60s fashion and style

Like pop music, fashion went through a revolution in the 60s, but for most women little changed in the early years of the decade. The styles of the late fifties, the Chanel suit and the full skirt were still popular. By the middle of the 60s, the mini was in and short hair, in the geometric style of Vidal Sassoon, was the in look. By the end of the sixties, the look was long, flowing hair, hippy beads and kaftans.

For most men in the 60s, fashion still meant a trip to Burton, John Collier (formerly The Fifty Shilling Taylor), or Hepworth.

For younger men though, men's fashion also went through several transformations in the 60s. In the early years of the decade suits had changed little from the 50s, but the Italian look quickly took off: narrow trousers, narrow lapels and a thin tie. For the very fashionable, flares were in, lapels on jackets were wider and the kipper tie was hip by the end of the decade.

Full employment and a school leaving age of fifteen meant that teenagers had plenty of money to spend. They spent it on music, clothes, scooters or motorbikes. They were often married by their early twenties, so this period of freedom was short lived. The short term nature of the 'teenage' period meant fashions and styles quickly changed. There were several youth cults in the sixties, each quickly succeeding the other. First the Rockers with their leather jackets and motorbikes, then the ultra stylish Mods, who clashed with the Rockers at seaside resorts. Then the Hippy look, based on a growing drug culture and finally the Skinheads.

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Early 60s

In the first half of the 60s, for women's fashion, the look of the late fifties remained. It was all about the glamour of American movies. By 1963, when this photograph, right, was taken, the wide skirts of the 50s had disappeared, but the look was still formal. The two girls in this picture look very grown up. The look was adult and glamorous, there was no real attempt to look that different from the older generation. This style can be seen in films such as 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' (1960).

The young man in this picture is in Mod gear: a smart suit with narrow lapels and tapered trousers, a slim tie and winklepickers. Fashion was very regional in the 60s. Styles adopted in the Capital took some time to reach the whole country. In the film 'Kes' (1969), about Billy, a boy growing up in Barnsley in Yorkshire, his older brother, Jud, still wears this style, right down to the winklepickers. In the early sixties, in some towns, the Teddy Boy style was still in vogue, whereas in London the Mod movement was beginning.

The photograph, above, from 1962, shows a selection of more casual styles. They range from a sports jacket and tie complete with hat for the man on the left, to open necks for the two in the middle. The hat was on its way out in the sixties and was mainly worn by older men.

Slim fitting trousers were also popular casual wear for women in the early sixties. This shot, right, is also from 1962.

For most men over thirty the smart suit remained the only way to dress for going out. Many went to tailors, such as Burton or John Collier to be fitted out at least one a year. Burton's suits were good value for money and lasted reasonably well.

Mid 60s fashion

By the middle of the decade little had changed in women's fashion. The Chanel suit, left, a hangover from the 50s was still very popular in the 60s. Hemlines might have been slightly higher. The bouffant hairdo (as worn right) dated from the middle years of the sixties. It needed a considerable amount of back combing and hair lacquer.

The smart suit and fairly formal look remained popular, certainly for women over thirty.

Hair styles

Below are some more popular hairstyles from the 60s. The flip was a classic 60s look that remained 'in' for most of the decade. The beehive was popular in the early to mid 60s; this girl has a typical 'Audrey Hepburn look'. The pixie was a short hairstyle, which was popular in the mid 60s, before long hair came back in the hippy era.

The mini skirt

The mini skirt was the fashion phenomenon of the sixties. Hemlines rose to 7 to 8 inches above the knee. There is some debate over who invented the mini. Mary Quant's boutique, Bazaar, on the King's Road, Chelsea was one of the first places that sold them in 1965. French fashion designer, André Courrèges, also added mini skirts to his fashion collection in 1965.

The mini skirt slowly caught on throughout the country in the years following 1965. Most women took a couple of years to accept the new look. For the mini to work, the old fashioned underwear and stockings of the fifties had to go. Women now wore tights, or panty-hose. A new male fantasy ousted an age old one!

London in the mid sixties was awash with boutiques with names like Countdown, Blast Off, Top Gear, Change Down, Glad Rags, Clobber, Quorum, Ad Hoc, Palisades, Barricades etc all in the wake of Mary Quant's original. There a girl could get the latest fashion, which according to 'The London Spy (a sophisticated guide book) in 1966, was a buttercup-yellow satin gymslip worn with orange boots!

Most of these boutiques were fairly expensive. A simple shift dress cost around £10 (read at least £100 in today's money). For those with smaller pockets there were Wallis, Neatawear and Top Shop. Top Shop's range in the 60s included designs by Mary Quant. If Swinging London was not to your taste, then Jaeger made sweaters, suits and coats that lasted forever. Marks and Spencer was known for quality and value, though some of their dresses and suits were a little too classic. M&S was also considered the best place for underwear.

This shift dress, left, is typical of the swinging London style of the mid sixties. The bright colours and geometric patterns epitomise this period. This look lasted into the latter years of the sixties for those not ready to join the hippy revolution.

The Mod style

The Mods of the early sixties took the suit to new levels of style. The tapered trousers and thin lapels of the Italian style, became a new youth cult in the early to mid sixties. To this look they added striped blazers, Fred Perry shirts and the Mod scooter, a Lambretta if possible.

Carnaby Street was their fashion centre. John Stephen had several shops there. His male boutiques became the equivalent of Mary Quant's Bazaar.

In the mid 60s, the London Mods congregated in Carnaby Street for a regular fashion parade. Pop music poured from the boutiques and men's shops along the small, narrow street. By the mid 60s, boutiques catering for girls as well as boys were common on Carnaby Street; the Mods usually brought their girlfriends along with them. Shops on Carnaby Street often came and went. Shops that were on Carnaby Street in the 60s included:

Carnaby Street also had a junk shop called Gear. It sold furniture from the Victorian past and reminders of the then fashionable Art Nouveaux era. Also on Carnaby Street in 1967 were a couple of old fashioned pubs, a health food shop, a toyshop and Button Queen, which sold old buttons.

For more on Mods see Mods and Rockers and 60s Mods

Hippy style

Mod fashions were mainstream youth culture by 1965. In 1966 the scene was changing. In January 1966, Granny Takes a Trip opened at 488 King's Road, London; the wrong end of the street, known as the the World's End. Granny Takes a Trip was run by Nigel Waymouth, his girlfriend, Sheila Cohen, a fan of vintage clothes, and former tailor John Pearse. They decorated the shop with red Art Nouveaux lettering on a black background. It looked very dark and mysterious. Inside were Aubrey Beardsley prints and blow-ups of French postcards from the naughty nineties (the 1890s that is).

Granny Takes a Trip marked the end of Mod and the beginning of Hippy style. The shop sold clothes for men and women, some vintage, some new. It  also sold floral shirts, jackets with wide lapels, the opposite of the Mod style, velvet and brocade flares, and skirts and dresses in velvet and lace.

Granny's became a Mecca for the pop world. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Pink Floyd were all customers.

Following on from Granny's, Hung on You had a shop front painted by pop artist, Michael English. He choose bold Art Deco inspired lettering in red over bright yellow sun rays on a black background. It timed in beautifully with the late 60s Art Deco rival which inspired Biba and films such as 'Bonnie and Clyde'.

Also in 1966, Michael Fish, opened his first shop 'Mr Fish' in Clifford Street. Michael Fish is credited with the invention of the kipper tie. All his clothes were labelled 'Peculiar to Mr Fish'.

Bridging Mod and Hippy style was this smart, double-breasted style, left. This was the the way for a fashionable young man to look hip without being scruffy. It was taken up by many of the Mod bands in the late 60s, often combined with elements of the Hippy style.

For mainstream youth fashion, everything changed again in the Summer of 1967. The smart look of the Mods was replaced with long hair, beads, beards and kaftans. Flower power was in the air. The look was psychedelic swirls and paisley patterns. Full on Flower Power was short lived, but its influence was long lasting.

1969 and after

As the decade ended, hemlines started to drop. The maxi and midi lengths offered women an alternative to the mini.

Working class youths, unable to join the beautiful people, opted for short cropped hair and Dr Marten boots. The Skinhead was born.

60s fashion: Reference and further reading

• Revolt into Style by George Melly, published 1970 (Penguin)
• Len Deighton's London Dossier, published 1967 (Penguin)
• The New London Spy by Hunter Davies, published 1966 (Blond)
• The Look by Paul Gorman, published 2001 (Sanctuary)
• Sixties Source Book by Nigel Cawthorne, published 1989 (Quattro)
• The Sixties Art Scene in London by David Mellor, 1993 (Phaidon)
• Up the Junction, Nell Dunn, 1963 (Pan Paperback)

60s fashion on the web

There is quite lot about 60s fashion on the internet. I would highly recommend www.fashion-era.com. This site has a huge amount of information about fashion from the 60s and other decades. The Wikipedia article about mini skirts, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniskirt is also very good.

For hairstyles have a look at www.hairarchives.com. There are number of 60s styles, including the bouffant, the beehive and some very strange looking unisex haircuts.

You might also like this video. The tone is bit condescending, but fairly typical of reporting in 60s. It covers most of the late 60s London fashion scene from Granny Takes a Trip, Hung on You, to Carnaby Street. It asks the question, does London really swing?

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