The 1950s has always been a super popular "flashback" era. Even going back a few decades to the 70s, TV shows like Happy Days indicated we still loved the 50s. 1980s movies like Back to the Future demonstrated again that we still still loved the 50s! For doll fans, 2015 introduced 1950s-themed American Girl Mary Ellen--and she and her pony tail were quite a hit.

Suddenly  a million doll-sized poodle skirts made the rounds on Etsy! I guess it makes sense, since poodle skirts and pony tails have long been representative of 1950s girl fashion. But were the 1950s really that inundated with poodles and ponies?

Now let me say I watched a lot of old black and white films and television re-runs when I was growing up. I was mesmerized by the past and its bygone culture. And in all the 1950s teenage sock hops and high school hallways that flickered back at me, I can't say I ever saw many poodles or ponies.


Of course it's possible the film and television studios didn't want anything too "teeny" or popular to scare away older viewers, so they kept everything fairly conservative. But even those "cool" teen dance shows from the 50s don't seem to show an over abundance of poodle skirts or pony tails. I definitely don't doubt they existed or were popular, especially in the case of pony tails, which do show up occasionally. But from all the old media I have seen, they don't exactly dominate the 1950s like current culture suggests.

Previous to the 1950s I've heard the ponytail was really only worn by children, but that Sandra Dee rocked the playful hairstyle in the 1959 film Gidget and afterwards teen girls everywhere copied her. That may or may not have been the pony's origin, but if it was, it would explain why most of the 50s went by without the pony's dominant presence. Still, the few ponies I have seen in old pictures or films aren't just after 1959, so I have to question the whole Sandra Dee thing. Either way, most of the girls in 1950s pictures wear their short or shoulder length hair down. So the ponytail was probably not as signature as it's been made out to be.


And for poodle skirts, the appliqued circle or gathered skirt seems to have been popular in general, whether it was poodles or something else. I've actually found more images of skirts with fish, phones, cats, elephants, even a "mom version" with a wine glass. Strangely, I haven't seen that many poodles but I've even seen other dog appliques like dachshunds or terriers. From what I've read, the first "poodle" skirts actually had Christmas designs on them! Poodles did come later, along with other animals and inanimate objects. Interestingly, I read that any skirt with an applique was called a "poodle skirt," even if it happened to have dancing monkeys on it.


That may be the reason that we have hung on to the idea that poodle appliques were far in the majority for circle skirts, even though the media doesn't exactly support it.


If I go only by the evidence, the average girl back then wore her hair down and had pencil skirt or a full skirt with an occasional applique that might be a poodle, just as it might be anything else.


But I suppose, just like the idea of 1920s flappers with feathers in their hair, we want a consistent symbol of those beloved eras to easily identify, re-create, and hold on to. It just makes things simpler, am I right?

Not to mention, the poodle with the pony just clicks. :)