Fashions of the Fifties - Men's Retro Clothes

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Fifties fashions for men are often thought of in terms of the Fonz and Grease. Well, forget that. The picture below is a far more mainstream view of how men actually dressed. Pretty drab, eh?

This image of men, all attired identically, is what fostered the book and movie, Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, a story about conformity.

Men didn't have many workplace choices for color. Dark blue, dark brown, and charcoal. Some time would have to pass before men began to reclaim the sartorial splendor which has been historically theirs.

Fifties Fashion

But yes, there were young men at school who looked just like the Fonz, but not many. And truth be told, I wouldn't have gone out with any of them anyway.

At left, you see my kind of guy. A conservative fella. Which was how most guys looked in the Fifties. If you want to know how men dressed, you need to think about Ritchie and Mr. C - not the Fonz.

This look was often called "Ivy League" or preppy.

The cardigan sweater seen at right was a popular style which was used for the "letter" sweater so popular among athletes.

There was some flexibility in casual wear. The shirts at right even have a semi-sloppy look to them with the shirt tail out.

And during the Fifties pink rage, men began wearing pink shirts and ties. Wild!

Even Dad wanted to be a cowboy. Influenced by the dominance of the TV Western, eveybody went a little Yehaw. Although only kids wore the cookskin caps, menswear was adapting nicely to the "home on the range" look.

Men wore hats in the Fifties. Not sometimes. All the time. There was some variation as to style, but no man was dressed unless a hat adorned his head.

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