Did girls wear clothes with ruffles in the fifties?

Answer 1

The "ruffle" has been part of fashion for centuries. Ruffles were used as accents and in the late 1800s and 1900s became a symbol of girlishness and femininity.

In the 1950s, ruffles were still used, mostly at necklines, sleeves, and hemlines. Youngest girls often had frilly full-skirted dresses with ruffles, bows, or other decorative accents. Young school children who did not wear school uniforms often had some ruffle even on common dresses, versus the dressy-dress worn for church or social functions. School girls who had to wear uniforms might have gotten away with a plain and subdued-looking ruffle at the collar, and at the wrists on long-sleeve blouses but only if very plain. Teenagers wore a variety of ruffle accents, also constructed as part of the clothing.

By the 1970s, only youngest girls still had many ruffles on dresses. But if anyone older wore a ruffle, it was detachable, just like the "dickey", a fake-front half shirt that was worn under a lower neckline shirt. And just like cufflinks on guys was quickly moving out of style back then, ruffles at the wrist had already seen their last days.

Ruffles in gowns (such as prom and wedding) made interesting pieces in the 1980s but were much less in everyday clothing (if they appeared at all).