The 1950’s is arguably the most iconic era in terms of fashion and its timeless appeal is still apparent with many modern women still idolising fifties beauties such as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. Men were dapper in their tailored suits and brogues and women were the epitome of femininity and elegance in their beautiful dresses, strings of pearls and lace gloves. I am so passionate about the fashions of this era for the way in which the fashion captures a historical moment which totally contrasts the time in which I have grown up. Perhaps it is for this reason that I indulge in anything that involves fifties fashion and I am in constant search of replica clothing of this period which is as good as the real thing. I spent a long time looking for genuine clothing from the 1950s but it is extremely hard to find any that will fit the modern female body shape! It is also very difficult because so many of the dresses of that time were hand stitched by the women that would wear them. This is another thing I love about the clothing, particularly the dresses of the fifties: each piece tells a story. I have sat down on countless occasions with my grandmother (pictured above) who reminisces about the dresses she made the night before going to a dance with her friends. She would sew throughout the night, the dress in the fabric of her choice, and tailored to exactly the shape of her body. Nowadays, before a night out, we pop into Primark for a cheap fix. Gone are the days of making our own clothes, instead we favour the convenience of parting with a tenner and having instant gratification.
You can imagine my joy when I stumbled upon a wonderful website that sells the most stunning replica fifties dresses in an array of fabrics to suit any palette. MISI is a website that sells a variety of handmade goods, taking pride in the fact that their stock is not mass produced and one of millions – that much of their stock is one of a kind. It is in MISI’s fashion section that I happily came upon a variety of dresses made using original dressmaking patterns from the fifties enabling them to appear original.
It would take a lot of confidence to step out in one of these dresses as it is so easy to stand out when wearing something other than the Jack Will’s hoody, jeggings and Ugg boot norm. That said, those that would look at you as being different, would be doing so admiringly as the one with enough confidence to be so. The dresses from MISI, when comparing to an ‘occasion dress’ you might buy on the high street, are not that expensive. They range from £40-£200 depending on the fabrics but all are handmade and well worth every penny. Go ahead! Treat yourself to a dress from MISI, team with killer heels and a retro hair do and have faith in the fashion of the fifties- they really knew what they were doing.