1950s Summer Outfits

Clara has two complete, interchangeable outfits for a hot summer day. The button-up blouse and thin sweater go well with either the pleated shorts or the circle skirt. The sweater is still in fashion today, or – to be more accurate – it's back in style now.

One interesting little note: fashion seems to follow cycles. The wide circle skirts of the 1950s mirror the short crinolines girls wore in the 1860s. Instead of being covered with ribbons and ruffles, the circle skirts of the 50s were plainer, with simpler decoration. Still, they were worn over many layers of petticoats, just like crinolines. Circle skirts are the hallmark of the 50s – a fashion style instantly recognizable as belonging to one specific decade, but add enough frills, and you have a crinoline from many years before.

As for shoes... when I was a little girl, I almost never wore shoes in the summer, even to cross the road when it was 115°. I would run from one patch of grass to another to get to my friends' houses. I had very tough feet. Since it's summer, Clara could also go barefoot with these outfits, but I included some simple shoes with a cute bow.

Bright, clear colors, and black and white were popular in the 1950s. The original blouse was white with tiny blue and green vertical pinstripes. The sweater was white, and the shorts were also white. The skirt was red.

To print Clara's outfit, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 27 (747k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will continue to be available on this blog as long as I post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:
The Clara Paper Doll (745k)