Fashion In The 60's

1. Women: Fashion for women changed dramatically in this period, considering the conservative dress types of the 50's, for a start womens skirt levels reached a revealing height, i.e above the knees, we also saw a major trend in unisex clothing. Vogue magazine noted 16 covers of the decade featuring women with a unisex out fit. In order to fit into these needs the physicality of models was altered, there was an introduction of women who styled and presented themselves as boys, yet still possessing that demure quality. Patterns were seen in clothing especially in dresses and mini skirts, the pattern was floral, and bright and bold prints, another feature to clothing was psychedelic art forms, this added a more of (what is known today as) a 60s feel, this effect was generally added to stockings and women's shirts. This derived it inspiration from the hippie era, which will be discussed in another node.

2. The Hippies: A more detailed topic to discuss, hippie fashion included boycotting of popular brands which used foreign laborers, key accessories included the copper shades and the head band. There were a lot of tribal or traditional elements to their clothing, a major influence in their clothing was Indian, African and Native American clothing. As well as psychedelic shirts and for some men no shirts at all.

3. Men: Major change from the 1950s, a bigger development in youth culture. Mens looks include Mods, Rockers, Biker, and College Boy. In regards to changes from the previous decade, the hair was longer and was not shunned upon if messy, in England in particular, teens preferred to wear pipe trousers and skinny ties, replicating the teddy boy look of the preceding decade only to be known as Mods. Mens fashion icons especially for the youth included- the Beatles and the stones for those in urban areas, while the style and cool of the beach boys ruled over the coast, Elvis was the king of the west and created fashion trends using a pair of Levi's and a cowboy hat.

4. The Mods & Rockers: They were a way of creating a sense of adulthood with a sprinkle of youth, fashion icons of this style were the Beatles, trends in this look included; the leather jacket, the pipe slacks, the skinny tie, the knee long trench coat, the vest etc.