Couture and Commerce: The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s

The 1950s were the golden years of haute couture, captured by iconic images of glamorous models wearing dramatic clothes. Yet the real women who wore these clothes adapted them to suit their own tastes, altered them to extend their life, and often could not bear to part with them long after the dresses had outlived their use. This illustrated volume demonstrates why so many of these designs are still in existence and why we are fascinated by them 50 years later. The author investigates how and why 1950s couture fashion was important in its own day. The Paris couture houses survived after World War II due to the enthusiasm of the North American fashion press and commercial buyers. Alexandra Palmer traces the European haute couture trade with North America by following actual examples of surviving couture dresses from the design house sketch, through the model used in New York and Toronto fashion shows and as a template for copies and knock-offs, and finally to the consumer.