A Look Back at Fashion Ads from the 1950s

As any historian will tell you, the 1950s were a time when the conventional values of conservative, steady quotidian philosophy dominated. And, that is only normal, given that the world was recovering after the uncertainties and horrors of the Second World War.

While there were fascinating artists that emerged during this time, the mainstream visual culture of the era, extremely well represented by magazine commercials, remained quite conservative, and not in a very good way.

However, the reason why ads (as well as many films, music and theater) from the era are captivating is because their creators managed to be artistic, smart and surprising – in other words, creative, despite the conventions of the time. And that definitely deserves applause.

What is fascinating about 1950s ads is that they were cartoonish, despite their creative qualities. Cartoonish basically means that they were firstly, not showing anything that was not highly mainstream and public and secondly, that they were presenting people has having schematic traits – if you will, from a conceptual point of view, the people and situations presented in these ads were the equivalent of a stick figure drawn by a child.

Of course, not to be understood that there were no three-dimensional visions of life in the 1950s – in certain areas of culture, we can even say that expressions of life in this decade had more depth than those of the 2000s or even of the teens of the 21^st century.

Old-timey ads give great anthropological insight into the society of the time they represent. Taking an in-depth look at print advertising from the 1950s, we can definitely see the way mentalities were shaped and how (Western) society worked. The beauty standards of the era, which defined social standings offer information about the social hierarchy of the time: Back then, the main focus in society was the grown adult, the middle class man and his wife, who put on a happy face for the world to see. Today, we see this happen as well, though people are not as grinning in ads as they were, but it also comes in great contrast with the moody, conflicted teen, which seems to be one of the main poster-children of our times.
Moreover, the lengthy texts placed on the ads show that the 1950s were a time when there was a lot of emphasis placed on reading and that the text-image balance was more important than today, from a quantitative point of view. In contrast, today we see a qualitative contrast, where the text must balance an image in power and impact and not in the number of words, as people today have a smaller attention span than in the 1950s, due to the rapid pace our lives have due to technology: fast trains, instant messaging, and same-day delivery. It definitely makes one wonder how the world will look like in the future. Food for thought.

Visual commercial imagery is always one of the good sources that help identify the pulse of a certain culture at a certain time in a certain place. Because of their highly commercial aspect, they focus on the main traits of a group and describe the norms and the things that shape the goals of many of the group’s members, which is why fashion ads present interest not only for their visual appeal, but also for the philosophical insight they carry with them.

Fraquoh and Franchomme

P.S. We want to hear from you! What do you think of these fashion ads from the 1950s? How would compare them to commercials of today? What cultural products of the 1950s do you recommend – movies, magazines, music? Share your feedback, questions or thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, you can subscribe to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!