Contextual Studies- Fashion: Nineteen Sixties

'During the nineteen sixties women's fashion changed dramatically with Mary Quant's introduction of the mini skirt. Women gained the right to vote and began to find more independence with what they wore and what they did.

There were many other influences in art, music and culture.

Bridget Riley and Andy Warhol were extremely popular op and pop artists.

There were many changes in fashion during the decade, the most noted being:

-Mary Quant invented the mini skirt in the 1960s which became one of the most popular items of the decade.

- The bikini came into fashion in 1963 after being shown in the film 'Beach Party'.

- The hippie movement in the later part of the decade had a strong influence on fashion, including bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye and batik fabrics, as well as Paisley prints.

- Popular women's hairstyles included the beehive, the birds nest type style and the chignon in the early half of the decade. Very short Vidal Sasoon type hairstyles were then popularised by Twiggy and became extremely popular during the latter half of the decade.

Fashion trends popularised for men included:

- Hairstyles such as the mop-top, the Beatle boots and the Nehru jacket were influenced by the Beatles during the sixties.

- Other mainstream hairstyles included the pompadour, the crew cut, the flattop, the tapered hairstyle, and short parted hairstyles in the early part of the decade and long hairstyles with side burns in the latter part of the decade.

- African-American hairstyles for both men and women included the Afro among other styles.

There was a lot of very famous photography from the nineteen sixties including: