Polka Dot Dresses: Retro Style from 1920s to 1960s (The Vintage Dancer)

Today's post Polka Dot Dresses: Retro Style from 1920s to 1960s from Vintage Dancer.

Where have all the polka dots gone? Looking over my collection of vintage pictures and catalogs polka dot dresses, tops, and swimsuits were all very popular from the 1920s to the 1960s. Large and small dots with white on a colored background were the most common. They were fun, youthful, trendy and sometimes high fashion. They can’t help but make you smile. Today’s photo roundup is a salute to polka dots!

Middle woman is wearing a polka dot walking dress! About 1910

The first picture I have is from around 1910. The lady in the middle is wearing a small polka dot walking dress with white piping for trim. This is very unusual for this time period, but it goes to show you that the polka dot dress fad was coming soon.

1920’s Polka Dots

1922 Polka Dot Dress Prints- For house dresses

1927 Polka Dot Dress Fabrics in Silk- for semi formal dresses.

1929 Doris Zinkeisen wearing a polka dot blouse

In the early 1920’s polka dots captured the youth driven look fashion was founded on. They were especially popular as house dresses and even garden dresses if the dots were small and set against a white background (1922 picture above.) By the mid to late 1920s the polka dot dress left the house and became a staple pattern for semi formal afternoon dresses. Polka dot print fabric never crossed into evening wear but beaded dot patterns were certainly a common design element on Art Deco/ geometric inspired designs.

Most polka dots prints remained with sportier looks such as on blouses, skirts, and pajamas.

Polka dot dress at the beach

I love this cute little 1920s drop waist dress with large polka dots! They appear to be in two colors over white. I wonder what colors they were?

1930s Polka Dot Dresses

1930s polka dot dress

Myrna Loy in When Ladies Meet (1933) sporting a more casual dress with polka dot trim.

Polka dot dresses in the 1930s were even more popular than in the 1920’s. They also moved away from being just the main dress print to a pretty trim. Still casual and playful they became more sophisticated as all 1930s fashion did- especially when worn by Hollywood’s bright young stars!

Mary Pickford in polka dot beach pajamas or jumper

Polka dots were not just for dresses. They made a great print for beach pajamas too. Mary Pickford’s outfit above looks more like a beach pajama overall or jumper.

1940’s Polka Dot Dresses

1940s polka dot dresses from 1943-1947

The 1940s era loved polka dot dresses for all occasions. Small dots and large dots were equally common as well as prints that looked liked dots from a distance but were perhaps oval or another non strict circular shape. Polka dot materials were made into suits and maternity dresses as well (right most dress above.)

Rose Barrack designer 1945 polka dot dress

Juts like in the previous decades polka dots dresses were mostly casual day or afternoon dresses. That all was beginning to change after the war. Going into the 1950s polka dots were seen as elegant when matched with accessories: gloves, hats, purses, and even shoes.

Jeanne Crain looking like a doll in her polka print swimsuit

Polka dot swimsuits were not new to the 1940s but they certainly were cute! I just love this one that Jeanne Crain is modeling.

Popular retro polka dot dresses at Unique-Vintage.com

Lucky for us, 1940s retro polka dot dresses are extremely popular with designers and shoppers a like. The “Madden” dress at Unique-Vintage.com continues to be a best seller year after year. I love the 1940s sillhouette of this dress.

1950’s Polka Dot Dresses

1950s polka dot print dresses

1951 Polka Dot Dresses and Suit for the Plus Size Woman

Model Karen Stark is striking in this cheerful yellow polka dot dress

1950s Polka dot lined jacket, umbrella, hat and dress.

Everything in the 1950s got big! Big dresses, big skirts, big accessories, and big personalities. Polka dot patterns grew big too. Extra large polka dot prints came on dresses and matching accessories and were at once the biggest fashion statement of the decade. Everything had polka dots. Women of all ages wore them too. They were no longer just for the young women’s population.

Ginger Rogers playing tennis in a polka dot top

An explosion of polka dots naturally continued onto sportswear. Tops and bottom both featured prints (although not worn at the same time.) Crop pants were often rolled so the hem showed a polka dot lining. Tops could be all dots or only the cuffs and collars. Colored socks, hair scarves, and jewelry came in polka dots too. It was a time when polka dots accessorized everything.

1960s Polka Dot Dresses

1968 pink polka dot dress with matching jacket

1964 polka dot jacket over white ensemble- very mod

Bright modish polka dress on the right

1960s Mod dress with polka dot used as accents

The 1960s had two looks that each adopted polka dots. The first was the return to the school girl style. Polka dot prints appeared on baby doll dresses trimmed with white collars and ruffled lines. It was a similar response that the 1920s had on their young girls look.

The scond look was the mod style. Polka dots were no longer symmetrical. Instead all shapes and sizes appeared in bold, shocking, colors. Polka dots as an accent was very mod too (last dress above.)

Retro Polka Dot Dresses Today

Join the love affair with polka dots and you will step back in time. Shop new retro style polka dot dresses here:

Debbie @ VintageDancer.com