Fashion 1960 - 1970

The 1960s featured a number of diverse trends. It was a decade that broke many fashion traditions, mirroring social movements during the period. In the middle of the decade, culottes, box-shaped PVC dresses and go go boots were popular. The widely popular bikini came into fashion in 1963 after being featured in the musical 

Beach Party.

Youth predominated the culture of the 1960's. The post World War II Baby Boom had created 70 million teenagers for the sixties, and these youth swayed the fashion, the fads and the politics of the decade. 

Hubert Givenchy helped to define the 1960s refined style by dressing its most elegant actress, Audrey Hepburn, both on screen and off. Givenchy's designs were used in Hepburn movies such as Charade, Paris When it Sizzles, How to Steal a Million, and of course, Breakfast at Tiffany's, for which he designed the most famous "Little Black Dress" of all time.

Ossie Clark made a name by dressing celebrities like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Twiggy, Liza Minnell, and Talitha Getty. Together with his wife, Celia Birtwell who designed textiles for his collections, Clark's designs epitomized the 60s. Clark was also one of the first designers to do an accessible capsule collection with a major retailer, mass producing his designs at a lower price for British retailer Radley in 1968.

Biba, Pierre Cardin, Boiie Cashin, and 

André Courrèges are just a couple of the most influential designers of the 1960's.

Jackie O, aka Jackie Kennedy Onassis,first Lady of the United States, was a fashion icon and helped define many 1960s and 1970s fashions.Her famous pink Chanel suit has become a symbol of her husband's assassination and one of the lasting images of the 1960s.

The hippie trend also began to take form during the 1960s.

 culottes

The teenage impact lead to the hemlines creeping up, and most teenagers were wearing mid-thigh length shifts as daywear. The sweater-dress was also very popular with young girls from 1961 onwards, until the mid-60s when other new designs were introduced. 1965 saw the premiere of culotte dresses in op-art (optical art) or vibrant coloured patterns, like Pucci, and these were most popular as evening or party wear; culottes had the freedom of trousers but the look of a full skirt. 1966’s dress was the tent, or "baby doll dress", sometimes in transparent chiffon, worn over a slip, usually sewn-in.

California surfers took to skateboards as a way to stay fit out of season, and by 1963, the trend had spread across the country. Barbie dolls became a huge hit in the sixties, so much that the competitor toy manufacturer Hasbro came up with G.I. Joe, 12 inches tall and the first action figure for boys. Another doll, the troll or Dammit doll (named for it's creator, Joseph Dam) was a good luck symbol for all ages.