The young people’s fashion was in general not so different from the adult’s fashion in the 50’s. Throughout the decade the young folks began to stand out from the adults by wearing sweaters, checkered shirts, tartan slacks, smocks, windbreakers, duffle coats, and in the summer straw hats.
In the late 50’s, the American pop culture idols James Dean and Elvis Presley were performing in clothes we had never seen beforehand in Denmark. The youth created more distance between young fashion and adult fashion by wearing jeans and All Star sneakers, still the majority of the youth wanted step into adulthood by looking the part.
The clothes was colored and had patterns like polka dots or stripes. The dresses could primarily be divided in to two categories; swing dresses, with A-shaped skirts, and the close-fitting pencil dresses. In the 50’s the women also began to wear sweaters and pants, which beforehand only was viewed as men’s attire.
The hairstyle changed constantly in 50’s. The women’s hairstyles varied from everything between ponytails over straight or wavy hair and short boyish tomboy haircuts with a feminine twist. In the late 50’s hairspray became a signature of the time. The women backcombed their hair and used hairspray to create a voluminous hairstyle that shared a certain resemblance with a candy floss.
The men’s hairstyle was inspired by celebrities like Elvis Presley, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Sean Connery and Frank Sinatra.
The teenagers had long or short hair with bangs and preferably a bit ruffled.
The women in the 50's used liquid foundation, lipstick in red and pink tones, eyeshadow in pastel colors, the eyebrows were wide and the eyeliner was black. The women would bent their eyelashes and apply the mascara to the upper lashes.
In 50’s the end of the Second World War had lit a hope in people but on the other hand The Cold War’s conflict between capitalism and communism had created the fear of a nuclear war. A rising criticism of the parent generation’s values and the traditional gender roles gave the youth its own and new identity.
Throughout the decade Denmark was getting more and more urbanized and in the mid 50’s Denmark moved from economic depression to an economic boom.
New political left-winged movements showed up in Denmark and in other western societies. The commonalities of these movements were that they were independent of the established Moscow-oriented communist parties, while being more left-oriented than the traditional socialist parties in Europe.
The construction The Sydney Opera House began in 1959. The iconic building was drawn by the famous Danish architect Jørgen Utzon. The 1950s and 1960s went on and became something of a golden age for Danish modernism. Architects like Jørgen Utzon, Bertel Udsen, Jørn Bo, Wilhelm Wohlert and Halldor Gunnløgsson drew some of the architectural icons that Denmark has since been known for.
The Model 3107 chair (Syveren) was designed in 1955 by the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. It is one of the most sought after chairs, not only in Denmark but also abroad.
The Egg and The Swan Chair are some other examples of Arne Jacobsen’s work in furniture design during the 50’s.
Danish designers like Børge Mogensen, Poul Kjærholm, Verner Panton, Nanna Ditzel and Hans J. Wegner also achieved great fame during 50’s.
The Americanization of the 1950’s originated in the increased travel activity and the cultural effects of the Marshall Treaty. It is also the dream of a boundless consumer society that prospered in the slightly worn and gray post-war era. At the same time a youth culture was growing.
The youth were now being catered to as consumers – who had chewing gum, Coca Cola, American movies and American jazz and rock.
The men's great style icons in the 50’s were celebrities like Marlon Brando and James Dean. It was their white t-shirts, black leather jackets and blue jeans, which defined the style. When it came to music icons like Bill Hailey and Elvis Presley helped launch Rock and Roll.
The vast majority of female actresses who appeared in the 1950s were very beautiful and were termed "bombshells" (sex bombs). Audrey Hepburn symbolized the pretty innocent doe eyed woman, while Marilyn Monroe embodied the term bombshell.
Henrik Rasmussen
Mads Hammer
Bibi Natasha Hansen
Emma Kjærgaard Kølle
Emil Bozkurt
Mika Laybourn
Carina Praém Mortensen
Wyatt Nielsen
Thomas Fagerlund
Lucia Smilkova
Niels David Elton
Sami Mahdavi