Introduction to the topic: The 1960's

The 1960’s has a hold over the fashion world, even today there are references to the ‘swinging 60’s’ and how it changed fashion forever. I have decided to dig deeper into this world famous fashion phenomenon and uncover where the trends came from and how they affected society and why it’s still referred back to in 2016.

The beginning of the 1960’s resembled the 1950’s, which was a lot more conservative and reserved compared to the later years which was filled with bright, swirling colours and psychedelic tie-dye shirts. Woman showed more skin than ever and wore short skirts where mean wore tunics and capes, for the first time London was the centre of a fashion evolution and the trend took over the city. For once, everyone’s eyes were on the London population and followed the fashion movements rather than those in Paris.

The 1960’s fashion introduced the MODS which was a famous style originated in London, a style which were all about sophisticated, sharpness and being individual. The look is definitely British and everyone across the globe, including the USA and Paris wanted to be a MOD. The haute couture shops were over-shadowed by small London boutiques run by unknown names (at the time) but they would be remembered in fashion history, designs such as Mary Quant and Lee Bustop were the people that everyone wanted a piece of.

Vogue quoted in their 1965 magazine “In New York, it’s the London Look, in Paris it’s ‘le style anglais’”.

This proved that British fashion was finally on the map and the fact that we had caught the attention of Paris (who is known for their style and sophistication) surely shows the huge amount of influence that the 1960’s style had upon the rest of the world including the USA and Europe.

Where did this style come from? The style during the 1950’s saw women wearing tight, figure enhancing dresses, those only Christian Dior would be proud of, there was a sense of conservative and people holding back. The late 1960’s exploded and people’s attitudes in London changed into a more care-free, psychedelic state of mind. 

The use of drugs such as ‘uppers and downers’ commonly known as weed and LSD, the contraceptive pill was also introduced which gave women a sense of freedom and empowerment. This changed the way society acted and their clothes began to change, it’s important to look at how society can change the fashion influences whether this is economical factors or political.

In the next post, I will dig deeper into the MODS fashion and why everyone wanted to be a part of it, as well as the huge influence of the famous Mary Quant.

images from: http://vintagefashionguild.org/fashion-history/trends-of-the-mid-1960s/