OMIGOD! I just had an image of the black & white photos my mother took of me and my sister in our poodle skirst on the first day of school, I think I was going into 2nd grade, which would make it 1960!
Thanks for the memories of that first day at school.
When poodle skirts really ruled.
They may have been in fashion, but I felt like a fool.
From looking at photos of the era and talking with my mother (who was born in 1933, so a little old for the poodle skirt fad), it seems to me that very full skirts, particularly circle skirts, were very much in fashion for much of the 1950s. For every day most women would wear a normal slip underneath, but for dances and dressy occasions they might well use a crinoline or stiff petticoats to make the skirt stand out. Applique was also trendy during that era, and poodles were the popular dog of the day (like the Scottie dog was in the '30s). Put them all together and the poodle skirt, a circle skirt with crinolines and an applique of a popular motif, and you have an emblem of the '50s. But its popularity as an emblem today seems to be much higher than its popularity as a fashion choice then. Poodle skirts were popular, but if you took a time machine back to a random school dance in 1950-odd, you might or might not see one.
I would love more than anything to have one with an Apple logo!
I had a cheap costume 2 years ago and I replaced the poodle with a Boston terrier! If the quality wasn’t so poor, I could definitely see myself wearing one!
My mom is from Mexico. She had one. It was her favorite skirt because of the crinoline under skirts. Hers had a 45, not a poodle.
My older cousin Sue (must have been 17 or 18) had one, in the late 50’s (I was a child, but I remember the late 50’s and I remember my other cousin David being encouraged to imitate Elvis after he (Elvis) appeared on the Philco TV). Cousin Sue’s skirt had a scottie dog, in fact she had scottie dog pins, a scarf, and a stuffed toy scottie dog on her bed. Cousin Sue was held up as the Height of Fashion to us younger kids and actually took me and her little sister shopping for saddle shoes.
WAG: Perhaps they called them twist shirts because you could do that torso twisting dance in them without having to worry about your shirt pulling out of your waist band?
I know my mom had one, but not with a poodle. A Scotty dog I think? They didn’t have to have poodles, or even applique at all, but applique was popular.
I remember wanting a poodle skirt like anything in 1959 when I started kindergarten and saw older girls wearing them. This was in a NYC suburb, so not exactly out in the sticks. I never got one, but I did wear full skirts with crinolines for church on Sundays, or other dressy occasions.
If you go here and look in the 1930s to the modern era section, there are quite a few '40s/'50s dresses with the full, crinolines. No poodle skirts, though.
Sounds good to me. 
The ones we wore were kinda like this.
Those look more like late sixties, to me.
I do like that blouse!
I have a pattern from the Sixties nearly identical. The only difference is that it comes to a vee in front and back. Still wearing the last one I made as it is nice and cool in the summer and gives me those mellow hippy vibes. 
Thanks for posting some great stories about 50’s clothing. 
I found it very interesting.
I recall seeing stars like Donna Reed and June Allyson wearing petticoats and a full skirt in movies from the 50’s. At the time I didn’t know what made the skirt form a perfect bell shape. Thinking back it was a very nice look.
My mother remembers wearing a poodle skirt (only with a traffic light on it) in third grade, ca. 1956. She lived in semi-rural Arkansas at the time, so it wouldn’t have been a particularly fresh fad at the time.
It’s nice living in rural Arkansas: you could be fashion forward by wearing what people on TV did the year before.
We all had full skirts with full can-can petticoats in the 1950’s - that was the style.
(I still have at least a dozen can-can petticoats in storage)
As far as a skirt with an actual poodle on it, I might have seen one, maybe, I dont know, but if I did, I sure dont remember it. I certainly never owned a skirt with a poodle dog on it, and if anyone did, the “poodle” was entirely incidental.
I think Poodle skirts, skirts with dogs on them, were only popular in fictionalized 1970’s television and movies - like Happy Days, American Grafitti, etc.
Susanann, here’s a tip with Halloween coming up: If you have, or know of, a young girl who is trying to decide what to wear, I used one of my old black can-cans trimmed with pink lace to make my daughter a Spanish dancer for Halloween one year.
I image you could also make a bride’s dress, ballerina dress, whatever. Just sew a couple of ribbons to the front and back of the waistbnd for shoulder straps and accesorize with matching lace/ribbons.
Thanks for the suggestions,
…but I am saving my crinoline can-can petticoats for when they come back in style again.
Depends on what is meant by “popular”. The poodle skirt (or the Scottie skirt or the 45 rpm record skirt) was a fad, and it was definitely popular. Otherwise you wouldn’t see them on Happy Days or American Graffiti. But they weren’t so widespread (ooh, a pun) that every girl had one, but they were popular.
Now bobby sox and saddle shoes, probably 75% of the girls had those.
I think part of the reason we all didn’t rush out and buy a poodle skirt was because the skirt was distinctive enough that people would remember when you last wore it. That was important – not wearing the same outfit twice in a week, or even twice in two weeks. Saddle shoes and bobby sox – you could wear those every day – but not a poodle skirt.
I remember one outfit my mom bought me – a quilted circle skirt, white with black somethings on it (puppies, maybe?), and a matching blouse. It was so loud, I think I wore it twice. I liked it and it was comfy, but everybody noticed. “Oh, you’re wearing that cute [black & white thing] outfit again!”
Same with a poodle skirt.
Well, you’re probably wise. I’ve been around long enough now to see things come back in style a few times. Third time around on the bell bottoms and platform shoes. Though time #1 it was my mother wearing them.
I remember when the hippy clothes came back in style and I’d wander around in the store all forlorn and say, “This stuff all looks so outdated. Got stuff in my attic that looks like this.”
And all the young’uns were so enthusiastic about it all.
Unfortunately I was a very slender young woman and after two babies there’s just no way to wear them anymore.
The OP mentions how the old styles don’t look so exciting but it’s funny how, if you begin to see a lot of people wearing them you can change your mind. I remember when platform shoes came back in style and then the padded shoulders and jackets with peplums on them. I made myself an outfit for Mother’s Day and when Mom saw me in it she just shook her head and said, “Are they wearing that old-fashioned style again?”
Who knows? Maybe some day we’ll see circle skirts with cell phones and ipods on them? Why do I doubt that?
This was just posted on one of my favorite sewing blogs–a pamphlet from the 1954 on how to make a circle skirt. Lots of embellishment ideas!