Today, the influence of 60′s retro clothing can be seen everywhere. Designer fashion houses, high street outlets, and fashion conscious trendsetters all take inspiration from this decade. The 1960′s was responsible for revolutions in music, film, and fashion, which may be why it is so well loved by vintage clothing aficionados.
The 1960′s was an era of innovation and new thinking. Fashion was heavily influenced by the younger generations who were spending their wages on clothes and music. A school leaving age of fifteen meant that most teenagers over this age had full time jobs and an income to facilitate this spending.
Fashion followed three main phases but there were several popular sub genres too. In the early part of the 60′s fashion followed similar trends to the late 50′s such as the full skirt and Chanel suits. This was followed by the up rise of mini skirts, the Mary Quant and Vidal Sassoon looks. It was these that formed the ‘definitive’ 60′s look and by the end of the decade, the hippy look was more prevalent with long hair, and kaftans.
The most iconic looks of the 1960′s can be split depending on your sex. For women, it was the almost Carnaby chic look with mini skirts, short angular haircuts, and knee length boots. For men, the 60′s brought the mod look with Italian slim fitting suits and skinny ties. These were the looks that defined the era, for many are still popular today, and still influence British fashion and style.
Even if you take a look at the popular movies from the 1960′s, these styles can be seen. Music too influenced the fashion and vice versa. Many of the major bands during this decade helped set the trends, which again were largely bought by the younger generations.
The late 60′s gave way to the hippy style, which was heavily influenced by the music culture. Long hair, beads, and kaftans were the order of the day and flared trousers and jeans were being worn by anyone who had a real eye for fashion. Not everyone however favoured this style. For some it was too scruffy therefore, a blend of this and mod style emerged where double-breasted suits with wider leg trousers bridged the gap.
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