Fashion changes in the American popular culture of the 1960s - Research Paper Example

Fashion changes in the American popular culture of the 1960s Introduction The 1960s era remain as a period when contemporary behavior, values and norms held since time immemorial seemed to break down. The break down impacted more among the youths. Many men and women of college ages joined politics as activists and became the push behind the antiwar and civil rights movements. Other youths simply singled themselves out and “dropped out” of the mainstream cultures. This “dropout” mostly manifested in lifestyles and appearance. In addition, perception towards sexuality loosened and women protested in public against their social and culturally assigned responsibilities of being housewives and mothers (English, 34). The 1960s decade dawned the smiley face that appeared on almost everything including T-shirts. Characteristically, the smiley face gained more fame in the latter 1960s. The T-shirts and other items also had paintings of phrases of iconic events that epitomized the decade. The phrases included, “Martin Luther King”, “Civil Rights and Riots”, “The Space Race”, “Cuban Missile and Crisis”, “The Space Race” and “Vietnam” (Hill, 45). Growth of the Hippie Culture in 1960 The term “hippie” derived from the word hipster. The hippies mainly represented an outgrowth from the Beat movement of the 1950s. The hippies often claimed to be aiming at freedom and re-embracing nature. They, therefore, represented an alternative interest in lifestyle as well being rebellious of the society that appeared to be repressive and conformist. The hippies made their clothing from natural fibers such as cotton and hemp. They also liked their clothing to be loose. Both men and women kept long hair with fussy styling, and they avoided hair products. They black trousers and turtlenecks worn by the female and male Beatniks metamorphosed into jeans and peasant blouses. As a result, any hand-woven, hand sewn or hand knit macramé soared in its prices. Gradually, the hippie fashion culture evolved into individuals dyeing their clothing. This colorful tie and dye fashion gain popularity almost immediately (Rielly, 13). Ladies’ fashion and the Hippie Culture In the fashion of the 60’s dressing appearance revolved around the mentality of “anything goes”. The basic essential for a hippie wardrobe includes. These essentials included a hip hugging bell-bottom jean more preferably with flower patches and a fringe and the ankles. The bottoms blended well with t-shirts, peasant blouses and a halter top that appeared skimpy. In addition, the hippies accessorized in handmade jewelry that often included symbols of peace as the Vietnam Wars intensified (Hill, 45). For the ladies, the fashions of the sixties mainly comprised of contemporary dresses and skirts. Not after the 1920s did the youths define what they found acceptable and created radical changes in fashion. The hemlines surprised the traditionalists of the 1920s and even gave more apoplexy in the 1960s. The hemlines kept rising as those with good legs wore miniskirts and even micro miniskirts sported by the young girls. The short skirts easily blended in with sandals in summer and knee high boots in the winter (English, 36). Ladies further wore short and skimmed to the body dresses or long dresses and the loose peasant dresses. The peasant dress symbolized a Renaissance maiden appearance. The ladies often complemented this appearance with ribbons on the dresses as well as in the hair. They also wore a flower on their hair. In addition, the women, the hippie look comprised wearing dresses and skirts longer. These long dresses and skirts were referred to as maxis (Rielly, 13). Patterns The most popular patterns in the hippie clothing comprised the tie and dye and the floral appearances. However, other patterns emanated gradually as individuals wore free spirited attires. These patterns often included a tinge of color and they also included op art, paisley, psychedelic designs and stripes. Sometimes even the bellbottoms embraced stripes. The flower power of the 1960s may be a contemporary cliché. However, the hippie movement encompassed flower emblems in its fashion. Flowers represented love and peace among the hippies. Consequently, the society embraced floral patterns. These patterns appeared on dresses and tops. Also, patches of flowers appeared on jeans and skirts. As stated above, the flower power resulted in ladies and girls wearing real flowers in their hair and painted images of flowers on their faces. The hippies argued that portraying the beauty of nature in contrast to the ugliness and rivalry in the world while the 1960s era should be vitalized (Rielly, 15). Hippie Accessories The 1960s fashion encouraged simplicity. The women wore jewelry made by hand and derived from the cultures of the Native American or patterns of nature. Any jewelry portraying peace symbols became popular, and so did beaded jewelry. In addition, since the hippie culture mainly included rock and roll music, any jewelry that adorned gained popularity. Some ladies sported pendants of bells in their necklaces, and many more wore jingle ankle bracelets or anklets. The ankles often received overwhelming attention since the hippies preferred to walk barefoot since the larger population lived in the warm west coast (Corrigan, 3). Before the hippie movements, many other movements affected the fashion industry. However, the influence of the hippies still creates impacts in the fashion industry. Consequently, the fashion designers gained their insights from the younger generation. Therefore, the American women chose to make their fashion with respect to individuality and individual styles. They would then pass on their fashion ideas to their daughters (Hill, 48). Clothing for baby Girls in the 1960s The baby boom in America translated to an overwhelming prosperity of the fashion industry. Furthermore, fewer parents sewed their babies’ clothes and therefore the fashion industry stabilized. While the fashion industry used more synthetic fibers during the war, these fibers now became the norm for baby girls’ attires and less of an exception. Therefore, while the clothing for girls prior to the 1960s anticipated more feminine play, the synthetic fabrics allowed more wildness. The polyester or blended knit clothes enabled the girls to play more without worries of enduring staining. The mothers expressed delight in the new fabrics since they did not fade readily during washing. In addition, they required less starching and pressing and ensured more comfort for the children. As a result, the women took a relief from the ever involving laundry tasks (Baugess, 5). However, the appearances of clothes of babies retained the contemporary image. Girls’ dressed spotted fitted bodices with short and wide skirts. For special occasions, the dresses featured ruffled necks and hems as well as puffed sleeves. The mothers still dressed their baby girls in crinolines under the skirt. Gradually, the skirts slimmed and maintained an A-line. For a school going girls, dresses remained to be the uniform fashion. However, play clothes began embracing more of the trousers and shorts. The little girls did not wear jeans, but they spotted pedal pushers, capris and long fitting trousers. Change in Colors and Patterns in Girls’ clothing While dresses of the 1960s, 1950s and 1940s dresses might have similar cuts, those of the ‘60s could be easily distinguished. The 1960s dresses sported colorful patterns and colorful synthetic fibers. This era began with bright monochromic attires in the clothing for girls. In the latter 1960s, bright and catchy patterns on dresses of girls. As the era advanced, striped fashion gained fame. Boldly striped dresses and trousers became very common for both women and children. In order to complement the appearance, the ladies blended the stripped bottoms with monochrome tops sporting a color of one of the stripes. Girls wore socks until around 1965 when the tights became available for wearing with miniskirts. After 1965, appearances of girls sporting dresses with bright patterns became common. They also wore monochrome bright colored tights underneath (Baugess, 8). Hippie Culture and Girls’ Wear Though the hippie culture fastened into the popular culture, only the young girls sported this fashion. Hippie fashion made way into the teenage population with success. However, the manufactured and synthetic clothes maintained the conservative styles and cuts. At the end of the decade, more girls wore bell-bottomed jeans with a few beads, patches or flowers on other pieces of their clothing. However, parents refused hippie culture in their children’s unless they were hippies themselves (Hill, 35). Ladies fashion In the first half of the 1960s, clothing resembled those of the 1950s. They were more suitable conservative and ladylike. Women wore petticoats and sashes and gloves for social occasions. The dresses sported pleats and had more swing. Except in casual activities, women wore only dresses and skirts. Pants could only be worn during sports but could not be worn to school. The shirtwaist dresses survived through the decade. Despite higher hems, dresses with wide collars maintained a norm among the ordinary American women (Corrigan, 7). Couture Designs from Balenciaga and Dior worn by rich women represented sophistication and elegance. Another influence in America brought about by the sleek appearance. Eventually, popular clothing influenced haute couture that resulted in a reversed the customary “top downward” movement in fashion. Cardin, Yves and Courreges adapted to these designs and began selling their designs in department stores (Baugess, 25). Hair Styles In the 1960s, girls wore loose braids, headbands or even beehives. Big bouffant suited both the hippie minded and the non-hippies. Women wore hairpieces and wigs so as to change their hair styles upon dropping the hat. They also sported beehives and faux hair. In addition, beaded accessories and headbands became inevitable when sporting straight hair. The 1960s also embraced bolder curls and waves with great hair body (Corrigan, 6). 1960s Fashion icons Over the 1960s, celebrities sported fashion styles that other women all over the world embraced. Leslie Hornby nicknamed “Twiggy” due to her slim stature rose to fame rapidly for advertising various fashion styles for young girls. Also, her trimmed boy-like hairdo, wide eyes and long eyes led to her being on the covers of many fashion magazines. As the fashion of the ‘60s gained insights from the young people, icons also dictated the style for older women fashion. Actress Audrey Hepburn influence many young men through her fashion in the scripts. She wore three-quarter length pants and plain color shift dresses along with flat shoes. Her hairs beehive hairdo also resulted in its replication in the society by women who copied her style (Baugess, 15). Jacqueline Kennedy’s suit of November 22, 1963 became the most infamous suit of the 1960s. She had just received bad news. She wore woolen Chanel Pink suit which would be ill-suited for the climate in Dallas. However, her hats contributed to the revival of hats among the women. Jackie, the youngest First Lady at 33, purchased stylishly of dressing in the serious political arena by then. Her famous fashion styles involved extra-large buttons on clean-lined and bright solid fabrics. She also adorned coat pockets as designed by Oleg Cassini, her Russian designer who was born in France, but could make great American outfits. Jackies attributes were the pillbox hats and boxy jackets, the lace mantillas, the three-quarter-length sleeves, the sleeveless A-lines and the over blouse dresses. She also accessorized in pearl necklaces in her numerous public appearances (Hill, 48). Counterculture and fashion The counterculture experience in the 1960s created a generational gap. Never before in history was the rift between the adults and the young become so wide. The larger excitement of the 60s and early 70s arose from the rapidly changing trends in hairstyle and fashion. The readiness of the young people to embrace this trend met rejection from the adults who claimed they appeared ridiculous. These ridiculous looks included long hair worn by men, the Afro or natural hairdos sported by the Blacks and the non-conservative worn by women and young girls in public. Also, these trends involved the short-lived culture of the hippies that promoted psychedelic regalia and clothing (Baugess, 16). Eventually, the T-shirts made way into the society as a more comfortable, casual as well as practical apparel. The T-shirts often displayed phrases that epitomized the historic events of the 60s. Also, the T-shirts sported tie-dyed patterns. In addition, the branded denim jeans designed by Levi Strauss became the long lasting attire of the generation. However, the dominance of fashion during the counterculture era ended upon the evolution of Punk Rock music and Disco. Conversely, the T-shirts, casual clothing and blue denim jeans proliferated into other generations (Lynch, 4) The counterculture era which took place in the 1960s roughly refers to the anti –establishment phenomenon. This cultural phenomenon occurred first in the United States and the United Kingdom before spreading throughout the Western world. This anti-establishment phenomenon gained impetus alongside the uprising African –American Civil Rights Movement. Eventually, the movements of the 1960s both cultural and political became revolutionary as the government of the United States launched more military and expanded its intervention in Vietnam (English, 44). Through the 1960s, social tensions developed become widespread. The tensions revolved around other social matters and infiltrated down the generations. These social matters included women’s rights, human sexuality, contemporary forms of authority, varying analysis of the American dream and trialing with psychoactive drugs. In addition to the revolutionized trends in art, clothing, philosophy, music, anti-establishments and contradicting views of the Vietnam wars more rifts developed. The hippies turned away from the main community and resettled in communes or ranches. The initial communes in the United States included that Southern Colorado commune land of seven acres. This commune was referred to as the Drop City (Rielly, 44). With aging of members of the hippie movement, the hippies gradually embraced the civilization and modernized their views and lives. Also, the involvement of the United States government in Vietnam ended in the 1970s. Nevertheless, counterculture embeds itself largely on the mainstream cultures in morality, art, music, lifestyle and fashion and philosophy (Hill, 55). Conclusion The fashion of the 1960s or the vintage fashion as referred to in the contemporary world seems to be making resurgence. The return of floral patterns, couture and large buttons seems evident in fashion designs of today. Surprisingly, the young generations of women and girls borrow much from their older folks. Works Cited English, Bonnie. A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries: From Catwalk to Sidewalk. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. Print Hill, Daniel D. As Seen in Vogue: A Century of American Fashion in Advertising. Lubbock, Tex: Texas Tech University Press, 2007. Print. Rielly, Edward J. The 1960s. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print Corrigan, Jim. The 1960s Decade in Photos: Love, Freedom, and Flower Power. Library ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2010. Print. Baugess, James S. Encyclopedia of the Sixties a Decade of Culture and Counterculture. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood, 2012. Print. Lynch, Annette, and Mitchell Strauss.Changing Fashion a Critical Introduction to Trend Analysis and Meaning. Oxford: Berg, 2007. Print. Read More