Create nostalgia for 1950s America with an iconic 1950s-girl costume.
Use the silhouette of the iconic 1950s circle skirt to your advantage for great costume ideas that will be a hit at any party. You can easily pick up a 1950s-themed party outfit for women from a costume shop, but as an extra challenge for your creativity, try assembling your own costume using garments you already have in your closet.
Sock Hopper
A sock hopper costume is inspired by the bubbly energy and youthful appeal of 1950s teenage pop culture. You will need a modest T-shirt blouse with a collar, a flared poodle skirt -- so called because of the common poodle appliqu -- that hits below the knee, white ankle socks and black patent flats. Pull your hair back into a neat bun or high ponytail and finish with a bow. Add cat-eye glasses or a head scarf for the finishing touches.
Housewife
Perhaps the most controversial symbol of the 1950s was the housewife who evoked the post-war boom that established a new standard for domestic ideal. For your 1950s housewife costume you will need a flared A-line dress in a floral pattern that hits below the knee. Make sure you wear nude hose and high heels and finish with an apron neatly tied over the dress. Style your hair in the popular 1950s soft curls, parted on the side and finished with hairspray to keep it in place. Keep your makeup classic and simple -- think red lipstick, rouge, liner on your eyelids only and unrestrained use of mascara.
Beatnik
The beatnik costume, a stereotype based on the beat culture of the 1950s as envisioned by rebels like Jack Kerouac, the American novelist who wrote such famous works as "On The Road." A beatnik costume can easily be pulled together using items from your closet and a few thrift store finds. Dress all in black -- black shirt, pants, skirt or dress, leggings, black boots or shoes and a black vest or waistcoat for a finishing touch. You'll need a black beret-style hat to cover hair that you wear long and straight and small, dark, round sunglasses if you can find them. For bonus points, carry a set of bongos -- to evoke the stereotypical beatnik performance at open mic nights -- so that there's little doubt about who you are.
Greaser
Popularized in the 1971 hit musical Grease, "greaser" culture was characterized by rebellious high school teens who got involved with fast cars, drugs, alcohol and gangs. Take a cue from Sandy Dumbrowski, the good-girl-gone-bad female lead made famous by Australian actress Olivia Newton-John in the 1978 film version of Grease, for this costume. Cropped black leather or pleather pants, an off-the-shoulders black blouse, red high heels and a bouffant hairdo will properly evoke this risqu but fun 1950s character.
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