![\"1950s](\"http:\/\/sammydvintage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/50s-circle-skirt-main.jpg\" "\\"1950s")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The 1950s<\/a> shirtwaist dress is a quintessential piece of the era, representative of iconic ’50s housewives like \u00a0Leave it to Beaver’s<\/em> June Cleaver and\u00a0Mad Men’s<\/a><\/em> January Jones.<\/p>\n The shirtwaist dress was first designed in the early 1900s to mimic the\u00a0utilitarian design of a men’s button down shirt. \u00a0After World War II, the style was embraced by women looking for a practical but pretty dress to wear at home in her growing role as All-American wife, mother and domesticated diva.<\/p>\n While known as the unofficial uniform of the classic housewife, \u00a0today’s modern girl isn’t wearing her ’50s shirtwaist dress to fulfill archaic ideas of feminine fulfillment. Rather, she’s wearing the vintage style<\/a> because it makes her feel like a lady, which is one of the many virtues of 1950s clothing<\/a>\u00a0for the contemporary girl.<\/p>\n So to show how to wear a shirtwaist dress without actually looking like a housewife, I asked Casey of Elegant Musings<\/a> to style one from her personal collection with modern day flair for looks that are still functional for day, just like the dress was invented to be.<\/p>\n Keep reading after the jump to see how Casey answered my challenge and styled her shirtwaist dress four unique ways!<\/p>\n