1950s Fashionista: Mamie Eisenhower's Mid-Century Mode (PHOTOS)

Before Michelle Obama's belts and brooches and Jackie Kennedy's pearls and pillbox hats, another style-setter called the White House home: Mamie Eisenhower. As Dwight's wife, Mamie was first lady from 1953 to 1961, overseeing nearly a decade of short bangs, flowers, clutches, lace and perfectly perched hats. Today, on the anniversary of her birthday (she would be 113), we take a look back at Mamie's mid-century mode:

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Comments

[rivermouth]

Mamie was actually kind of cute, but you couldn't tell with that utterly ridiculous hairstyle.

[Agentlady007]

Those are Edwardian lace dresses, and you can still find them today.
http://www.vintagetextile.com/edwardian.htm
I own a few of them. The authentic ones are very delicate and usually very tiny. I miss the pill box hats. They should come back in style. In England I imagine they wear them to tea parties still. Here we only see them at weddings ( mother of the bride ).

[LMPE]

As a first lady, Laura Bush looks all the more embarrassing next to Mamie Eisenhower. Susan Eisenhower, disgusted at what the GOP had turned into, backed Obama.

[puzzled500]

Mamie was never a fashionista. There were all kinds of jokes about those awful bangs and her dowdy dresses. Didn't matter because she was the genuine article with a lovely smile and she was a real lady.

[theredqueen]

A lovely and comfortable looking lady. I love the picture of her with the President and the grandchildren. Lot's of affection shining there.

[antaeus]

Whose is the better plight?: a 60-ish 1950s woman who could be grandmotherly with impunity, or a 2009 60-ish woman who's expected to look 40?

[Eykis]

Antaeus, very well said. Well said.

[PoliSci2008]

Maime was a beatiful 16 year girl, but oo wee, as FL, her hair style and fashion nonsense has been duly noted, FOREVER!

Word to the wise.

[shutterbabe]

What a privilege to view such a wonderful collection of photographs.

The first image just grabs my heartstrings. Mamie looks wistful yet determined. These are all classics, lovely documentation of an era- and a woman- that we should remember with pride.

[kath1y]

She seems to have given quite a bit of attention to her clothes but never could understand the hair. It was as if she were wearing a hat to small for her head.

[DK in MS]

Leave Mamie ALONE!!!!!!

[babybelle]

I once groomed a Poodle and the owner took one look at said,
You made my dog look like Mamie Eisenhower ! :) Guess it wasn't a compliment ! LOL!

[NevaforLeadership]

The problem with your piece is that Mamie Eisenhower was no 1950's fashionista. In fact at the time she was considered decidedly unfashionable and dowdy.

[ColoradoCool]

Yes, that's true. I remember it the same way you do. What she needed most was a good hair stylist. Her "signature bangs" were just silly.

[nobillary1]

I remember going to grade school with "Mamie's bangs" and thinking I looked fabulous! Boy, was I deluded or what??

[reindeer]

Agreed. The writer doesn't have a clue. While I was just a little girl, I remember both my mother and grandmother talking about how dowdy she looked. Being First Lady did not mean being a style setter! The Huffington Post needs to stop fabricating history.

[colred]

Ditto. I wasn't alive until '59, but even in the 60s my mom was talking about how dowdy Mamie was and those bangs. Not a fashion plate.

[PoliSci2008]

Maybe the writer was being political correct and polite not to offend the surviving members of the family.

[VOTER]

BINGO!

[Meadowlark]

I always thought she had been dowdy. Actually, in retrospect she seems to have been the originator of "geek chic". And boy doesn't she look comfortable in her own skin. Admirable. (And I dig the blue lacy number. She puts the Nixon gals in the shade. Is that Dior or Balenciaga)?

[lillibelle]

Every time I see a picture of our Mamie, I smile. Just love all of the giggling-g­irlie-girl pics and her pretty-in-pink inaugural portrait. She radiates such joy.

Happy Birthday, Mamie!

[qthedancer]

Awww, lillibelle, aren't you sweet? I'll join you in wishing Mamie a happy birthday!