The Ultimate Guide to Sock Hop Costumes (2024)

FAQs

What is the dress code for sock hop? ›

If you're wondering how you should dress for a sock hop, girls usually wear poodle skirts and blouses with chiffon neck scarves, bobby socks, saddle shoes and cat eye glasses, but Grease costumes and 50s prom outfits can be worn as well!

Sock hops were commonly held at high schools and other educational institutions, often in the school gymnasium or cafeteria. The term came about because dancers were required to remove their hard-soled shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium.

Saddle shoes reached movie star status in 1957 when Elvis Presley wore saddle shoes in Jailhouse Rock. Adoring teen girls just had to have them and they often paired them with poodle skirts. The white bobby socks they wore with them were iconic and had to be folded just so.

Simply pair your white shirt with your poodle skirt, and a wide belt to emphasize your feminine figure. For shoes, opt for classic saddle shoes (aka black and white oxfords), or simple flats. Don't forget the bright hair accessory to showoff the retro hairdo and feminine make-up.

Selecting Hip Hop Clothing for Women

From fashion hip hop dance pants to the tighter fitting crop pant combined with a pair of heels, you'll find that there are more choices in sweats than ever before. Combined with a crop top and a hoodie or a jersey, your hip hop look can go from flab to fab in a matter of minutes.

Pencil Skirts

(The wiggle dress looks fabulous with a swing coat.) A pencil skirt with a shirt or sweater and worn with flats is a more fun way of wearing the look. Again the skirt length is important - it must be calf length to look really 50s.

Sock hops endured into the early 1960s, but died off as popular youth music took a turn toward the psychedelic and the hippie counterculture took root.

As mentioned previously, this was the era of the drive-in diner. Serve hamburger, cheeseburgers and hot dogs with French fries or onion rings in plastic baskets. Set up a soda fountain and offer shakes, floats and malts. For dessert, you could offer make-your-own sundaes or banana splits.

The Poodle Skirt

The skirt originated in 1947 in the United States, designed by Juli Lynne Charlot. The idea for the skirt began as Charlot needed it last-minute. With little money and little ability to sew, she made the seamless skirt herself out of felt.

But because the garment's most popular incarnation sported images of poodles, all such skirts came generically to be known as poodle skirts.

What did poodle skirts look like? ›

A poodle skirt is a wide swing felt skirt of a solid color displaying a design appliquéd or transferred to the fabric. The design was often a coiffed poodle. Later substitutes for the poodle patch included flamingoes, flowers, and hot rod cars. Hemlines were to the knee or just below it.

One of the most iconic and fashionable trends of the 50s era, was the poodle skirt.. it was a bright, colourful, long, swishy skirt that hit just below the knees.

Due to the high profile dog show and their fancy haircuts, poodles became a symbol of refinement and high class. As fate would have it, the appliquéing of poodles on skirts was beyond huge. Before long, just about anything became a possible embellishments for these wide circle skirts.

A poodle skirt has a wide elastic waistband that mimics a belt and there is no hemming required. First, you will need to make a circle skirt, then add the poodle appliqué, and then finish the skirt with a wide elastic waistband.

Hip Hop: It's not just a dance genre! It's an entire culture that comes with its own style of clothing, music, and movement. Relaxed clothing, such as pants and loose t-shirts, are common in hip hop classes, as well as sneakers or other athletic shoes. Hair is usually permitted in any style.

Think oversized t-shirts, baggy jeans, and sneakers. Athletic wear: Athletic wear like leggings, tank tops, and sports bras are a great option for a hip hop performance, as they are comfortable to move in and can be paired with a variety of different tops and bottoms.

The right clothes for hip hop dance classes are items that are comfortable to move around in that you don't mind getting sweaty. Sweatpants or loose-fitting athletic pants and a tank top, t-shirts, or sweaters are good attire for hip hop classes.

For both newbies and seasoned dancers, it's essential to nail the right hip-hop dance outfit — one that is comfortable and allows you to express yourself, too. You want an outfit that's relaxed, loose and comfortable — but still looks fresh. “I either like a short crop top with baggy sweatpants or windbreaker pants.