Modesty in the 1950's

I don't know too much about this, outside of the regular old "girls didn't wear dungarees except for the most casual occasions, skirts above the knee were scandalous, etc." But I discovered something new this morning when I was doing research on life in the 1950's.

source

You see the above suit on the left? That would have been absolutely scandalous for you to wear if you were a teenage girl in the 1950's. And it wasn't just because of the low neck either. No! It was because of the skirt silhouette!

WHAT!?!?

Yes, that particular pencil skirt silhouette was considered- um- er- provocative, let's say.

Source

Now the above skirt here was considered alright.

"But wait, what's the difference?" you ask. It's all in the shape, my dear, all in the shape. You see, in the first picture, the skirt tapered to the knee, accentuating the hips, while in the second picture, the skirt hung straight from the hips; not quite concealing them, but not accentuating them in the same way as the first skirt.

The same goes for pants. You know the typical skinny pants you think of when you hear the words "50's pencil (or cigarette) pants"? You would not have been let out of the door of your home if you were even wearing such a get up as a teenage girl. The illustration below displays what I am talking about.

"So, then," you ask, "who was allowed to wear this silhouette of skirt and pant?" The adult woman. The woman who was either married, or able to be married. You see, contrary to today's culture, teenagers in the 1950's were not allowed to be, ahem, dare I say it,  sexy. They were supposed to act like the young adults they were. Sure, they were allowed to have their teenage fun, but they were still expected to behave respectably.

So there you have it. A wee bit on modesty in the 1950's.