Countdown to 2000: Culture

Danette Goulet

The 1950s were filled with classic fashions never to be forgotten. There

was a combination of modesty and fun in the outfits worn by both men and

women.

It was the era of the poodle skirt with bobby socks and saddle shoes, and

cardigans with school letters.

Young women wore cashmere sweaters and matching skirts. Pencil skirts and

sheath dresses that fell just below the knee were a common sight, as were

ponytails and pins with fake flowers in them. Everyone dressed up when

they went out to lunch or the opening of a new movie downtown.

“We all wore gloves to any lunch or tea,” recalled Gay Wassall-Kelly, who

grew up on Balboa Island. “Every girl had at least 10 or 12 pair. We wore hats a lot -- our mothers made us; pillboxes and little tiny ones that

would clip onto your head with a veil.”

Every town had a cold storage for all of the ladies’ mink coats and

stoles.

Young men wore khakis or white twill trousers, cardigans and car club

jackets. They greased their hair and formed ducktails in the back.

When it was time to relax or play, girls wore pedal-pushers and the boys

wore Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts -- ones that actually came from

Bermuda.

Surfing and water skiing in the bay where common daytime activities. For

evening entertainment, it was group trips to drive-in movies or the

Rendezvous Ballroom, which was still the hot place to go. For dancing,

girls would wear twirl skirts, Wassall-Kelly said.

“It would go straight out as far as your waist when you spun or danced,”

she said. “You always wore a slip so that your panties won’t show. If

your mother wasn’t around, you might take off your slip and put it in

your purse.”

Sources:

Accounts of Balboa Island resident Gay Wassall-Kelly; “Newport Beach 75

-- 1906-1981,” James P. Felton, 1981; “50 Golden Years,” Samuel A. Meyer.