June Cleaver : 10 Famous TV Moms : Costume Ideas

June Evelyn Bronson was a teenager attending State College when she met the dashing young Ward Cleaver in Mayfield. How could she resist?

They married, had two sons and Leave It to Beaver, an iconic 1950s television family was created.

Where would those Famous TV Dads be without Famous TV Moms?? There are loads of TV-inspired costumes. Let's look at 10 TV Mom Costume Ideas.

Leave it to Beaver ran from 1957-1963. When the program began, Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont played June and Ward Cleaver, the parents of Wally, age twelve and Theodore Beaver Cleaver, age seven.

June is a stay-at-home mom. Ward wears as suit and tie, carries a briefcase and goes off to work each day in the Plymouth. Apparently it's not until Season 3 that viewers find out what he does for a living.

The whole Ward Cleaver, Secret Agent theory is blown out of the water. It's revealed that Ward works for a Trust Company. He has a boss called Mr. Anderson. Jim Anderson, in Father Knows Best, was an insurance agent. Any connection? Apparently not.

June usually wore a calf length dress (now also called a 1950s style) with an A-line full skirt, belted or cinched at the waist, short or long sleeves.

For a costume, you may enjoy filling out the skirt with a petticoat or skirt crinoline underneath. Sometimes there may be a v-neck and a little collar,

perhaps a bow.

The dresses were modest on top.  She wore an assortment of prints, plaids and solids. She was known for wearing pearls. Some of these ideas are for the updated June. You can also always get (or create) a T-shirt for the show or in honor of the movie, Airplane! See below.

Consider the 1940s Vintage Bullet Bra in your choice of color. Want to be a very authentic Sweater Girl or pinup?

50s Housewife Adult Costume (right) includes the crinoline pettiskirt. It could be worn for other occasions, not just as a housewife costume. The 50s Housewife Womens Dress with rosebud pattern, apron is temporarily out of stock, but check back.

Check out the Vintage 50s Dresses and Accessories by Lindy Bop. These outfits, such as the Classy Bow Shawl Collar Sky Blue Polka Dot Vintage 1950's Dress is less of a costume and more a fun cotton dress you can wear anytime.

Hope they have some good records on the jukebox if I'm wearing this cute dress. There are several styles to choose from in this line including halter tops.

This brand gets consistently good customer ratings, though the dresses seem to run small for several customers. Keep that in mind when ordering, especially since many of the dresses are shipped to the US from the UK and may take a while to arrive.

The Poodle Skirt Crinoline - Standard or Plus Sizes is available in Four Colors. It's received high ratings from customers.

Even while doing work around the house, June stayed stylish. She had pretty aprons to go over those cool dresses and we can, too.

Quite a few have the look of vintage aprons by Kay Dee Designs. There are many contemporary styles and they have terrific flash sales! Keep checking!

Still the Beaver, a CBS movie in 1983 and later sequel series The New Leave It to Beaver(1984–1989) also featured now grandmother, June Cleaver, who was widowed. Hugh Beaumont had died of a heart attack in May of 1982 and the TV movie was dedicated to his memory.

A divorced Beaver Cleaver and his two sons lived with her. Wally, his wife, son and daughter lived next door.

June Cleaver is later elected to the Mayfield City Council.

A June Cleaver wig is hard to find. Her short, feminine yet conservative style is not readily found in a costume wig.

Try pinning up or curling your own hair in June's style.

For a fun fashion wig, try something like the Short Blonde Flip Wig Theatre Costumes Accessory. (left) This is very Mad Men and can be work for your into a sassy 60s cocktail party or the fun 50s sock hop. It's available in blonde and black so choose which you prefer.

The blonde 50s Housewife Wig is from the right era and could also work. They have a similar look, color and feel.

Autographs: Leave it to Beaver cast, Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, Jerry Mathers, the Beaver. These sell out fast, especially items with signatures by more than one cast member. If you're lucky, you may find a book, prop or an autographed baseball, real cross-collectibles.

Barbara Billingsley appeared in the movie Airplane! playing a role quite unlike June Cleaver, memorable as a passenger who could "speak jive."

She was the voice of Nanny and The Little Train on Muppet Babies from 1984 -1991. She made guest appearances on shows such as Mork & Mindy, Murphy Brown and Roseanne.

Never forget where it all started. You and your family, maybe even your grandkids can enjoy full length episodes of the show without commercial breaks, watermarks or frustrating editing. Get Leave It To Beaver: The Complete Series. Remember how TV was when you were a kid. :)


There are Leave It to Beaver board games, books, Barbie dolls, themed paper dolls and more.


And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver
"A warm and revealing autobiography, he presents his own history--as a child actor as well as in the years following his role as The Beav." By Jerry Mathers, himself! This book contains never before seen photos and reminiscences. What does he have to say about those Vietnam rumors?

Jerry Mathers is now one of the leading lecturers on living with and dealing with diabetes. Maybe he's been on D-Life? Tony Dow is a sculptor among other things!

Years ago, we saw Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow together in a play called, So Long, Stanley. Research suggests they toured with that play in 1979-1980! Hard to believe it was so long ago.



Barbara Billingsley talks about June Cleaver's wardrobe and pearls Emmy Legends

Remember Wally's Ducktail Rocker Hairstyle?

Check out Wally Cleaver's Jellyroll Hairstyle

Sweater Girls, Pinup Girls 1940s/50s, Mr. Rogers Sweaters

Janine Turner played June Cleaver in the 1997 feature film version of Leave It To Beaver. Billingsley played Aunt Martha and Ken Osmond was Eddie Haskell, Sr.

Lots of special features including the pilot where someone else played Wally Cleaver. What were your favorite Leave It to Beaver episodes?

Barbara Billingsley died in her home in Santa Monica, California on October 16, 2010. She was 94 years old.

AC- Funny Leave it to me! Beaver shirt by naturesmiles
Shop for custom t shirts online at Zazzle

Does your town have Free Summer Outdoor Movies? Something like that? Maybe you show favorite movies in your living room to family and friends? They're showing Airplane! this summer in the park! This would be a great T-shirt to wear there. Not sure which variation would be best. I was considering getting our business logo on the back.

Oh Stewardess, I Speak Jive t-shirt by teebag
Make customized tshirts at zazzle

 

Get that nostalgic photo at the top of the page of June and Wally Cleaver
Leave It to Beaver cast members, Barbara Billingsley as June with Wally 8 x 10 Photo

What other TV Moms will be on the list
of 10 Costume-worthy Mamas? 

Who do you think belongs on the list?

Previously there was 

The Famous TV Dads Costume Ideas list

** This 10 Famous TV Dads Costume Ideas Series began with Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show. The dads are in no particular order. 

When significant updates are added to pages, there will be a message with a date of last update.

Andy Taylor, Gomez Addams, George Jetson, Paul Teutul Sr., Ricky Ricardo, Herman Munster, Ben Cartwright from Bonanza, Homer Simpson and now King Friday the 13th and Bruce Jenner were the 10 Famous TV Dads.