Fans of the old TV series Leave It to Beaver (and how could you not be a fan if you have ever seen an episode) still good-naturedly mock the mother in the series, June Cleaver, for her iconic predilection towards wearing a pearl necklace and high heels on occasions where normal women might have a more informal garb while doing the laundry, preparing the meals, or performing any other tasks expected of females at that time. June's fashion choices were not, however, an attempt to glamorize the role of a Eisenhower-era mother and housewife.
With respect to the pearls, the actress playing June Cleaver, Barbara Billingsley, had a hollow depression in the front of her throat. She used the pearls simply to cover up what was perceived as a physical imperfection.
The high heels also have a more pragmatic explanation. In the first season of the show, Billingsley wore normal flats. However, as the boys in the series quickly grew in height, the producers were concerned that the dynamics of the parent-children relationship in the show might appear strained if the kids got taller than the adults at too early of an age. The reason that June Cleaver wore high heels was so that she could continue to tower over her young sons.
To hear from Billingsley's own mouth the explanation for these sartorial inclinations, click here.
Billingsley was typecast for decades as a conservative, white-bread, 1950s mom whose most challenging crisis was convincing her son Wally not to drink milk directly from the bottle while she and her family lived in an idyllic small town in mid-America. As such, she was the perfect choice for her cameo role in the 1980 movie Airport.
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