60s Presentation

By Lola Bennett

How Fashion was influenced by

the 60s...

We have so many things in fashion to

credit the 60s for, the mini skirt, tie dye, bell
bottom jeans and much more. Clothes like
the mini skirt were a new way for women to
push boundaries and fight for equal rights.
The hippies showed us how to find
ourselves and experience our own spiritual
journey. Youth and teen culture was
becoming a big part of the fashion industry
and was being recognized as a target
market for clothing.

Mods

Many British teens were labeled with the style of

Mod after rejecting the other 60s styles like rockabillies,
surfers and folkies. They were considered modernists or
Mods and were inspired by cool jazz by Miles Davis or
the Modern Jazz Quartet. Early mods believed in the
minimalist theory of less is more, which meant to dress
wisely; short jackets, drainpipe trousers, polo shirts,
turtleneck sweaters and suede shoes or boots. Mods
believed in where you were going opposed to your past.
Many Mods bought ready to wear clothing, wear as
others could afford custom made suits and other
expensive clothing. Unlike the rockers, mods favored
scooters instead of motorcycles. Mod girls dressed from
designers like Mary Quant, who made coats from PVC,
geometric designs and had short neat hair.

Rockers

Rockers were actually named by the Mods for

listening to rock music such as Elvis and Eddie Cochran.
Their Fashion included leather jackets and Jeans and
they wore shoes called winkle pickers. Rockers disliked
the clean, respectable, office dress of the mods and the
mods disliked the Rockers scruffy clothes. The Rockers
ruled the 50s with their motorcycles and rebel without a
cause attitude and were known as ton-up boys. The
rivalry ended between the two (Mods and Rockers) in
1964 with the Rockers defeated and lost their fashion
forefront forever. Their philosophy was brought back in
the 90s when grunge was alive.

History of the Mini Skirt

Since the beginning of the decade hem lines rose

high in the fashion industry. Mary Quant was given credit
for this look and like Chanel designed clothes that looked
good on her (slim schoolgirl look). Even though this was
pretty well known Andre Courreges claimed to have
started the trend himself. Thigh high mini dresses with
sheer fabrics created the babydoll look. The break away
girl collection showed a extremely short nylon minidress,
with paisley print sleeves and tights. The mini skirt was a
way for women to have a sense of freedom. By 1965 the
miniskirt was usually paired with mid calf boots. The Aline midi was a skirt for women who weren't as
comfortable showing as much leg. Another popular
silhouette inspired by the mini was was the maxi coat,
usually worn over a miniskirt or mini dress. By 1967 the
mini had stuck and was no longer a fad or a trend. There
were many kind of minis, to the calf mini (worn by
women of all ages, usually A-line), maxi(very popular for
the hippie look), ankle or floor length mini, Many
designers picked one that fit their taste.

60s Shoes

Boots were a popular sixties shoe silhouette. They

reached from ankle to thigh and were for all ages. Andre
Courreges introduced the calf high skinny white boot with
clear cut outs (very space age). Leather or vinyl knee
high boots were called gogo boots, usually zipped or
laced up. Synthetic textiles like corfam were a much
easier and cheaper alternative to suede shoes, which
needed to be broken in. More simpler shoes were square
toed pumps, two toned or with cutouts. Sparkly sandals
were a alternative for when it was to hot for boots.
Hippies often wore simple sandals with two buckled
straps( birkenstock style). The bejeweled sandal lead to
a higher and thicker heeled soles and eventually this
lead up to the platform shoes.

60s Hair Styles

The short bob haircuts of the 60s were usually

hatless but sometimes were paired with elegant pillbox
hats or crocheted cloche hat (usually worn with plastic
sunglasses and hole punched gloves). The bobs were
sharp and clean cut. Designers like Mary Quant wore
this architectural hairstyle. Hippies let there hair grow
worn and unkempt. They wore headbands, floppy sun
hats, artsy berets, decadent top hats and peaked caps.
The beehive still quite popular was usually worn by
working girls in an office, mothers and those who weren't
brave enough for the commitment of the extremely short
bob.

Optical or Op Fashion

A lot of fashion was taken away from stationary art and

trippy patterns in the 60s. They were meant to trick the eye and
make art come to life. This was called op fashion or optical fashion
and was very popular as high fashion and everyday fashion in the
60s.
-Bridets Riley's opticals patterns such as her black and white
circle, zigzags, square and rectangles were repeated onto clothing
to create a kind of ripple or wobble in fabric/clothing even if it
wasn't moving.
-Textiles like moire and velvet shimmered and swirled in light and
created a moving illusion.
-Mondrian's paintings were huge part of fashion in the sixties as
they were being printed onto many different types of clothing. Most
popularly the cocktail dress.
-Trompeloeil which means to fool the eye was a method where a
collar or cuffs were knitted or printed onto a design to create a 3D
look. Also it was used to give a dress a contrasting pocket or belt.
-Tie dying was very popular for people who prefered to create their
own art. It is a simple technique to create swirling rainbow

Teen/Youth Pop Culture

As Teens pushed for their independence and freedom they

began to rely on magazines and movies to guide them. This
created pressure from the media to look and dress a certain way.
Young men as well as young women kept a close watch over
their images as they found themselves challenged by their peers
and by the media, to conform to every new trendpg 21 of The 60
s:Mods and Hippies
-Teen, Teen World and Teen Screen were popular teenage girl
magazines that showed fashion and makeup tips that were
worshiped by many girls looking for idols and a sense of
belonging.
-The most popular/famous models at the time were Twiggy and
Jean Shrimpton or The Shrimp. Twiggy was The face of 1966
and her boyish figure made her a good fit for modeling simply mini
skirts/dresses or flowy hippie style clothing. Twiggy's huge eyes
and pouty mouth matched the ideal look of the 60s, innocent,
naive and boyish.
-Television heroines such as Cathy Gale and Emma Peel showed
sophisticated, stylish, strong style including skintight black
leather or PVC cat suits. Even though they were role models they
were still sidekicks to men in the tv shows.

Space Age Fashion

Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space in 1961

and with this came the great fascination with space.
Anything was possible in space and no one knew what
might be found. With this Comics and TV shows had an
explosion of science fiction based storylines(Star Trek
1966). The idea of aliens and alien encounters lead to
new ideas on how to live and dress in alternative ways.
In 1964 fashion designer Andre Courreges showed his
space age collection featuring plastic goggles, astronaut
helmets, silver moon boots and cat suits. The collection
had detailing like rounded shoulders, stand up collars
and synthetic textiles to look outrageously outer
planetary. Pierre Cardin also had a space age collection
with starch white clothes, with clear, silver and black
details. Silhouettes had tubular or A-line jackets, with
slim trousers, short boots, miniskirts and gogo boots.
Paco Rabanne created amazing futuristic clothing with
plastic, paper, chainmail, etc and a even bigger impact of
his was slim trousers which change the way we wear
jeans today.

Hippies

Hippies and Hippie Chicks

The hippy movement began in 1965 in San Francisco. Their care

free attitude came from the beatniks, their hedonism from the
surfers and their political conscience from the folkies. Their
slogans included and revolved around Peace and Love and
they were trying to escape being a slave to money and trying to
preserve a focus on their spiritual journey/life. Flower power was
about reconnecting back to nature, the flower symbol itself meant
a natural symbol for beauty.
Hippie Chick
Anything was worn as long as it was loose fitting and ethnic.
Popular styles included shawls, peasant blouses, long inexpensive
skirts and usually all made from colorful indian or african cotton
fabrics. 1967 was the height of hippies and anything went. Bright
patterns and designs such as paisley and flowers were very
popular. Body Paint was very in and people were decorated with
brightly colored designs with flower motifs.

Early 60s Fashion 60-63

At the beginning of the 60s 50s style was still very

prominent. Young people were just beginning to dictate
fashion and stores were starting to see teens as a target
market. The separation and beginning of Mods and
Rockers plus their rivalry became apparent. Simple
geometric shift dress above the knee were very popular.
Pillbox hats were still very popular thanks to JackieO.
Stilettos and capri trousers (50s trends) were considered
still very stylish.

Mid 60s Fashion 64-67

Mini Skirts were wildly popular and worn by

everybody. Older people began to envy the young and
the way they look and trying to grab onto their youth,
unlike the 50s were it was the other way around. The
mini dress was usually A-line, sleeveless and simple.
Andre Courreges space look came out and trickled
through the department stores. Cocktail dresses,
evening wear, skimpy chiffon baby doll dresses, with
spaghetti straps became very popular and were a must
have for every women. Bell bottom trousers were the
alternative to capris (fabric/materials varied). One of the
most popular outfits of the time was a suede mini skirt
with a french poloneck top, suede boots and newsboy
cap or beret. Corsets, seamed tights and skirts covering
the knee were a thing of the past. Low heeled sandals,
kitten heels and gogo boots were very popular. Dyed
fake fur was a humane alternative to real fur and more
stylish.

Late 60s Fashion 68-70

The androgynous hippie look was the style of the

late 60s. Men and women dressed in all styles of
clothes, not paying attention to gender roles. Frayed bell
bottom jeans, tie dye shirts, headbands and sandals
was the official outfit of the care free hippie. Going
barefoot and braless was a new liberating way of life.
Fringe was a must to be a true hippie and everyone
owned a tie dye shirt. Fashion inspiration came from
places like Nepal, India, Morocco and Africa.

Cutouts

Popular 60s Dress Styles

Holes big or small were popularly cut out of dresses or shoes.

They usually were cut out of black or white fabric to create the
popular trend of op fashion. They also used them to show off
cleavage. Cutouts in the early 50s were on the upper half of
dresses, were as later on they were placed in a band across the
waist.
Crocheted Dresses
The ultimate dolly birdie dress that every teen girl had but didn't
know what to wear underneath! Marketed to be sexy and brave.
Usually worn with flesh undergarments of the same color. This
style was more groovy and hippie chick style/silhouette.
Fishnet Dress/Detailing
As fishnet tights became more popular it started to pop up more in
clothing. Many wore it as small detailing like sleeves and bands
around the waist. More daring women wore dresses and clothing
made completely of fishnet.

People and Slang of the 60s

Musicians/Music Groups
-Small faces (mods)
-The who (mods)

Designers
-Mary Quant
-Michael Rainey

-Elvis Presley (rockers)

-Yves Saint Laurent

-The Beatles (mods)

-Andre Courreges

-Mick Jagger

-Pierre Cardin

-Four Tops

-Chanel (comeback)

Some 60s Slang

Ton up- Faster than 100 miles on a motorcycle
Mod- Modern
Face- Fashion Leader
Op art- Optical art
Groovie- Cool

Extra Notes...

The single girl: Jean Shrimpton was an example of the perfect

single girl, young, single, active and self sufficient. This was the
60s ideal of young girls and women. They had a boyish/
adolescent body type, this was quite hard to achieve for most
people so this lead to extreme dieting.
60s Photography: Photographers posed models to look immobile
just like in the 1920s. To support the idea of the single girl
photographers shot models being active ( walking/running).
Models were popularly dressed in workout clothes or business
clothes to create the working girl persona. Most magazines
featured couture clothing in the 50s but this was replaced in the
60s by working gear.
Fads/Trends
Drain Pipe jeans and hosiery/tights (usually combined with flower
power prints) became very popular. Sleeves on clothing became
long, puffed out and bubbled inspired by loose hippie style.
Textiles became more cheap and mass produced like PVC,
polyester and nylon.

The End!