Is there a name for this look?

oh wow...That etsy link makes me want to cry. So beautiful.

My goodness. I want that doll!

How about we call it "The dressed up playsuit?" That's always how I thought of it. Lucy always wore it around the house - You'd never see this look at a very fancy event. However, Audrey Hepburn's famous dress in Sabrina draws on the look:



A straight pencil skirt instead of capris, with a full taffeta overlay, attached to a bodice. A very simple idea, with stunning results.

In the Lucy doll, she's wearing a sheer redingote (or maybe a robe?) over pants. I was thinking that the dress and pants would be interchangeable, like "oh I happen to have this redingote, I'll wear it with these pants", but I guess if they were sold together it'd just be called an outfit or ensemble.

Less formal, the button or wrap skirts + shorts/capris is a playsuit.

In the Sabrina example, she's wearing a dress with an overskirt.

Revamp makes a version of this. Adorable but pricey.
Sophia

And I think Lana Turner wears a couple of these outfits in "Imitation of Life". Love that movie.

Lana in Coral

jetgirl said:

Revamp makes a version of this. Adorable but pricey.
Sophia

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I first read that as $45 and I was wondering why in the world you though it was pricy. Then my eyes adjusted lol

Ah HA! you're right! I have seen that name before "Hostess Set". Very appropriate.
Makes me really want one. Especially in velveteen and polka dots like the etsy one.

Lily Powers said:

I've seen them referred to as Hostess Sets. If that's not the correct (or 'formal') name for that style, it certainly describes it well enough. Couldn't you just picture the hostess of a cocktail party, sashaying to the door as she greets her guests and welcomes them to help themselves to martinis?

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I think you hit it.
Look at this one http://www.vintageous.com/v5671.htm

That was the word I was trying to remember. Hostess set.
Like the sheer hostess aprons.

That copper set is unreal. I think if I would of lived back then my whole wardrobe would of been copper and emerald green. Maybe. lol
I have a vintage copper beaded Walborg purse I shall never part with.
http://sandysfancypants.blogspot.com

I was just "surfing" this site and stumbled upon this thread, six years late. However, I've always loved the style and even made an outfit to wear to a 1950s theme party about 25 years ago. People loved it.

The more glamorous sets of the long skirt/dress with the long pants underneath were called Hostess Ensembles and Hostess Sets. If you search for that online you will find pretty dishes, napkins, and other fancy stuff for parties and maybe a few of the grand outfits in question. These were worn only in one's own home for hosting parties, or maybe for a nice romantic dinner at home. They weren't to be worn out out and about or at other people's parties. In other works, they were dressy versions of hostess pajamas or hostess pants (remember that hilarious birthday gift Lucy picked out for Ethel for all her smart dinner parties?).

Another version is the long skirt with shorter pants/Capri pants. This is a bit more informal but can still be dressy...or casual.

The third version are the sporty sets with shorter skirts and shorter pants or even shorts. In these, ladies (and girls) were allowed to wear them outside the home, for a outdoor party or even at a casual outing. These styles appeared in the 1950s.

Lucille Ball wore her famous hostess ensemble in at least two episodes of I Love Lucy: Hollywood At Last and the one where she lied about people breaking into the apartment. She wore it in the segment when Ricky and the Mertzes were playing cards and she sat on the stairs and got carried away by real crooks. I believe she wore another one at some point but can't place it.

In the movies, Rosalind Russell, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, as well as Lana Turner wore dressy or dressy casual versions. In To Catch A Their, Grace Kelly wore a sporty version with a big hat. I believe it was black and white.

Mary Tyler Moore also wore a long version on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

In fact, I saw a very pretty dressy version in a Vogue pattern catalogue just a few weeks ago in their "vintage" line.

The style was popular in the 1940s-1960s, with the casual versions making their debut in the 1950s. I read they came out in the 1920s or 1930s, but I've never seen photos or remember any films showing them from that time.


Just for the record, I'm female, even though my profile pic boasts a famous guy.

Long fancy version was a hostess gown