When teenagers of the 50s needed some fashion tips, they could always rely on American Bandstand to give them a glimpse into how the hippest teens in America were dressing.

 

Originally a local show called Bob Horn’s Bandstand, Dick Clark took over the reigns in 1956 and a year later, it had gone national under its new moniker, American Bandstand.Soon teenagers from coast to coast were tuning in weekly to keep up to date on all of the popular music acts that were emerging. And along the way, they got a glimpse of the many styles of dress being embraced by the nation’s youths. If you saw it on American Bandstand, you were almost assured to be in tune with the current trends and ready to dance with the best of them.