Fashion Trends In The 1960's

Photograph Three depicts several messages about teenagers in the 1940s and 1950s. First, it comments on the fashion choices of teens from these decades. In the photo, the females are all wearing a shirt or blouse, a sweater, and a skirt. The males are wearing a collared shirt with a sweater and dark pants. Nearly all of the people in the picture are wearing white socks, which may mean that there weren’t a lot of options for clothing color in these decades. Also, the girls have their hair cut at shoulder length worn in similar hairstyles, and the boys have their hair neatly combed. In addition to fashion trends, the viewer can see that magazines were a key source of information for teenagers. There is a wall behind the counter holding several

The 1960s was a decade of sweeping changes of events throughout history along with a new growth in youth fashion (Albert). As fashion trends and styles began to rapidly change, many young teens during this time began to express they wore, such as young ladies beginning to show more skin and young men who began wearing more colors. Music was also very big at the time and was mainly written about anti-war movements because so many opposed the Vietnam War, in which then also was a time when womens wear had come to a big change as the mini skirt was introduced and many other styles had begun coming out for both men and women, and as the years go by in the 60s of how the popularity of music and famous people had come to influence

This essay will explore the effects social and political changes had on fashion in the 1980’s. This period was chosen because the new romantic fashions were so different to the punk fashions that had been before, this essay will therefore identify the changes that had taken place to influence this change. Primary evidence used to support findings will include interviews and photographs which will show a firsthand account of the period.

Magazines soon became vital to advertising, companies began to buy pages in magazines to advertise new products, new movies, and new everything. Many of the other pages were filled with poems written by returning war veterans and images representing life during the 1920s. Vogue and other fashion magazines modeled the new “Flapper” image. Flappers were young girls, who during the 1920s, began to break the rules and transform the way the nation viewed women. Kelly Sagert explained in her book “Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture (2010),” “Tabloids, sectioned off parts of magazines, had huge articles and images commenting on the popularity of the flapper image, inspiring readers to either follow in the image or accept it within society” (Kelly 37). While the fashion magazines had the flappers to focus on, other magazines like Time and LIFE focused more on current events and politics. They would also feature a successful celebrity every now and

While the 1950s stressed conformity, the 1960s gave full vent to those impulses. The 1960s was a period of transformational change, when long-held values and social norms broke down and were replaced with idealism and rebellion. It is also described as ‘’a breakthrough, a fleeting moment of glory, a time when a significant chunk of humanity realised its moral potential and flirted with its neurological destiny’’ . The young people did not want to reform the society, they did however want to overhaul it, remake it and if needed, destroy it . The sweeping social changes and prevailing attitudes of the decade were epitomised through the rejection of conventions and traditions associated with many aspects of life, including fashion. As Coco Chanel stated, ‘’fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening’’ . Many of these changes were prompted by the feminist movement, the space race and the Vietnam War. Evidently, new fashion trends emerged which reflected these new ideals. Some of the most prevalent trends included revealing clothing, space age designs and alternative hippie clothing.

Pop Culture and life today is nothing as to what it was in the 1950s. During this era it was known to be more conservative and strict. But, Pop Culture changed that by introducing new fashion, film, and music that caused teens to rebel. As a result, parents questioned the music their children listened to. American Pop Culture had a huge impact on teens, music, fashion, and film in the 1950's.

After the 50s came the 60s (obviously). There was a lot of change. Even more than the 50s! At first, nothing changed (like in the 20s). Then, skirts got shorter, bottoms of pants got bigger, patterns got brighter, and the waistline came back! Women took notes of fashion from London, and tried to copy them (well, I’m not actually sure that they did that, but you get the point).

The fashion during the 1950’s represented the way life was lived in this era. Before this decade, it was a time of conformity and mediation. The clothes worn represented the wholesome, good, clean citizens that Americans were expected to be. In the past years, everyone had dressed the same so that no one would particularly stand out from their cookie cutter life. The early 50’s was when people started to feel less pressure about what they wore. “No longer did people feel like they had to conform to a certain look for certain situations” (retrowaste.com- 1). “1950s fashion saw the introduction of many new styles as well as many styles that paid homage to the 1920s” (retrowaste.com- 1). Women dressed in clothes to portray them as the ideal housewife.

In ten years many trends are changed, events occur, and innovations are discovered. Each decade has its individual characteristics that are associated with it. The Sixties were seen as a revolutionary decade by some historians and by others a decline of social order. People started to use their voices to demonstrate peaceful protests to help gain freedom. Fashion became more influential and more revealing. Music became the heart of many people and was influenced by the rise of youth. Many trends were affected by what was happening in the society. During the 1960s, the world experienced complex cultural, social, and political movements along with the change in the way of life and established a high standard for decades to come.

However, the aftermath of the war, in the 50s, resulted in these previous fashions dwindling into their traditional ways and contributed to the stronger bond of the family. The trends of fashion were directly correlated with the outcome of the war. At first, women were still wearing the “man-tailored” shirts with the extremely high necklines. However, when the men got back home and things became back to normal, these trends gradually declined. Women went back to their style before the war, in addition to returning to their traditional family roles. () pictures a woman in a lengthy dress, with the narrow shoulders, surrounded by her family. This is the attire they would wear before the war. This emphasizes the notion women returned to their

Fashion is about the clothes, footwear, makeup and hairstyles. It is considered the pinnacle of expressing oneself and is often associated with adolescents. In the late 1960s and 1970s fashion was the epicentre of revolutionary change. The tremors felt by teenagers would result in the youth culture explosion. Teenagers across the nation began to follow fashion fads such as the hippie look of the late 1960s.

The early sixties was more of a reminiscent of the 1950s. later in the 60s it was the exact opposite. It was bright, swirling colours, tie-dye shirts came in and long hair and beards were a thing. The women wore unbelievably short skirts and the men wore tunics and capres. Women were showing more skin than ever before. For the first time in the 19th century London was the centre of the fashion world not Paris. 1961 was all about the costume look. The fashionable women liked to go out in the evening dresses in a expensive but simply cut dress known as the ‘ little nothing’ . These women never left home without an elegantly styled bouffant hairdo. Many designers created “the look” by designing not only the dress but also the hats shoes and even the makeup. Skirts had risen to the middle of the kneecap by the end of 1961. 1962 mostly focused on 3 styles. Sleek and slender, soft bloused with muffled neckline and natural outline which fell in a simple form fitting line. This allowed the women to express their individuality. The 1930s style clothing came back in styles. In 1963 the young swept through the fashion world. It was all about knee high skirts sleeveless dresses, lower heels and close cropped natural hair. Fashion in 1964 was hit by a shock wave of nudity that caused a worldwide controversy. First came the plunging neckline then came the Americans version. Dress makers quickly jumped on the bandwagon creating sheer topped evening dresses. The topless bathing suit was introduced and it created all kinds of problems. A woman was arrested for wearing it in public. Later on in the 1960s around 1968 people started creating their own styles to match their personalities instead of wearing what a designer would put in front of them. Western styled shirts were very popular with the younger people. The women would tuck them into there skirts for a fun

21st century women’s clothing is constantly trying to bring old trends back. Some popular styles that appear in both time periods consists of shirtdresses, peasant blouses, and even some prints such as, paisley, tie-dye, and many vibrant colors. The 1960’s fashion is well-known due to a major fashion revolution: the hippie era. Styles that began in the 1960’s still have a noticeable influence on the fashions of today’s society; however, each era still has their own unique differences.

The 60s popular culture is a tendency in our today society. That means it was an enriching time for the teenagers to learn and improve a lot themselves, "the grass is always greener on the other

This investigation will examine the influences of the anti-establishment movement, major events like the sexual revolution and the how media and pop culture influences fashion in the 1960’s. Every decade has a signature look but the real question is how they got that look. To look further into this subject one may need to investigate major happenings. This is what this paper looks into. The greatest influences to fashion in the 1960’s are analyzed in this paper. Each chapter goes into depth on each influence and how it all relates back to fashion. Fashion is one way of self- portrayal and it can define a time period and a person. The important part is to look into the behind the scenes aspect of fashion and the cultural and social integration into the fashion industry.