A 1950s costume suitable for Halloween and costume parties that is a counterpart for the Teddy Boy is, naturally enough, the Teddy Girl, who were also known as Judies. Although the Teddy Boys are still well known, even today, the Teddy Girls never achieved the same level of fame or notoriety, nor did they see the resurgence that Teddy Boys did in the Seventies.
Teddy Boys would usually have their outfits tailor made for them at great expense. Teddy Girls, on the other hand, would often make their own outfits in a flamboyant style rejecting post-war austerity, even though by making their own they were economising. Other than homemade clothing, second hand was also popular, creating an outfit for much less outlay than a Teddy Boy would. Teddy Girls tending to be working class London girls from the poorer districts who left school for factory or office work, often prior to age 15.
Like the boys, Teddy Girls would also wear a drape jacket, the frock coat with a knee length skirt. An alternative would be a tailored jacket with a velvet collar.
Popular headgear was the coolie hat and the straw boater. The hair underneath it would be often plaited or, later on, done in a long ponytail. Some Teddy Girls would use the same quiffed style as their male counterparts.
There was a great variation in lower body clothes. Trousers (or pants) popular were rolled-up jeans and, later on, toreador pants. Skirts included the straight-cut just-above-the-knee pencil skirt, hobble skirts, long, tight skirts which had a small hem that restricted the wearer’s stride (hence, hobble) and later on circle skirts which were made from one or more circles with a hole for the waist. The trousers, when coupled with a man’s shirt and a man’s frock coat, tended to give Judies a rather androgynous appearance.
Popular footwear worn were mostly flat shoes, such as the espadrille, a canvas or cotton shoe with a jute rope sole.
Accompaniments were cameo brooches and long clutch bags; the clutch bag was a rebellious statement as it was often too small to be practical.