I recently watched "The Fashion Show" episode where Lucy goes to purchase a Don Loper Original. She picks out the plainest dress in the store & when she gets home she realizes it costs $500.00. Now wasn't this a totally outrageous price for the 1950's?

I recently watched "The Fashion Show" episode where Lucy goes to purchase a Don Loper Original. She picks out the plainest dress in the store & when she gets home she realizes it costs $500.00. Now wasn't this a totally outrageous price for the 1950's?


I don't know about the 1950s, but I know in my house it would be for the 2010's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

According to the Inflation Calculator, $500 in 1955 would be $4024.73 in 2010.

Many prices for clothes in that show I thought were high. How did Ricky pay for them?. Mrs Munson's Hat shop had a hat for $49.50. I remember my mom telling me she could get two wool suits for that price in the 50's

Many prices for clothes in that show I thought were high. How did Ricky pay for them?. Mrs Munson's Hat shop had a hat for $49.50. I remember my mom telling me she could get two wool suits for that price in the 50's


^ So true, it makes you wonder why he didn't make her return the dress, the hats, etc when he saw those price tags. And you probably could have bought a nice used car for that $500.00 back then.

I don't know about the 1950s, but I know in my house it would be for the 2010's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No kidding! Wow... I think they exaggerated a bit much!

That was a lot for one dress, agreed. But it was a designer dress and those designers can command high prices for their exclusive labels. Anyway, I loved the dress that Lucy bought! It was a classic style. She could've gotten years of wear out of it. You could wear that dress today.

Some trivia about that episode. Ethel mentions their friend back home ,"Jane Sebastian will be green". That was a real friend of Vivian Vance. She was her son's godmother, the singer John Sebastian.

I have a Lucy paper doll book and the tweed suit that Lucy wore is in it. And while Don Loper designed all the dresses in the episode, he didn't actually design that suit. That was created by the woman who did Lucy's other costumes on the show

Yeah Ethel mentions Jane Sebastian could play an instrument in the Friendship episode. I wonder how old little John was in those days. His mother sure "believed in magic:

I recently watched "The Fashion Show" episode where Lucy goes to purchase a Don Loper Original. She picks out the plainest dress in the store & when she gets home she realizes it costs $500.00. Now wasn't this a totally outrageous price for the 1950's?
I would say so. A dollar back then was worth 20 of todays.

I would say so. A dollar back then was worth 20 of todays.

I always thought perhaps the writers were thinking ahead to when the show would be syndicated, so they had the prices of things inflated so they would not be so dated in 20 years time. Little did they know we would still be watching 60 years later.

Incidentally, Don Loper comes across like a total weirdo in this episode. When he is introducing the wives in the fashion show segment his facial expressions are all over the place and he just acts weird.

No kidding! Wow... I think they exaggerated a bit much!

I don't think they were exaggerating at all. Don Loper was a dress designer for movie stars. A dress by someone of his caliber that $4,025 in today's dollars is a bargain. For a little perspective, check out the cost of these present day designer dresses: http://www.therichest.org/money/most-expensive-dresses-ever-worn-by-a-celebrity/

I recently watched "The Fashion Show" episode where Lucy goes to purchase a Don Loper Original. She picks out the plainest dress in the store & when she gets home she realizes it costs $500.00. Now wasn't this a totally outrageous price for the 1950's?

Definitely! And $500 for a dress is too much money 50+ years later, IMO.

Yes it was a dress from a well know designer, so it would be expensive, but the other items Lucy bought from local stores in her New York neighborhood, were not inexpensive.