Trends In The 1960's

Many of our fashion styles today relate back to the 1960’s when many things changed and people wanted something new. In 1960’s Fashion trends always mirror social trends going on.

Women had not many options in life; they got married, took care of their husbands and kept their house clean. Then the women realized that there is more than one path of life. Women started to protest and disagree with their husbands and the government that they are more than housewife and can do bigger things. Women wanted to do something different so they start to dress differently and act differently. They changed the world perspective on women. Women wanted to be noticed so they changed their swimwear from like very modest one pieces to a bikini. Many of the

older people thought that is was crazy because they grew up thinking that women were just for the kitchen and care giving. Today people still wear bikini’s so this was a breakthrough for women. Clothing used to be unisex but then women started to wear tighter and shorter clothing to tell all the men that they were different and there own kind. This is when mini skirts came in style because females saw that they were different and have a unique body of their own. Soon all the women were wearing mini skirts and tight clothing. Once clothing companies and designers saw that women were taking an interest in this new style they started making new clothing lines just for women to wear. This made the women feel different. The 1960’s were very big for women and female clothing. Here are a few pictures of the change of clothing.

In the 1960 there were not teenagers they went from children to adults.

They would go from just a few chores to full responsibility of a family. This is when teens really wanted to express themselves and show that they are not yet ready to grow up. Teenagers split themselves up into two groups; those who wanted to conform to the social norms and those who wanted to rebel against it. The social norms would wear what their parent expected them to wear like skirts below their knees, pants and sweaters and for the boys khaki pants with a polo shirt or dress shirt with a tie.* Were as the rebellious ones wore short skirts and short tops and the boys jeans with a white shirt and a jean jacket that there parents didn't approve of. * There outfits reflect on their environment and their values and expresses who they are. An example of teenagers and their outfits is from the book and movie “The Outsiders”. This shows the different groups of people and how they fit into their environments. A quote from the book is “It was my pride. It was long and silky...Our hair labeled us greasers, too – it was our trademark. The one thing we were proud of. “(71). This quote pretty much explains that the way they dress defines and expresses

themselves.

There were a group of people who were the ones who wanted to express themselves and people know them as the hippies. They are the group of people who wanted freedom and getting back to nature. They were defined by their clothes because if you saw them you would know that they were a hippie. *They would wear bell bottom jeans, blouses, t-shirts, handmade crafts and peace symbols. Their hair was very long and not very well taken care of. The popular designs worn by hippies were floral, tie-dye and bright colors. Hippies also wore flowers because it was a sign of peace. They dressed very free spirited which was new for people because people usually dressed very sophisticated. They had a big impact on society because they had a different style of clothing than all the others. When somebody became a hippie they had to totally change their style because there wardrobe was very unique and a change from the normal outfits. Many people looked down at hippeis because they dressed and acted differently.

Fashion was also influenced by peoples choice of music. Big bands in the 1960 that influenced people's way of dressing was the beetles. The beatles was one of the most famous bands who had a very distinct look. They had a british influenced style which included a very classy way of dressing and very modern way of dressing back then. This effect the way men dressed more because they wanted to look like the beatles. Men wanted to look like the beatles because all the women loved the beatles and wanted a man who looked like the beatles. * Another big band that affect the way that people looked was The Doors. They had a very messy and sloppy style. People wanted to look like them because they were famous and people thought that they were cool if they dressed like somebody famous. The Door dressed in sloppy outfits and had long hair. One of theirs would usually consist of jeans a white shirt and a blazer with their hair down. *After the music video L. A Women came out many men started dressing very sloppy, growing their hair longer and acting crazy so they could be like the Doors. A group of female singers changed the way many african american women dressed and they were The Supremes. The Supremes were a group of african american female singers who had a big impact on fashion in the 1960’s. The supremes who usually wear matching outfits that were very blingy and had their hair done very pretty.* Women in the 1960’s wanted to look like them because they were different than any other female band and made women feel good about themselves.

1960 fashion had a big impact on the fashion world because it was different and unique from the past years. From Feminism to Music it all had significant impact on the fashion industry. The Fashion world is much different because all the social trends that people followed.