Mary Quant and the Mods

Mary Quant was a huge influencer in the rise during the 1960’s – in this post I want to discover why she was so popular and what she did to change the way women dressed. I watched various style documentaries on YouTube to discover why she was so loved and how she helped create the Mods.

Mary Quant studied illustrations at school, she went onto opening her own boutique on Kings Road in London in 1955 which was named Bazaar. Her designs included lounge pants, dresses, t-shirts, small plastic collars to liven up sweaters and coloured tights. Her designs were described to be a little out of the ordinary but Mary’s attitude was ‘out with the old, in with the new’ and her success proved throughout the youth culture in London during the 60’s.

Mary is most famous for inventing the mini-skirt, an item which revolutionised fashion in London during the 1960’s and is still worn by women today in 2016. She was inspired by London youth culture and what was happening on the streets as well as the beatniks of Chelsea. Mary was ahead of her time and was a contemporary designer who wanted to appeal to the youth of London during that time, she introduced comfortability and movement which is probably what inspired her to make the mini-skirt. Mary said that the girls who came into her store wanted it ‘shorter and shorter’ which showed that the youth enjoyed the freedom they felt in the skirt, she introduced boyish silhouettes, high hemlines and bold colours. She also designed practical footwear which could be worn on the streets.

“Fashion is not frivolous; it is a part of being alive today.” – Mary Quant

Some may say that Mary had an influence in the Mod subculture, which conflicted with the Rockers. Alongside these sub-cultures became Punks, Teddy Boys and the Skinheads. The Mods in the 1960’s were seen as the coolest kids around and they oozed style. Unlike the Teddy Boys, Mods were subtle about their feelings and the Mod represented aspiration. They wanted to dress well whilst working, rather than waiting until the weekend to dress in their best outfits – I think this idea still exists in today’s culture and the youth of today are still concerned about how they come across in the workplace. The introduction of ‘work-wear’ fashion could stem from the Mods ideology of looking good when working.

They were influenced by a lot of cultural things including French films, Jazz music and ‘La Dolce Vita’… Italians. Everyone looked up to Jazz musician Miles Davies and watched French films in the cinema to gain style inspiration from their lead actors, this is the start of pop culture having influences on street style and sub-cultures. The Mods were ‘working class kids dressing like their better.’ They wanted to be known as a face, meaning they wanted people to associate them with what they were wearing.

Female Mods had short haircuts, with boyish looks like men’s trousers and shirts, they ditched their heels for flats and wore little make-up, they also wore mini-skirts which became shorter and shorter.

Male Mods adopted a tailored, sophisticated look with thin ties and button-down collar shirts, desert boots and Chelsea boots were their choice of footwear and they choice scooters instead of motorbikes which links to their love of Italian style.

The Mod era was mainstreamed by the likes of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, I think this look has been adopted in 2016 and there are variations of the Mod look as well as other sub-cultural looks around today and are still seen on the catwalks.

Images: 

Mary Q - Vogue.it

Skirts - Dailymail.co.uk

Mods 1 - 60'smodfashion.tumblr.com

Mods 2 - maxmayo.com