The Ideas of Fashion within the Cultural and Social Influences - Term Paper Example

Rachna Jalan Academia-Research English 20 March 2008 History of Costume for 1960-1970 Introduction “Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.” (“1960s fashion”) The era between 1960 and 1969 witnessed a radical shake-up in the elemental framework of fashion (“1960s fashion”). At that time it was rightly anticipated that from the 1960s onward the existence of merely one single prevailing trend or fashion would be replaced by a great plethora of possibilities inseparably bonded to all the numerous influences in other areas of people’s lives (“1960s fashion”). It was during this era that the fashion world for the first time experienced the powerful impact of independent youth not based on the conventions of an older age group (“1960s fashion”). Significant World Events Significant events which took place during 1960-1969 periods include the civil rights and the Vietnam War (“Spinning around”). The early 1960s witnessed a youth movement, known as the hippie subculture which initiated in United States and spread around the globe (“1960s fashion”). It is believed: The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury district. These people inherited the countercultural values of the Beat generation, created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and used drugs like cannabis and LSD to explore alternative states of consciousness. (“1960s fashion”) The Human Be-In event held in San Francisco in 1967 made hippie a favorite culture and was followed by the legendary Summer of Love on the West Coast of the United States along with the Woodstock Festival on the East Coast in 1969 (“1960s fashion”). The La Onda Chicana was created by the jipitecas in Mexico who assembled at “Avandaro” (“1960s fashion”). During the same era when nomadic housetruckers were conducting alternative lifestyles and publicized sustainable energy at Nambassa, the United Kingdom was witnessing the mobile “peace conveys” of New age travelers preparing summer pilgrimages to free music festivals at Stonehenge (“1960s fashion”). Influences on Clothing By 1965 the post war Baby Boom was over (“20th Century Fashion”). People’s dressings were chiefly influenced by television along with the music world (“20th Century Fashion”). The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Bee Gees, had significant roles in shaping the fashion spectrum (“Spinning around”). These names brought into fashion the flares, the hippies and the long hair (“Spinning around”). The Beatles particularly emerged as a popular band during the 1960s leaving marked impact on music and fashion worldwide (“Spinning around”). The Rock “n” Roll’s British Invasion too remained the determining factor for the decade’s fashion (“20th Century Fashion”). The ideas of fashion were transformed by the Mod look and the flower loving hippies (“20th Century Fashion”). Among the major innovations, the invention of aramid fabric (1961) is worth mentioning (“Time for a Revolution”). Fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar provided the spirit of glamour and cutting edge fashion hugely adopted by various costume designers of the 1960s (“Ossie Clark”). Pop Art and Hollywood glamour was reflected in the outfits of the 1960s (“Ossie Clark”). A new trend was set by a London TV Saturday night programme called ‘That Was The Week That Was’ which was a favorite programme of almost half the UK nation (Thomas). The programme showed a model wearing a dress with a belt which lifted the dress up with the objective of revealing the possible various shorter lengths that the designers had in mind for the next six months (Thomas). Initially this new idea faced discouragements from the audience (Thomas). However, within the next year the shorter length established its roots in the fashion world and became the favorite collection for the under twenties followed by their mothers (Thomas). Hence, the 1960’s styles were influenced by innumerable factors. “Social mobility, daring fashion photography, easier travel abroad, the Vietnam war, new music of the Beatles and their much copied hairstyles, retro military and ethnic clothes, musicals, pop art and film all played a part.” (Thomas). Famous Men & Women The 1960s saw the rise of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin (“Spinning around”). These personalities along with The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Bee Gees had a powerful impact on the fashion trends of this era boosting flares, hippies, long hair and mods (“Spinning around”). The worldwide fashion icon The Beatles were responsible for bringing into fashion the ‘Carnaby Street’ look (“Spinning around”). This look was reflected in the popular star Normie Rowe’s jacket (“Spinning around”). This particular jacket was stolen by a fan in mania but was later given back (“Spinning around”). The Bee Gees who started career as child stars in the 1960s have been well known for their frequent transformations in looks (“Spinning around”). Another noticeable style of the Bee Gees is that they have been wearing matching suits (“Spinning around”). George Shearing, Lonnie Donegan, Petula Clark with The Tornados emerged as the earliest British group ranking first with ‘Telstar” in 1962 (“1960s fashion”). Among the fashion designers of this era, the name of Raymond “Ossie” Clark (1942 – 1996) is worth mentioning (“Ossie Clark”). The fashion master of the swinging 1960s stood behind the heroes, Mick Jagger, The Beatles, Marianne Faithfull and Liza Minnelli, designing many of their stage costumes (“Ossie Clark”). Among others Givenchy, Chanel, Pucci and Biba remained dominant among the fashion icons of the 1960s (“20th Century Fashion”). The British musical acts tasted little success till the popularity of The Beatles (“1960s fashion”). Mary Quant and pantyhose played an interesting role in providing the fashion world of the 1960s a new curve as did the globally photographed Jackie Kennedy with their trademark pill box hat and three quarter sleeves (Thomas). Other significant fashion icons of the decade have been Emilio Pucci with “exotic psychedelic beautiful fabric prints”, Courreges with “space age sculptured designs” along with the youthful designer Yves St. Laurent who introduced the interesting “Mondrian inspired shift dress” (Thomas). Major Silhouettes, Looks & Trends In the world of fashions, the 1960s was a time for revolution (“Time for a Revolution”). However, regular clothes were quite simple (“Time for a Revolution”). A-line or shift dresses worn with lengths between high thigh and the knee remained the usual outfits (“Time for a Revolution”). The era experienced various fashion trends amongst which miniskirts, loud printed fabrics, bell bottoms, and long hair, remained dominant for long (“20th Century Fashion”). The hot trend was the baby-doll look for women (Thomas). Short to shoulder-length hair sometimes piled high in a “beehive” was also visible (“Time for a Revolution”). Some of the common designs of that decade mainly encompassed simple shift or princess line dresses in a solid or soft print fabric, mini length dresses with ultr-modern or baby doll details, dress and coat sets, conventionally styled and generally imported, boxy jacket and skirt suits, in solid suitings a la Jackie O (“Time for a Revolution”). The selected fabrics encompassed all those fabrics which are available at present (“Time for a Revolution”). “Day dresses and suit sets were of light-to medium weight, usually in natural or natural-look fabrics. The new space-age styles were in smooth, bright, obvious synthetics like vinyl”. (“Time for a Revolution”) Favorite prints for day wear included all types of florals and certain abstracts (“Time for a Revolution”). Brighter and more varied prints particularly Hawaiian motifs were dominant in leisurewear while the evening and business wear mostly comprised of solids and basic prints (“Time for a Revolution”). Apart from simple motifs visible in piping or embroidery, little trim was noticed (“Time for a Revolution”). Evening wears comprised of more extravagant sequins or beading particularly encrusted panels on a jewel collar and cuffs (“Time for a Revolution”). Miniskirts and dresses were considered daringly popular outfits as day or evening wears (“Time for a Revolution”). The day wears were generally just above the knee while the evening wears used to be of ankle-length (“Time for a Revolution”). The trends of the decade included hot pants (extremely short shorts), mini skirts, no hats or gloves for daywear, space-age fashions in vinyl and other synthetics, bold, solid color contrasts from the Op Art movement, popularly known as Mod fashions, Preppie fashions comprising of mohair sweaters, madras plaid and A-line skirts (“Time for a Revolution”). The miniskirt became the fashion icon symbolizing this decade (Thomas). Conclusion The typical attitude of the 1960s reflected “let’s get on with the future” which resulted in preparing the era extremely swift moving one in fashion, lifestyles, innovations and morals (Thomas). For the first time in the history of fashion the young occupied the leading role in giving shape to the trends. Televisions, pop art, fashion magazines, Hollywood and films, all were collectively responsible for bringing in new trends. The emergence of music bands particularly The Beatles was like the arrival of tornado in the fashion spectrum of 1960s. Hippies, mod look, flairs and rock remained the popular features of the decade. Miniskirts, bell-bottoms, hot-pants and long hair, all symbolized the fashion era. Hence, due to umpteenth number of diverse styles converging into the same fashion era, the period during 1960-1969 can be rightly considered as a dynamic fashion era with multiple fashion trends. Works Cited Ossie Clark. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 17 Feb. 2008. 24 Mar. 2008. . “Spinning around: 50 years of festival Records”. powerhousemuseum.com. 24 Mar. 2008. . Thomas, Pauline, Weston. “The 60s Mini Skirt – 1960s Fashion History”. Fashion-era.com. 24 Mar. 2008. . “Time for a Revolution – Women’s Fashions of the 1960s”. vintagevixen.com. 24 Mar. 2008. . “1960s fashion”. 24 Mar. 2008. . “20th Century Fashion: Women Fashions: 1960”. The Costume Gallery. 24 Mar. 2008. . Read More