Fishman's Findings

Political Influence: In 1947 after World War II Parisian fashion turned in dramatic new directions that the fashion press labeled ”The New Look.”  These styles dominated fashion design until the mid-50s when some silhouette changes began to appear.

The changing patterns of life in the United States and Western Europe had a major impact on what people wore. Many American women had returned to fulltime homemaking after working for pay during World War II. Department stores expanded sportswear departments for men, women, and teens with the changing lifestyles for a large number of Americans living in suburbs after returning from war.

Social Influence: Changes in the socioeconomic status of adolescents had begun during World War II. Before the War many young people become wage earners and members of the workforce soon after they entered their teens. But the postwar socioeconomic changes kept many young people dependent on their families for a longer period of time- through high school and  beyond- and this accentuated the period of adolescence as a separate stage of developement. The teen market in records and clothes grew rapidly and teenage fashions and fads played an important role in the garment industry.

But it was Britain in the late 1940s and 1950s that the Teddy Boys created the first truly independent fashions for young people. Teddy Boys were working-class British adolescents who adopted styles of menswear that had a somewhat Edwardian flavor: longer jackets with more shaping, high turned-back lapels, cuffed sleeves, waistcoats, and well-cut, narrow trousers. Teddy Boys adopted an exaggerated version of these styles, somewhat akin to the prewar zoot suit. They wore elongated loose jackets with wide, padded shoulders and, often, a velvet collar. Trousers were very narrow and tight, and short enough to allow garishly colors socks to show. In the 1950s, flat, broad shoes were replaced by wrinkle pickers, shoes with exaggerated pointed toes.

Technological Influence: Before World War II clothing was made from a limited number of fibers: the natural fibers and the manufactured fibers. The successful marketing of nylon, invented before the war but not given wide distribution to the civilian population until after the war, touched off a search for other synthetic fibers. Many of these came onto the market in the 1950s. The major apparel fibers appeared at this time included modacrylics, acrylics, polyesters, triacetate, and spandex. Other fibers were also developed, but these either has limited use or were found mostly in household textiles or industrial applications. Many companies that had formerly been chemical companies began to manufacture fibers, which were chiefly derived from chemical substances.

The expansion of travel helped to promote drip dry fabrics. In the late 1950s, there were wash-and-wear fabrics and with manufactured fibers, and especially with blends, American consumers experienced difficulty in identifying fibers and knowing how to care for these products. Congress passed the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act in 1960. This legislation decreed that, as an aid to consumers, textile products had to be sold with labels that identified the fiber content.