with a tip of the hat to Armanis

http://www.apph25.dsl.pipex.com/bygone/bygone1.html

sillage

Those ladies don't use the bus!

Hmm....I have some skirts like that. They normally come with a slit in the back, so they are not all that difficult to walk in. Just a matter of practice...:-D

Good golly to Molly, how did they fit into those skirts...whalebone and rib removal??? So chic, no?

Chic, yes, practical no. I'd put them in the same catgory with "limousine" or "bedroom" heels.

But then these women didn't have to do anything icky or requiring effort, like "work", did they?

And can you imagine chasing after/looking after a small child dressed like that? Junior would be face-down in the pool before you hobbled out of the house! Of course any woman whose body had carried a child could never fit into those teensy skirts so that takes care of that!

No juniors and no pool in my household....;-D

I love that look.

I remember skirts like that. They demanded a certain elegance in walking -- one foot directly in front of the other. Skirts like this were dressy, not worn around the house.

I agree about the "one foot directly in front of the other walking method". I also find it easier to wear these skirts with heels. :-)

Click to view attachment



The photo I've included, is of Dorian Leigh . . . considered to be one of the greatest fashion models, ever. She had a figure that was just out of this world, including GORGEOUS legs.



The patterns you see here are mostly Dior . . . some Fath, and Piguet. The 'sack,' reminds me of Balenciaga or Givenchy.



Dior's fit for many seasons, was on the SNUG, side. He never mastered flou . . . I was never crazy about Dior's clothes. He delivered something different each season, but much of what he left behind, looks dated. Interesting that Saint Laurent names Dior as his greatest teacher . . .



Note the photo from YSL'S couture collection . . . his skirts were never that 'tight.' Nor, were his jackets. That's in part, because of 'flou,' which of course, is what drives me crazy about YSL'S fashion. Aside, from everything else.

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! NOthing sexier IMHO.........with a pair of GREAT heels and hose of course.


Classic to the max!

I love a restrictive skirt too, Glo . . . but NOT a tight, one. Never, a tight anything . . . to me, a tight fit, is hideous. except on professional athletes . . .

Very chic! I wish women still dressed up like this. To get on the bus, just hike your skirt above the knees!

Well.........I mean STRAIGHT!

Hi Glo . . . yes, of course! A sheath . . . and it should cut in, at the knees!!! I prefer a zipper to the side. That's how all of YSL'S skirts were made . . . never at the back. I love a straight skirt, done with buttons, too!

If you have great legs.........there's nothing nore flattering!

I know . . . especially with a sheer, black stocking, and heels!!! Woohoo . . .

The secret to slim skirts is that they were very fitted at the waist and hips, but had a kick pleat in back so that the circumference at the knee and below-the-knee was not as restrictive as it appeared from the front view.

How come you all write in the past tense? There are plenty of pencil skirts around this summer. :-)

Dorthea . . . around these parts, I don't see too many skirts, PERIOD. It's pants, pants, and more pants.

Whoa...time for the girdles, girls! I can't imagine wearing one of these, plus a girdle and/or corset, and then garters and stockings? Wouldn't the garters show? How uncomfortable they seem. I like a nice shapely skirt, slightly above the knee, but you have to be very careful with the lining. When a lining is poorly made, is really ruins the flow of the skirt and/or dress.

These are pix of fashion models who were as thin then as they are today. In real life, real women wore the skirts a little looser, so the underpinnings didn't show.

Love, Love, Love 'em. Gorgeous look. So classic, so feminine. Too bad it's not worn much today. With the entire get-up I mean, the jacket, the hose, the heels. It's so pretty. I love to feel all 'tucked-in'. It makes me walk straighter. And I know what Armanis means about 'tight'. Nothing should be so tight that it restricts a natural, graceful, movement. Clothes that's too tight is a bad as clothes that's too big, wrinkled, stained, etc. It's all in the tailoring.

Click to view attachmentThat's correct, Irinadax . . . and that's another reason why I so adored Saint Laurent's designs. They were airy, and 'blurred,' if you will . . . with 'flou.' As though they'd float off the body, at any moment . . . tight, is tawdry.

I like this outfit, hat and all:

http://www.apph25.dsl.pipex.com/bygone/suit-059.jpg

And those shoes! That seems like a good heel height, one you can actually walk in unlike the skyscrapers currently on the runways.

MizLiz, LOVE that look!!!! Have you seen the movie 'Best of Everything'? It's from the 50's, has an aging but still good looking Joan Crawford, and a cast of other young 'up and coming' stars. The clothes in this movie is like this - very close fitting, very tailored, beautiful colors, nice thick fabrics. It's a very 'proper' look. I enjoyed that movie because the entire cast wore such nice clothes!!!! I also like the first outfit Elizabeth Taylor wears in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, very, very slim skirt, I wondered how she could walk in it, but it's tailored so nicely that it makes her less than perfect body look like a mannequin.

The only 'issue' I can see with this look is that it must be difficult in the heat. I can't imagine wearing somethiing so form fitting in Key West heat, but I'm sure up north where it gets cold, it's doable. I have a vintage, virgin wool gray suit from 1942. It's in excellent condition. Ofcourse, living here I've only worn it twice - The skirt is not slim, it's actually more A-lined, but it's the best fitting A-line skirt I've ever had. Slim waist, hugs the hips, makes my booty challenged rear look perky, then just flows nicely down the leg. It gives the APPEARANCE of a slim skirt, but it's not REALLY, as I can walk in it perfectly. It's my 'treasure'. Too bad I can wear it so seldom.

How beautiful!

You know, it struck me--and I don't wanna hijack this thread, I'm just sayin'--how thin they all are. Everyone gripes about how thin models are today, but clearly things were the same 50 years ago. Some of those women look like something out of a 1945 newsreel.

I mean, look at her:

http://www.apph25.dsl.pipex.com/bygone/Kas...lender-suit.jpg

But the clothes, nonetheless, are stunning.

Dorian Leigh, considered to be the greatest fashion model of all time, had a 20 inch waist. Moreover, the foundations of the time, cinched waists, projected bustlines, and often added shape to hips. That's in part why models from the 50'S, might look more shapely than today's examples. Also, the models back then were not as YOUNG, as the runway mannequins of today's world, are. You've got fourteen year old girls out there, these days. Dior's models were usually in their early twenties. BIG DIFFERENCE.