Think of the decade between the 1950's and 1970's and you think of high living, boom times, frenzied dancing, smart drugs and short skirts. The 1960's were a turning point in society and the impact of fashion on this event was great. The decade was all about youth, creativity, free-thinking and expression. It was described as a renaissance and a revolution. Society was changing by the minute and things were stirring in the fashion industry. This might sound similar to the 1920's but it was different because society never looked back.

The early 1960's were still like the 1950's until the explosion of Youth-quake in 1963. However, the death of Christian Dior in 1957 had already signalled the beginning of the end of the couture era. Dior's fashion house was handed over to his assistant Yves Saint Laurent, but in 1962 Laurent opened his own fashion house. London became the centre of fashion instead of Paris and the dominance of Couture was waning. All of a sudden fashion, style and social position were not exclusively for the rich. People in television, film, rock music, pop music, fashion, design, and models, hair dressers, make-up artists, writers, decorators and copy writers became the new socially elite. The young, ambitious and revolutionary were the new heroes and heroines.

Scandalous new styles were created and designers shifted to the ready-to-wear market. This is what is known as the Swinging Sixties. The mini was introduced as well as unisex garments and trousers for women. Men wore radically flamboyant fashions and anti-establishment style was in. There were no longer set rules that fashion followed. By the mid-60's clothes were being made by the young for the young. Swinging London and Carnaby Street were popular with young shoppers for way-out clothing. This was a time of 'out with the old and in with the new.'

Last updated: June 01, 2003

Sixties Central, Copyright 1998-2003 by Mandy Hoeymakers.
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