Flower Power 1960s Bright, swirling colours. Psychedelic, tie-dye shirts and long hair and beards were commonplace. Woman wore unbelievably short skirts and men wore tunics and capes. The foray into fantasy would not have been believed by people just a decade earlier. Women were showing more skin than ever before.
For the first time in the 19th Century, London, not Paris, was the centre of the fashion world. The Rockers tended to wear clothes like black leather jackets, whereas the Mods were more stylish and bohemian. By 1966, designer Mary Quant popularised the miniskirt.
Women’s trends early in the decade maintained the refined femininity of the previous decade. Jacqueline Kennedy, one of fashion's iconic legends, popularised many of the elegant styles seen in the beginning of the decade.
America's answer was the hippie movement. This youth subculture spawned trends like bell-bottom jeans and tie-dyed shirts.Towards the end of the decade, the androgynous hippie style emerged, influenced by the Vietnam War. Both men and women wore “frayed bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed shirts, work shirts, and headbands and sandals. At times, women would go barefoot, and some went braless. Some other hippie-styles were fringed buckskin vests, flowing caftans, Mexican peasant blouses, gypsy-style skirts, scarves, bangles, and Indian prints. For the conservative hippie style, there were the ‘lounging’ or ‘hostess’ pyjamas, which consisted of a tunic top over floor-length culottes, and were usually made of polyester or chiffon.”
The 1960s was a revolutionary decade. It highlighted an era of change and post-war citizen awareness.
Hippies fashion is unique to the 1960s. The fashion line defined self-expression from across the continents. The youth indulged in apparel and accessories that made them a part of daily adventure. The presence of rock music and citizen awareness enabled the fashion to promote individualism.
Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute-coture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look'' silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s. Other styles that became popular during the post-war period were “a tailored, feminine look with gloves and pearls, tailored suits with fitted jackets with peplums, with a pencil skirt. Day dresses had fitted bodices and full skirts, with jewel or low-cut necklines or Peter Pan collars. Shirt-dresses and halter-top sundresses were also popular. Skirts were narrow or very full, held out with petticoats, while poodle skirts were a brief fad. Gowns were often the same length as day dresses with full, frothy skirts, and cocktail dresses were worn for early-evening parties. Short shrugs and bolero jackets were often made to match low-cut dresses.
Coco Chanel was another major fashion designer in the 1950's. In contrast to popular full and flouncy skirts, Chanel began creating the boxy, now classic Chanel suit jackets and skirts in trimmed and textured tweed. The materials Chanel chose were always richly textured, which contributed to the finished product's high prices. Chanel's silhouette of her suits was completely straight, divinely lined with silk. Her look was classic, refined, and adorned with details.
Elvis Presley was another huge influence in the 1950's; not only was he adored by millions of girls, but he was also an inspiration for men. In a time where men only wore traditional attire, Elvis tore down all barriers which confined men to navy suits and ties.Elvis typically wore clothes that were more popular among the African American population. His wild pegged pants and zoot suits concerned the conservative community of America
There were trends that were set and became completely iconic by women that we still look to as some of the biggest in fashion’s history. Some of these examples are Elizabeth Tailor,Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, to name a few. Many designers still use these women as inspiration for their collections,
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 kicked off the Great Depression, from which the general public escaped through Hollywood. The movies became the new glamorous medium for fashion. As another war seemed imminent, clothing became more functional and military-inspired with squareshoulders. Techniques for mass production of uniforms carried over into the creation of ready-to-wear fashion.
Once World War II was underway, clothes became even more restrained. Cloth was severely rationed. Uniforms were commonly seen in public.
In 1932, women did occasionally wear trousers for certain activities though not for day to day wear. The young lady looks quite sporty in her jodhpurs, one of the only women featured in the magazine to be shown wearing pants
The lovely gray outfit at the right looks like a suit but is a one piece dress with the high waist typical of 1932 fashion design. The red scarf offers a jaunty note to the clean lines of this attractive frock. Pattern design by Shiaparelli.
The black dress with a red belt is by Bruyere of tailored chiffon. The crossed bands accentuate the diagonal, a slenderizing touch.
Notice that both models wear hats, dur rigueur for the well dressed woman of the time.
Less and less people were sewing in the 1930s. This was the beginning of the ready-to-wear fashion age. However, times were hard and things were scarce during this decade as well. Since the 1930s was the decade of recovering from the 1929 Great Depression and stock market crash, companies started researching and implementing cheaper means of clothing manufacturing. New materials that were cheaper to process had been created during this decade to replace more expensive materials. For example, rayon for women’s hose had been replaced by nylon during this decade. Likewise, many of the dresses that used to be made out of silk were made out of different grades of rayon. The zipper became more widely used and replaced buttons during this decade as well (see towards end of article).
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In a 1932 drawing of the back view of a lady wearing a bias cut dress, a bow accents the backside just below the V-shaped back opening. This particular look is one of the elegant and wealthy, and is likely to cost more than the simpler fashions described earlier in this article.
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The Invention of the Zipper
What we know today as the zipper made more popular by a designer named Schiaparelli in the year 1933. It is not as sophisticated of a brand of zipper as what people know of and use today, but it became more universal than in times past. :)
I found these prices!! Let's see how it was back then! Interesting!
Men's Shirt $2.50 Ohio 1932 Ladies Wool Flannel Robes $3.95 Nebraska 1934 Ladies Winter Coats $16.00 Indiana 1937 Men's Quality Overcoats $15.00 Indiana 1937 Ladies Oxfords Shoes $2.44 Indiana 1937 Men's Slacks $3.98 Indiana 1937 Women's silk hose 49 cents Ohio 1933 Boys overcoat wool 8.69-11.98/each From $ New Jersey Boys pants and breeches, corderoy From $1.98 New Jersey Boys school suit, From $7.94 New Jersey Girls hose (tights), woolen, From $25 cents per pair New Jersey Men s shirt, Arrow, From $1.45 New Jersey Men s sport coat, /each From $19.98 New Jersey Women s dress shoes, From $3.45 New Jersey Women s suit, 2 pieces, From $6.98 New Jersey Men's Sox 10 cents ohio 1933 Ladies Sandals 98 cents Maryland 1939 Boys and Girls Underwear 49 cents Maryland 1935
Men's 2 Piece Suit Double breasted $19.75 New York 1935
Howard Deluxe Quality silk lined hat $2.85 New York 1935
