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The Swinging 1960 Clothes

The 60’s was a decade of continuous and sweeping changes in fashion. Traditional styles became old fashioned, while new daring styles characterized 1960 clothes. There were radical changes in the world of fashion. Until the 60’s, a conservative look remained. But with the new decade, new ideas that appeared with youth movements against the established world and rebellions characterized this period. Along with these new ideologies and thoughts, new fashion trends were set.

1960 clothes, trends and fashion appeared for the first time in Britain. The Swinging London, a cultural revolution in the 60’s that took place in England, did not take too long to spread across the world. British model Twiggy, the first world’s supermodel, set a new trend in hair styles. Up to that time, women wore long hair or feminine cut short hair, but Twiggy turned her androgynous hair style into fashion. Her short hair resembled male hair cuts, with a feminine touch.

As regards 1960 clothes, there were many changes in clothing styles that influence today’s world. As fashion was focused on accentuating women’s legs, every item of 1960 clothes was designed according to this objective. Go-go boots were one of the main inventions of the time. Women wore them with short skirts —which is also an innovation of the 60's—, and this was a revolutionary trend that changed the world of fashion for the decades to come. Today, the image of women wearing knee-high boots with mini-skirts is very common. The go-go boots were generally calf, knee or above knee-high boots, and their heels were whether flat or very low. Go-go boots were highly revolutionary as till that moment boots were only worn by men or by women in special occasions, such as during rainy weather, horse riding, and other activities.

The main changes in 1960 clothes, as I said before, occurred for the first time in Britain, and it was the result of a positive mood that came with the recovery of the British economy after World War II. There was a feeling of progression and hedonism that influenced the world of fashion, and 1960 clothes were the expression of it.

But among 1960 clothes, there were other items that brought about a change in society, culture and costumes all around the world. Revealing and provocative clothing was the new trend, and this produced great controversy at the time. In a world of restrictions and deprivation, innovations such as the bikini and the mini-skirt, were highly revolutionary, although today they are very common.

With feminist movements, women stopped dressing up to satisfy men, and decided to let go their tight corsets and slip into something more comfortable. Loose dresses, such as the famous culotte dress, were comfortable costumes designed to look good and to feel comfortable. The accentuation of curves was not fashionable anymore since the appearance of Twiggy, whose skinny body became a model for all women. The dark side of this was that anorexia and bulimia also came into fashion.

In spite of its negative sides, the Swinging movement was a good thing for fashion and women. 1960 clothes allowed women to feel more comfortable as they could let go those ornamented and million-layer-dresses, to wear lighter clothes without being judged. They were able to walk around with fresh mini-skirts and bikinis, which meant not being hot all the time, and they were not considered obscene just for wearing these clothes. A few years before, a woman wearing a mini-skirt would have been judged and set as a bad example. Probably, she would also have been rejected or discriminated by society.