Fashion in the 1960s

By Katelin Mei

The fashion in the 1960s changed drastically throughout the decade. In the early 60s, the fashion looked more like the fashion from the 50s, which was very conservative. Before 1964, the fashion styles were a continuation of the 1950s fashion, but with the Beatles came a new fashion influence from London.

In the 1950s, fashion was very conservative and tried to make young people look more mature. In the 1960s, the fashion changed from trying to make people look like “young adults” to revisiting the bright colors and child-like styles of their youth. The whole idea of revisiting youth drove most of the 1960s fashion.

In the early 60s, the skirts and dresses were just updated versions of the 50s’ ankle-length skirts and dresses. As the decade progressed, new fashions emerged. The full-skirt look didn’t leave in the 1960s but instead survived to the 1970s in a simpler form.

By 1966, dresses were significantly shorter and more snug. 

Many women preferred skirts over dresses because they could mix and match their outfits a lot easier.

There were many different styles of fashion going around during the 60s. You would be able to see a woman wearing an ankle-length skirt, and another woman next to her, wearing a mini skirt. From the mid to late 60s, skirts could be easily bought at any length. 1960s dresses kept going shorter and shorter throughout the decade.

Many young women liked the mini skirt, which dominated the fashion world in 1967. The shorter the skirt’s length was, the more confidence the woman wearing the skirt had.

The 1960s were not as revolutionary for men’s fashion as it was for women’s. However, it did change a lot. Men got more options for business and casual attire

Some fashion trends of the 1960s

• Shift dresses – The full skirt and tight bodice from the 50s carried over to the early 60s. It didn’t take much longer for the pencil skirt to loosen up to create the shift dress. Shift dresses were for a casual outfit to wear at home or the beach; they were too short for office-wear.
• The jumper dress – This was a Mary Quant invention that fully captured the youthful and playful side of 1960s fashion. The style immediately made adults look like children again, which was a welcome change away from the mature fashion of the 1950s. Bright colours, polka-dots, and big bows and buttons were dress details that added on to the youthful look.
• Colors – The colors of the late 60s were first inspired by pop art and modern art movements. Checkerboard, polka-dots, and stripes were all commonly used as patterns. Swirls and prints introduced an edge to clothing that was picked up by the hippies around 1967. Eventually the pop colours settled down into pastel colours which led to a more “girly” appeal. As the decade moved towards the hippie movement, there was a trend of earth-tone colours.

Source:

1960s Fashion: What Did Women Wear?

Far-Out 1960s Editor: Quintus Ni