The 1960s were truly a decade that stands apart when it comes to fashion. So many cultural and fashion norms were not just tinkered with, they were smashed. The UK had worked through the post-war austerity years and had started to feel safer. People were becoming more prosperous and towards the end of the 50s had been pushing at the boundaries, in music, fashion, TV and many other cultural bastions. Then came the 1960s. The young were working and had money in their pockets, it was literally the ‘time of youth’ and they wanted to live. It was a ‘youthquake’. The genie was out of the bottle and people were determined to enjoy their freedoms and live life to the full. When it came to fashion the rules were not just tinkered with, the metaphorical brick was literally thrown through the window. Society was finding its independence, its personality, and getting in touch with its inner self, and breaking the shackles of ‘the establishment’.
You couldn’t be too young in the 60’s it was a return to playing to, childhood and to being free and enjoying life. A natural reaction to the ever-present threat of conflict, with the Vietnam war rumbling in the background, the Cuba missile crisis which threatened nuclear Armageddon and the assassination of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King. With all of this going on it was easy to see why it was so liberating to be living on the edge and in the moment.
Here at TheBoldAge we have curated a few clips of what it was like in the times of the Beatles and Pirate radio.
Firstly we take a trip down Kings Road and then London and Carnaby street
Then we have the kick-back hippy fashions of ‘flower power’, peace and love
In this last clip we take a contemary look back at the the era through the eyes of 2 fashion experts from New York.