1950s Men’s Dress Shirts History

1950s men’s dress shirts simplified in color, pattern, and details to go with the new look of suits. New colors with fancy names such as Tangier tan, Bombay gray, Granada green, and Persian melon hinted at the tropical color palette. Only a few years into the ’50s colors, went to pastels – baby blue, pink, and shades of off white. By the end of the decade, however, colors were nearly gone. Only white, light blue, and occasionally grey, pink, or tan remained.

Patterns, too, gradually decreased. Small pinstripes were found throughout the 1950s while bolder stripes, pin dots, and checks were still seen in the first few years. Overall, 1950s men’s button down dress shirts were solid colors without patterns. The smoothness balanced out textured suits and sport coats and contrasted with the bold ties.

Men’s 1950s shirts collars experimented with new shapes and revived old shapes, such as…

The wide spread collars and modified spread collars (also called semi-spread).

Rounded points, also known as club collars or penny collars. They were a turn of the century revival, this time with shorter and softer collars. Some were held down by buttons, some with tabs, and others left plain with some structure.

Long points. Classic length points (2.5 inches) or a little shorter. They had straight edges or a very slight curve to lay nicely against the neckline.

1952 Men’s Long Point Collar Dress Shirt and Diamond Tie

Short points. In 1953, pointed collars shortened up and held there for most of the decade. 2-inch long points were the most common.

1959 Short Point Collars, with a List of Other Collar Types – (reg. collar, short point, semi-spread and round tab-type)

British tabs. Tabs were applied to round club collars. Eyelets with a collar pin did the same job to hold the points together around the necktie.

Button down collars. Buttons were applied to most collar shapes.

1956 Button-Down Collars on Long Points, Short Points, and Spread Collars

Shirt cuffs were either simple button cuffs or double French cuffs held with cuff links.

1952 Collar and Cuff Types

1950 Men’s French Cuff Shirts sold with Cuff Links

Shirts fabrics favored new synthetics such as Dracon, which were easy to wash and dry with little to no ironing needed — or so the advertisements said. Not quite in reality. Otherwise, shirts continued to be made of light cotton broadcloth, Oxford, or madras. You could still find some made of rayon or linen and in wool blends for winter.

1958 White or Blue – Limited Colors in the Late 1950s Made in “Wash ‘n Wear” Synthetic Fabrics

In summer, a new short sleeved dress shirt was introduced to a hesitant audience.  Unlike casual short sleeved shirts, these dress shirts came in solid colors with a coordinating necktie.

1958 Short Sleeve Dress Shirts could also be Casual Shirts when Worn Without a Tie

Here are some additional sales pages for men’s 1950s dress shirts.

Read More

• 1950s Men’s Business Attire
• Men’s Shirt Styles of the 1950s
• Men’s Shirt Styles in the 1940s
• 1950s Outfit Ideas for Men
• A 1920s-1970s History of Men’s Neckties

Where to Buy 1950s Style Dress Shirts

Because of how similar men’s 1950s dress shirts are to modern day dress shirts, plus the lack of interest in men’s suits vs casual style, I have not seen any reproduction 1950s shirts being made. Your best option is to choose a modern shirt with a classic fit (not skinny) with the collar style and color you prefer. Some of my favorite brands are:

Paul Frederick (Amazon) / Direct – They have all sorts of collar types, French cuffs, colors, pattern, classic fabrics, and cuts (classic). Sold by neck size and sleeve length.

Natty Shirts – You can customize any shirt to you specifications.

1950s Men’s Shirts – Although these are mostly casual shirts I do link to 1950s style dress shirts as I find them.