Everything you need to know about 60s women’s fashion
The ’60s for women’s fashion was a decade of attitude and radical style characterized by strong influences from Jacky Kennedy flaunting her tailored suit dresses with white pearl necklaces and other fashion icons like Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.
Supermodel Twiggy started a movement that revolutionized women to adopt a dressing style with freed them from the burden of putting too much effort into dressing up.
There was truly a radical change in fashion sense among women, where they took up a carefree attitude to fashion.
Who were the fashion icons in the 60s?
Jacky Kennedy, the first lady at that time, as stated above was a true fashion icon during the 60s.
Her simple, correctly sized, clean, and rightly accessorized style was adopted by many women.
She wore jackets and dresses without collars with a single large top button, with low-heeled shoes.
She was the last to flaunt the pillbox hat.
Bridget Bardot was another fashion icon, whose dressing style was opposite to that of Jacky Kennedy.
She wore bold, tacky, cheap, and sometimes silly clothes.
Mary Quant, introduced playfulness in clothing which was short and contained bold prints and made “fashion fun”
Dresses during the 60s
The tight bodice and full skirt trends of the 50s continued onto the 60s, which had a slightly high neckline and modest mid-knee or slightly above-knee hemline.
Patterns, colors, and designs were big and bold.
Skimmer dresses started to gain popularity as they loosely hung around the body, with a high neckline and accompanied with a belt to define the waist.
A general trend was the clothes were starting to get smaller and smaller.
Miniskirts were extremely popular and any skirt above the knee was classified as a mini skirt.
Mini skirts were seen as a sign of liberation of women, and getting more confidence in who they are.
Another trend was the jumper dress, popularized by Mary Quant, which had round collars, polka dots, and pastel colors that gave the person who wore them a doll-like appearance.
Psychedelic swirls, Mod culture-inspired dresses, drop-waist dresses, and earth tone colors also became popular.
60s style for Evening, Prom, and Cocktail dresses
Short, skimmer dresses ere made from luxurious material became the common cocktail dresses. The two-piece jacket dress was quite popular for older women.
The younger woman chose cigarette pants with dressy shell tops as their go-to fashion style.
Evening house party dresses were largely dominated by the wide-leg jumpsuits that took on a hostess style.
Long or short empire dresses became the popular choice for prom.
How to dress like the ’60s?
Coats, sweaters, and tops
When compared to the 50s dresses in the 60s fashion placed very little emphasis on the bust and waist and went for a straight fit.
Knit shirts and mock neck blouses became very common, and their sleeveless version was adopted for summer, because of their boxy fit.
Round Peter Pan collars and Large roll collars, pointed shirt collars and a huge bow paced emphasis on a thin neck with a shorter hairstyle.
Collarless cardigans with unique prints and knitted sweaters with plain colors were very popular.
A wool coat was the preferred choice during the winter season, which was now shorter and narrowed down.
Leather and suede jackets with shorter lengths were preferred as casual wear among the youth.
Blazer-type jackets were also widely seen because they offered a semi-formal look.
Skirts
Miniskirts were gaining popularity among teens and college girls who often paired them with high boots and tights.
Mature women took the opposite route and wore longer button front knees skirt made from denim.
Around the late 60s maxi skirts were an emerging trend, which hung down in column shape and was gathered at the waist and often accompanied with a bow, which drew inspiration from prairie dresses and psychedelic prints.
Pants
Jax pants which were in vogue from the 50s were also popular in the 60s and were paired blouses tucked.
Stirrup pants and stretch pants took the availability of knit fabric, which was easy to wear and sew and kept the fabric straight and smooth.
Denim jeans were being manufactured in a slim and fit style and were usually high waisted and Flare pants, were popular, especially during the late 60s.
Suits
Matching short jackets with skirts was seen as an ideal choice for women going to jobs, matured women preferred cropped jackets and pencil skirts, while the younger girls preferred a light blazer and open cardigan.
Pantsuits were now popularized among professional working women, which were now sized to the proportions of women.
Shoes
With shorter hemlines now more women started to wear flatter cheaper shoes.
With the introduction of PVC, shoes were now manufactured in bright colors to match the dresses.
Wearing flat shoes enabled women to walk and commute easily, this was also applicable to boots, which now had flat heels.
Flip flops and sandals were preferred during summer.
Colored thighs were now used with shorter skirts and were preferred over sheer stocking.
Jewelry
Jewelry in the 60s mainly consisted of colorful items which matched the colorful dresses worn by women.
People preferred long necklaces and over the older short styles.
Small chandelier earrings and button earrings were worn to match the clothes.
Fake plastics, bold colors and vinyl inspired by Pop Art were preferred by women.
Hairstyles
In the 60s the hat lost its prominence so now women placed more emphasis on hairstyles.
Guiche curls till cheek length was the most common look sported by women.
Hair length greatly reduced and now more women went from shoulder length to cheek length.
Hair accessories such as hair bands and were now trendy.
Later half of the decade witnessed the emergence of bandanas and scarves.
Makeup
A full red lip and the exaggerated cat-eye looks continued.
Eyebrows no longer had a high curve but only a subtle rise.
The late 60s show the emergence of the hippie look, which started, as a political movement.
The 60s were one of the most radical decades for fashion as many new changes and improvements were made.
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