it described by one person as 'disgusting'. Hmm.
1 1/2 ozs vodka
1 1/2 ozs brandy
1 teaspoon sherry
1 1/2 ounces Brut champagne
| A compodium of atomic cocktails that promises to blast your socks off. |
Don't forget to serve some period appropriate hors d'oeuvres to your guests in between drinks...such as, fancy canapes (devilled ham, savoury mushrooms), ham and egg balls, cocktail sausages, fruit cups, stuffed eggs, asparagus rolls, cheese straws, cocktail frankfurts, stuffed olives, devils on horseback...
TV Lamps
| 1950s swan TV lamp. Image from the Johnson Historical Society. |
| Unusual clock//TV lamp combination. Image from the Canadian Clock Museum. |
The TV lamps were very often ceramic and lit from behind. Some of the more popular, imaginative themes included animals -(dogs, siamese cats, horses, panthers, ducks), decorative figurines, greek mythology, mermaids, boats, cars or flowers, leaves and trees - there were literally hundreds of different designs as almost everyone who owned a television during the height of the fad, bought a lamp to go on the top. So varied were the designs that it would probably be near impossible to collect one of each. Some of the TV lamps even doubled as pot plant holders or vases. Indeed, many claim the pottery industry was rescued by the TV lamp craze.
| 1950s designer lights, including TV Lamps. Image by Black-Afro at Flickr |
Diana Dors
Sometimes referred to as the "poor man's Marilyn Monroe", during the 1950s British actress Diana Dors was boom chicka wah wah. Dors's curvaceous body, perky breasts, silkily coiffed platinum hair and husky but feisty personality stood out like a lava lamp in a bat cave.
Born in Wiltshire in 1931 with the unfortunate surname of Fluck (oh those rhyming slang jokes must have jarred!), Dors studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and at the delicate age of 16, was already under contract to the Rank Organization, the largest film company in Britain at that time.
Typecast, she often played the ill-fated blonde in B grade films, sexed up and alluring but never destined to settle down happily behind the picket fence. As actor Rod Steiger put it "she was swamped in an image", yet her powerful personality tended to transcend the pigeon-holing - the viewer was always aware it was Dors on the screen and not a generic brittle blonde. Her best onscreen perfomance is widely considered to be her portrayal of a toxic murderess in the 1956 thriller, Yield to the Night, directed by J Lee Thompson. It was a role that actually required her to act and she was not afraid to strip away the outward markers of her sex appeal, to let her dark roots show beneath the platinum and play a makeup-less woman in bleak prison garb, teetering on the edge of annihilation.
Man-hungry
I said to this priest: 'Am I expected to believe that if I went out and had an affair that God was really going to be upset? Okay, thou shalt not kill... steal... but thou shalt not commit adultery? If no one is any the wiser, what the hell difference does it make?' He was lovely. He told me the Commandments were laid down for a lot of guys living in the desert.~ Diana Dors
According to some of her contemporaries, her films were never as important as the men in her life, thus she never struggled hard enough to play the high, dramatic roles. Dors did in fact possesss considerable talent and many of her later films, after she'd piled on the weight and lost the seductress tag, reveal a fine character actress. In the 70's and 80's she regained a large measure of popularity through a succession of television roles that highlighted her dramatic skills.
Married three times, to Dennis Hamilton, Richard Dawson and Alan Lake, it was perhaps her tumultuous relationship with Hamilton that is most revealing of her personality. Hamilton, who reputedly loved "sex, money and power" was a control freak and had her turned into a company, Diana Dors Ltd. and he owned or managed most of her assets - financial and physical and when she tried to extricate herself from him, things got messy, with Hamilton forcing her at gunpoint to hand over all her the majority of her assets to him. Hamilton died of syphillus in 1959, before divorce proceedings could go through but not before he had spent much of her money..
Dors seemed to attract men who spelt trouble with capital T and perhaps, as some have suggested, that was the attraction. Her life, like her looks, was high drama and sensationalism. Dors died at the age of 52 from ovarian cancer, leaving behind two sons and her third husband Alan Lake, to whom she had been married, again tumltously (Lake was a serious drinker) for 16 years.
Jane Russell
The Platinum Blonde
| The luscious Diana Dors (doctormacro.com) |
Typecast, she often played the ill-fated blonde in B grade films, sexed up and alluring but never destined to settle down happily behind the picket fence. As actor Rod Steiger put it "she was swamped in an image", yet her powerful personality tended to transcend the pigeon-holing - the viewer was always aware it was Dors on the screen and not a generic brittle blonde. Her best onscreen perfomance is widely considered to be her portrayal of a toxic murderess in the 1956 thriller, Yield to the Night, directed by J Lee Thompson. It was a role that actually required her to act and she was not afraid to strip away the outward markers of her sex appeal, to let her dark roots show beneath the platinum and play a makeup-less woman in bleak prison garb, teetering on the edge of annihilation.
| Promo poster for "Yield to the Night" |
I said to this priest: 'Am I expected to believe that if I went out and had an affair that God was really going to be upset? Okay, thou shalt not kill... steal... but thou shalt not commit adultery? If no one is any the wiser, what the hell difference does it make?' He was lovely. He told me the Commandments were laid down for a lot of guys living in the desert.~ Diana Dors
According to some of her contemporaries, her films were never as important as the men in her life, thus she never struggled hard enough to play the high, dramatic roles. Dors did in fact possesss considerable talent and many of her later films, after she'd piled on the weight and lost the seductress tag, reveal a fine character actress. In the 70's and 80's she regained a large measure of popularity through a succession of television roles that highlighted her dramatic skills.
| Dors and Hamilton in the 1950s |
Dors seemed to attract men who spelt trouble with capital T and perhaps, as some have suggested, that was the attraction. Her life, like her looks, was high drama and sensationalism. Dors died at the age of 52 from ovarian cancer, leaving behind two sons and her third husband Alan Lake, to whom she had been married, again tumltously (Lake was a serious drinker) for 16 years.
Jane Russell
The Platinum Blonde
1950s Black Lady Lamps
| Ballerina Lamps. Many thanks to Black-Afro at Flickr for the use of the images |
George Julius Barsony was an Hungarian born, Australian sculptor, famous for his prolific series of Black Lady lamps, ashtrays and figurines, which he produced from his potteries in Guildford, NSW from the 1950s and into the 1970s. Owing to the retro renaissance, Barsony lamps are highly collectible and are emblematic of modern retro era, the adherents of which seem so drawn to distinctive, good quality kitsch.
| Image by Black-Afro ar Flickr |
From the late 50s, the black figures were marked with either 'Barsony' or 'George Barsony' and in the 60s the mark was replaced with a red sticker. Characteristic features of a Barsony piece include soft, rounded edges, rounded breasts (as opposed to pointed), red painted lips and bright splashes of colour in the clothing and accents. Ebay warns to be wary of pieces being palmed off as "Barsony style".
Although some of Barsony's figures err on the side of black cliché , many others are notable for their elegance and aesthetic, feminine poses. Interestingly, no two figures are exactly alike and all were designed by Barsony himself. Barsony lamps, complete with the original lamp shades, which Jean Barsony handmade at the kitchen table of their home, are considered the most desirable by collectors, though of course, the more unusual the piece the more sought after it tends to be.. I have a red ballerina lamp myself, complete with nylon lampshade, pearl tear-drop earrings and a jewel encrusted red and white skirt.
George Barsony died in a nursing home in 2010 at the age of 93 and leaves behind a legion of fans and a significant legacy of very 50s, unique and highly distinctive sculptures.
Sources: The Collectors, ABC, ebay Australia Guides
Short Hairstyles of the 1950s
| 50s icon, Doris Day |
The 50s look was crisp and pert, with full skirts, cotton shirts, knitted tops, short jackets and chunky jewellery - short hair meant exposed ears could highlight big earrings and scarves and accented collars (winged and rolled) could be shown off to full effect.
50s hair wasn't tumbled and free but rather stylised and immaculate, with plenty of pins, sticky setting lotion and spray employed to keep those strategic kiss curls in place. As most women were stay at home housewives there was plenty of time to concentrate on cute coiffure, thus although there were a variety of short styles, they all had one thing in common - they were neat. The 60s era, where hair broke loose, was just around the corner but it hadn't happened yet.
It was fashionable to wear hair shorter on the sides and fuller at the top, with either a roll-like fringe/bangs or off the forehead but with a couple of carefully placed kiss curls framing the face. Most women had perms and/or used curlers to provide wave, oomph and body and it was common to hear the phrase "I can't tonight. ..I'm washing my hair", meaning they'd be home doing a shampoo and set.
| Mitzi Gaynor |
In the main, short styles of the 1950s were very flattering to the face in an uplifting kind of way and tended to make the neck looked elongated and thus more elegant. They also complimented all kinds of jewellery, from strings of pears to hoop earrings and bulky gemstone pieces. It was an era of glamour and sophistication but also a little funkier than the previous decade. Even though it was the decade of the Stay-at-Home Housewife, the short hair gave off a a perky, assertive aura rather than a classically ultra-feminine one.
| Jean Simmons |
Vintage Bras
In the late 19th century various bra-like devices were invented and there seems to be no general agreement on who came up with the first modern brassiere. Frenchwoman Herminie Cadolle did invent a two-piece corset with a bra-like top in 1889, however credit for the invention of the stand alone, modern bra is generally given to New Yorker, Mary Phelps Jacobs, who couldn't stand her corset anymore - those whalebones (which gave corsets their structure) could get pretty annoying, especially when they start poking out of your evening dresses. The enterprising Mary took two handkerchiefs, sewn to ribbons and cord and tied them around her neck and shoulders...aah, relief! Mary took out a patent on her "Backless Brassierre" in 1914, called her creation the Caresse Crosby and sold the patent to the forward thinking Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500, who needless to say, did quite well out of the deal.
| Image courtesy of aslipofagirl. |
As the decades wore on and a new voluptuous look came into vogue, bra designs changed in accordance with the new fashion. Bra manufacturers began to make promises about form and shape, such as Hickory's ambitious Perma-lift shape-shifter in the 1940s, with the 'magic inset' that claimed to take breasts to new heights of perfection...the lift that never lets you down.
Pointed
The 1950's in particular, heavily emphasized breasts and desirable bras were ones that made women look pointy and perky and offered plenty of cleavage. In this decade, they were less a natural formation and more an architectural construction. By the 1960's though, which took inspiration from the pre-war era, the androgynous look was back on the fashion table and once again breasts were de-emphasised.
In the 70s, breasts were again ok but the look was natural and women rejected, even resented, the artifice of a structured brassiere, some disposing of bras altogether (it was the decade of the feminist revolution after all). From the 80's on, breasts starting creeping back into the limelight, so much so that by the 2000s, breast enhancements became the No.1 cosmetic procedure or women under the age of thirty and padded and push-up bra's are selling like hotcakes. It seems that in the 20th century, breasts have come in and out of fashion like crowds through a revolving door. At the moment they are well and truly in and thanks to Mad Men and the vintage clothes revival, looks like pointy breasts are even having a resurgance. Still, in the fickle world of breast fashion, who knows what tomorrow will bring..?
If pointy is your thing Dollhouse Bettie has some beauties and for a look at some tasteful vintage lingerie, check out A Slip of a Girl
| 50's pointiliism. Lisbeth Scott |
Long Hairstyles of the 1950's
| British actress, Diana Dors. Image from Posters Guide |
The PageBoy
One of the most popular styles of the era was the long pageboy, so called because the rolls resembled the hair of sweet English pageboys of old. The lower hair was curled underneath in a fat roll and sat on the shoulders or just below, while the top was swept to one side with a low side part and kept in place by pins, a slim headband or a clasp. This style looked great with evening wear and tight-fitting, sexy clothes and showed off sparkling earrings.
Picasso was so enthralled with a young girl's ponytail in the 1950s that he did a series of paintings about it. The girl was 15 year old Sylvette David, daughter of a prominant art dealer, who became the model for a series of Picasso paintings, including the one below...Girl With a Ponytail
| Sylvette David with Picasso in the artist's studio |
This was a flattering style because it pulled everything in an upward direction and revealed the sculptural planes of the face.
The Twist
The French twist is a classic hairstyle for any era but was particularly popular in the 50s, as it offered an aura of elegance and kept everything in place.
One of the salient features of all 50s hair was its 'structural integrity', that is, whatever style was chosen had to stay in its place, either through pins and hairspray or preferably both. Long hair was rarely worn flowing loose- the freewheeling, wild-child hair generation was still a decade away.
Short Hairstyles of the 1950s
Csirac
Dear old Csirac...Australia's first computer and only the fourth to be built in the world, the grand old boy of computation now resides in the Melbourne Museum and apparently has the distinction of being the oldest computer still operating, albeit primitively. Csirac ran its inaugural program in 1949 and its existence is a startling reminder of just how rapidly exponential the ascendance of technology has been in the last 60 years.
Csirac was huge -the size of two Winnibagos side by side and had the brain power of your average low market electronic organizer but back in its heyday, it was the fastest mechanical brain in the country - a thousand times faster than anything else that was around at the time. During Australia’s first computer conference in June 1951 it wowed the attendees with a world first, by beeping out a song in its charming electronic drone - Colonel Bogey was the song. Over the next decade, changes and improvements were made and eventually Csirac could manage over 700 programs, including computing weather forecasts, helping to design skyscrapers and calculating home loans, which I'd guess was impressive at the time.
In the 70's and 80's, unable to keep up with those flashy new electronic kids on the block, the old boy was put in and out of storage the next 30 or so years, until finally finding a permanent home at the museum. For the tech heads, Csirac's technical specs can be found here:
Csirac
| An ancestor to the laptop...Csirac. Image from Wiki Commons |
Csirac was huge -the size of two Winnibagos side by side and had the brain power of your average low market electronic organizer but back in its heyday, it was the fastest mechanical brain in the country - a thousand times faster than anything else that was around at the time. During Australia’s first computer conference in June 1951 it wowed the attendees with a world first, by beeping out a song in its charming electronic drone - Colonel Bogey was the song. Over the next decade, changes and improvements were made and eventually Csirac could manage over 700 programs, including computing weather forecasts, helping to design skyscrapers and calculating home loans, which I'd guess was impressive at the time.
In the 70's and 80's, unable to keep up with those flashy new electronic kids on the block, the old boy was put in and out of storage the next 30 or so years, until finally finding a permanent home at the museum. For the tech heads, Csirac's technical specs can be found here:
Csirac
Pert Pedal Pushers
| Doris Day pushing the pedal in pedal pushers |
Also known as clam diggers, the three quarter length pants were often teamed with a loose shirt, tied at he midriff or a stripey top. Pedal pushers appeared frequently in films from the 1950's and were worn by such leading ladies as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day and Sophia Loren.
Grace Kelly's clothes were never better than they were in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film, Rear Window, (except maybe in To Catch a Thief) and in the final scene of the film she wears a classic combination of dark blue, cuffed denim pedal pushers, navy loafers and a tangerine shirt, tied at the waist.
| Grace Kelly in Pedal Pushers |
50's rockabilly legend Carl Perkins liked pedal pushers so much - pink ones, in particular, he wrote a song about them...
 |
| Poster from Amazo |
Read a longer version of this article about pedal pushers...
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