The 1960’S Era Research: Fashion History And Theory

Introduction

It was the time of youth. The time when people wanted to dress childlike and adapt an unworried untroubled like sense of behaviors. Work was widely accessible in all its fields, money was flowing, and people’s moods and attitudes were returning childlike, but not in the sense of lacking responsibility rather than in a sense of escape from it. This ear had a lot of movements and people were very much aware of the world around them and many tragic events happened in the beginning of the 60’s one big example the impacted American’s was the JFK assassination. On another continent, Europe, fashion shifted from Paris to conquer in London as it became the center for fashion in the 60’s. More of the 60’s many great accomplishments and proud events as humans to be said; is the moon landing, after many ups and downs people wanted an escape and a way to express themselves, fashion as always being the lifesaver of all this came to help the people to speak out and describe feelings and thoughts

Division of the 60’s

When looking into the 60’s fashion some people often get confused with the 70’s to simplify it, first the era is divided into three categories starting from the early sixties with a continuation of the new look by Christian Dior and the boxy slim silhouette, second comes in the mid-sixties with the invasion of miniskirts, lastly comes the late sixties with nostalgic, floating, and romantic often with ethnic flavor clothing. These three categories we still see to this day as the modern fashion designers of today get influenced by this era.

Movements

The civil right movement

In 1964 it had been expressly prohibited discrimination supported race, color, religion, sex, or position employed practices; it ended unequal application of citizen registration requirements; and prohibited separatism in faculties, at the work, and publically accommodations.

The women movement

The revitalization of feminism across the u. s. within the Sixties ushered in an exceedingly series of changes to the established order that also have a control nowadays. Within the media, and in women’s personal things, Sixties feminists galvanized unexampled changes within the cloth of our society, changes with extensive economic, political, and cultural consequences

Counter culture movement developed within the US in late Nineteen Sixties.

This movement lasted from around 1964 to 1972, and it coincided with America's involvement in Vietnam. A culture is that the rejection of standard social norms.

Assassinations

Four major assassinations only in around 5 years in the 60’s. starting with John F Kennedy (JFK) on the 22nd of November, following in 1965 when Malcome x on 21 February, in the late 60’s came the assassination of Martin Luther king Jr in 1968 on the 4th of April, the last shocking assassination of the decade was JFK’s brother Robert Kennedy.

John F Kennedy

As JFK and his wife Jacklynne Kennedy were in the car in Dallas Texas where the assassination took place. At 2:30 pm on Friday, November 22nd, 1963. He was in Texas to smoothen out a problem happening between 3 different parties, when in the car with his wife he took two bullets one going through his throat the second in the head, making him in office for only 1, 063 days.

Malcome x

Malcome was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist. At the young age of 39 Malcome was shot to death, on February 21st, 1965, Manhattan New York. The autopsy showed 21 gunshot wounds.

Martin Luther King

He was what black people in America in the 60’s looked up to, had hope in, believed in, marched after, and never doubted his intentions, nor his integrity. He was what they needed at that time a brave man with courage and a charisma to change a whole nation’s view and fight for he and his people believed in as their rights. At the young age of 39, on the 4th of April 1968, king was on his motel’s room balcony when he got shot, the bullet going through his check hitting his jaw.

Robert Kennedy

Robert was a lawyer and a politician, serving as the 64th attorney general for the unites states of America. Robert was known for his public support for the racial justice movement, and publicly spoke about king after hearing news of his death. He also addressed his brother JFK’s assassination, but as he did that on the same day he took three bullets that night on June 6, 1968.

From Dior’s new look to childlike clothing

After the shocking assassination of John f Kennedy, people wanted to dress more childlike and with short mini dresses and miniskirts. London, was booming as the fashion focus shifted from Paris and was claimed in London centered in Carnaby street.

Swinging England!

The Beatles were the ambassadors of swinging England, when the publicly known ‘British invasion’ as the musical invasion where bands started popping up from England this was called the Mod generation, developing what is called the mod look. At that time fashion cycle changed instead of starting from designer couturier to knock offs to mass retailer it started from the streets noticed by boutiques and designers then knock offs from mass retailers then back to street again and one fashion figure that first noticed and adapted that was Mary Quant.

Mary Quant noticed girls wearing miniskirts on the street and wearing their hems extremely short, she then went to her boutique where she adapted the idea designing and selling and that is where the cycle of street, boutique, mass retailers, and back to street again started, and what is known today as the trickle up theory. the theory explains the how street fashion originates from the costumer and noticed by high designer to be adapted later on runways. One of her famous quotes “ the fashionable women wear the clothes, the clothes don’t wear her”.

The body ideal

Ideal body for a woman at that time that would be considered as perfect was tall, gangly, small breasts, narrow hips long skinny legs, not boyish but childlike body aligning with the trend going around at that time and perfect for the mini a line shift type of dress. An example for the ideal body was Twiggy a 16-year-old British model. Other ideal body examples include Dianne Ross and Pattie Boyd.

The beauty ideal

The beauty ideal can be achieved in simple steps that twiggy actually did a tutorial about in her modeling days, to achieve the look you would draw a deep cut on the inner crease of the lid like an arch bow, blush was bright and high on the cheeks, pale pink or even white lipstick, and drawn on the lower lash line with actual makeup was lashes on the skin to achieve a big eye almost doll look, all this is following the trend of the childlike clothing and look. So it would be safe to say about now the dominant fashion idea was the miniskirts and mini a line dresses. Hair Geometric bobs were in and were all created by Vida Sasson the first famously known hairdresser. For men a prinve valliant hair cut was popular something that looked like a bob with heavy bangs.

Experiencing Landing the moon was a huge deal in the 60’s and a very known figure in American history was African American Katherine colmeon who suffered a big deal of racism and segregation because of her skin color, later on when NASA’s calculation and math department noticed her amazing brain, she was one of the leading figures who helped to land man on the moon and to get the first rocket in space. After the Americans witnessed this great deal of achievement, designers like Pacco Robann started experiencing with materials like plastic, metal, to make garments look more for out of space.

The story behind the Birkin bag and the style icon of the 60’s Jane Birkin, was a style icon of her time, she was a British actress who couldn’t really act well, who then met Serge Gainberg and san together on a single that was actually banned from all radio stations, she couldn’t really sing well on that matter as well, what made her noticeable by the public was her look, her face, her body, and she would always carry around a basket like a big huge picnic basket again adapting to the whole childlike wear she looking like a toddler carrying around a basket too big for her going for a family picnic, her reasoning behind=d the basket is because she thought no bag would fit all her stuff to be carried around everywhere, therefor the Birkin bag was designed just for her.

Late 1960’s Fashion forward women had abandoned the mini skirt by the late 60’s and nobody in Europe wore minis in the seventies, yet mainstream America was so in love with the mini skirt that some retailers were still selling minis as late as 1975. In 1967 The Beatles launched their sergeant pepper LP, this was a turning point in the 60’s, as women were moving away from miniskirts and started wearing a style more about nostalgia for the Victorian era and Edwardian era and later on noticing ethnic eastern clothing. Fringed buckskinned was widely embraced and worn by many like Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick.

Following the ethnic nostalgia, the cultural hotspot was India, shockingly but not really it’s because The Beatles went there to escape to transcendental meditation, eastern embroidery, pattern, and jewelry were seen to be worn by them. As movements like the civil right movement, women movement, counter culture movement, and stone wall rebellion, people felt exhausted by the end of the decade and when noticing how eastern clothes were very loosely draped on the body and has a lot of pattern and colors they embraced it with open arms. Mustaches were also a thing following the nostalgia of the Edwardian era. In the late 60’s it was all about nostalgia.

Hippies, acid, and hallucinations

Acid was a hallucination drugs that allows one under the influence of it to experience patterns and swirls of colors with movements of objects, which led to a lot of colorful patterns and bright neon colors and also the reasoning why the hippies adapted to ethnic eastern clothes faster. Even so people who were not taking the substance embraced the idea and the aesthetic of hallucination, as well as escaping to the past hallucinatory drugs (popularized by The Beatles) were used by many disillusioned young. A clothing store called “granny takes a trip” a trip was euphemism for dropping acid and taking LSD. A big common mistake made by many is thinking that the hippies were in the 70’s the hippies’ movement came out in the 60’s. to be a real hippy you had to live by Dr timothy Leary’s motto ‘turn on, tune in, and drop out’ – meaning drop out of school, quit your job, drop acid, and live communally on hand-outs. As far as the “hippies fashion “goes in conclusion hippies just wore what was comfortable colorful and nostalgic and eastern styles.

Conclusion

The 60’s was a decade of expression when people were not afraid to speak out and speak up about their opinion, it was an era of youth a joy, besides everything going on the world and tragedies fashion always has a way of making it lighter to the heart and mind.