The “inventor” of the poodle skirt, Juli Lynne Charlot, passed away at the age of 101 on March 3. According to the story she told about its creation, it was born out of necessity and a lack of sewing skills. She took a big circle of fabric and cut a smaller circle in the middle, then applied some appliqués to it. She got a lot of compliments on it, so she made some more and took them to a boutique in Beverly Hills, and they were an instant hit. The first dog to be added as an appliqué was a dachshund silhouette, but poodles proved more popular. Besides creating the poodle skirt, Charlot was a talented performer, singing with Xavier Cougat’s orchestra and performing alongside the Marx Brothers during World War II. She lived an interesting and long life.
However, Charlot wasn’t the first to create that full skirt look. Christian Dior created what was called the “New Look” in 1947, featuring dresses with a form-fitting top, belt, then flared skirt to create an exaggerated female silhouette. Dior’s dresses were out of the price range for middle-class women, but department stores soon began to carry similar styles, which proved to be very popular.
Charlot’s poodle skirt, with its cute puppy was a hit among teen girls, because it was simple and it moved so well. The sway of the garment, especially when fluffed out with crinolines, was both innocent and sexy. The skirt’s length to mid-calf was modest, and a girl could sit comfortably. Girls liked that it didn’t hobble them at the knees, and they could be dressed up or down. Often worn with a wide belt that snatched the waist, it was figure-flattering and could be worn with heels or flats.
The bobby socks also gained popularity around the time of the poodle skirt. Technically the bobby sock was a women’s sock that is either gathered at the ankle or cut for the ankle, or “bobbed.” The socks were often paired with saddle shoes or loafers. Boys and girls wore bobby socks. Due to the popularity of the socks, teens in the late 40s came to be known as “bobby soxers.” Frank Sinatra and other crooners catered to these kids, who also participated in sock hops in the high school gym.
The bobby soxers were mainly Silent Generation natives and were probably the first teen economic powerhouse, where companies catered to their every whim. Later would come the Baby Boomers, but companies first learned to lure teens on the Silents, whose parents were eager to let their kids have some fun after enduring the war and the lingering effects of the Great Depression. Teens in the late 40s spent more time with their friends than family than previous generations, hanging out together at the movies, and the new shopping malls that were springing up in the suburbs.
Poodle skirts and bobby socks fell out of fashion in the 1960s, but enjoyed a brief revival in the 1970s when nostalgia for the 1950s began to build. Thanks to the film American Grafitti (1973) and the TV show “Happy Days,” Generation X teens discovered the fashions and music of the 1950s. Later, the film Grease further fueled interest in poodle skirts and saddle shoes, but more as a costume than everyday fashion.
Will we ever see the likes of the poodle skirt again? Given that everything old becomes new again, maybe.