Accurate clothing for the mid-fifties Please help!!

Thanks to the suggestion of a very cool HB member, I'm going to attempt to make a doll for my mom's birthday in July. I want it to look just like she did as a child. I'm thinking an AGT 21 might be the closest. Can someone tell me what colors are in her hazel eyes? I also need pics of historically accurate clothing. I know Mom told me she wore dresses and pedal pushers(culottes) and they were very poor as my Grandma took care of her 10 kids by herself. Do any of Kit and Molly's clothing fit this time period at all? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 04, 2006 11:42 AM: Message edited by: Ashley's Mommy ]</font>

As you see from the pattern pictures referenced by American_Mommy, skirts were full and petticoats were commonly worn to puff up the skirt.

Pedalpushers were common for summer and the mid-fifties saw the introduction of the skort, which was a very short, usually pleated, skirt with attached bloomers. Rompers were still popular. Swimsuits throughout the fifties were primarily cotton.

I have a good collection of catalogs covering the late 1950s and can post pictures if you are looking for anything specific.

Taffy

Thanks for the help! I'm going to wait until Mom sends me the pic of her as a child and go from there. I'm thinking that Molly is going to be the closest I can get to looking like Mom. I may look for a cheap fixer upper with hacked off hair so I can rewig her. Mom's hair is a lighter brown, more like American_Mommy's little Mae.

Cannot wait to see how the finished project turns out! [img]wink.gif[/img]

I did the same thing for my mom several years ago; she treasures her doll so much! Though I got her a personalized My Twinn, the things I've made for her doll would be from around the same period--she dates her doll to around 1950+. She says that some of Molly's things look familiar to her.

This page shows some 1950s-era things I made for my mom's doll. Since there are a lot of photos there that don't say what they're for, the ones specifically for her that are '50s style are: the baby and layette set, the knitting basket, everything in the Christmas scene photos, everything in the Brownies (Girl Scouts) photo:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/FAST/molly.html

Mostly, I look at photos of my mom, and at the dresses she wore, for sources to use, and also talk to her about what she might have had. She is persnickety about everything being exactly right, so everything there should be pretty accurate.

It has been the best gift I've ever given her. It brings her a lot of joy, and a hobby for us to work on together.

I love this idea too. I remember gushing over it when that very cool board member mentioned her project a few months ago. I wish I could remember who it was. I want to see how the projects turn out!

What a cool idea! I can't wait to see pictures of your project! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

I told my Mom we were doing a project from when she was a child and she picked out a dress from dollies dressmaker's site that was like one that she used to wear. She said that she didn't have anything like what american girl offers for Molly and Kit. They were probably too colorful. Mom has blue-gray eyes so I need to find a Molly that has bad or cut hair at a decent price so if anyone sees one please PM me and I'll also put it on my wishlist. Thank you everyone for all your suggestions! [img]smile.gif[/img]

You can also search ebay for vintage children's patterns. The photos on the pattern envelopes give good ideas about popular clothing styles & fabrics.

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Originally posted by American_Mommy:
Looking up old sewing patterns from he 1950's is a good idea too. http://www.angelfire.com/pq/petal/party.html

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think my Mom must have used those first two patterns to make dresses for me and my sister! I remember dresses almost identical to those when I was an elementary school girl in the 1950's! And Taffy is right about the poofy slips; mine was made with ruffled layers of netting that my Mom would startch in sugar-water on wash day!