Poodle Skirt

What we humans do in times of need? We sharpen our creativity...

This is the story of an actress, Juli Lynne Charlot, who had to go to a Christmas party in 1947 without money for a dress and created one of the most iconic garments that lasted through all the 50s, the "poodle skirt".

With a piece of wide enough felt from her mother's factory to cut a full circle, she made a skirt without seams and added some Christmas decorations made from felt patches. So much liked the skirt that Juli made three of them for a boutique in Beverly Hills and were inmediately sold so the boutique comissioned her more but this time with decoration motifs of little dog breeds like poddles or datschunds that were living a real dogmania after dog shows were televised.

Juli could found her own company and, it wasn't always easy, but she found a bussiness man who invested in her and she expanded her designs to other garments as well always mantaining the principle that her motifs explained a story and gave a conversation topic and, after little dog motifs, came other motifs related to music, entertaiment and other aspects of life and orders from boutiques and stores like Neiman Marcus.

The "poodle skirt" grew popular too because was relatively easy to make at home so many young girls wore them converting it in the icon that is ever present when the 50s arise in a movie like in the Barbie and therockers sequel, Barbie and the Sensations, in which the band enters in a wormhole and appear in the 50s. Of course, Barbie had to wear a pink  poodle skirt for the ocassion with musical motifs that came to life in the line of dolls but that wasn't the only time of Barbie in one of those... Fifties Fun, Barbie loves Elvis or Barbie's 60s outfit Friday NiteDate are some examples.

At the end whether it was a whimsical Christmas decoration, a datschund or letters shouting Elvis from afar the "poodle skirt" is synonym of cuteness and a representation of a decade that we can identify by only seeing this garment.