sixties_fashion_exhibition

Sixties Fashion Exhibition

Photograph by Ronald Traeger, 1966(detail) Vogue ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd

Exhibition now closed 6 June 2006 to 25 February 2007

The 1960s were a time of sweeping changes in society, politics and culture. Britain began to prosper again, and the young enjoyed a new freedom. As Time magazine famously explained to its American readers, 'London has burst into bloom. It swings; it is the scene'.

Fashion, together with pop music, became Britain's most spectacular export. Like music, it flouted the rules of propriety and gender. It plundered the past, invented the future and travelled the world to find new ways of dressing. Fashion designers ignited the explosion in the youth market and became celebrities in their own right. Their clothes were manufactured in huge quantities for the mass market but also emulated by top couturiers. Their boutiques defined a new approach to shopping.

Find out more about Sixties fashion by visiting our 1960s Fashion and Textiles section

In the sixties fashion became very important to a lot of people - especially to the young. Clothes also became more affordable to young people. They could finally wear the clothes they saw in magazines on famous models like Twiggy. Just like now, people wore the clothes their idols wore. Fashion was a way of being individual and setting yourself apart from older generations.

Sandy talks about fashion and young people.

Mini skirts are icons of the 60s.

Different clothes went in and out of fashion in the sixties. The clothes people wore in the beginning were very different to the ones being worn by the end of the sixties. In the first half of the sixties miniskirts, black and white simple dresses, PVC coats and backcombed hair were all fashionable with women. Kipper ties and collarless jackets, like the ones the Beatles wore, were popular with men. As was the ‘mop top’ hair style the ‘fab four’ also wore. Unisex clothes, which could be worn by men or women were also popular. Trousers became acceptable for women to wear!

Joan talks about mini skirts.

Towards the end of the sixties 'flower power' and the hippy look took over. Painted faces, long hair for boys and girls, tie -dyed clothes, colourful kaftans and beads all became popular.

Fashionable haircuts of the time.

Sandy talks about men's haircuts.

Some groups of people had important rules about fashion - Mods wore suits, parka jackets and rode scooters whereas Rockers wore denim jeans and leather jackets and rode motorbikes. Whenever the two clashed there were normally fights.

Rockers on the left, Mods on the right.

One of the most important faces in fashion in the sixties was a Scottish man called John Stephen. He opened up the first boutique in Carnaby Street in London. It was called Lord John and was a clothes shop just for men - very unusual for the time. He went on to open nine shops in the area and led the movement which made London the fashion capital of the world!

John Stephen outside one of his shops.

Why was John Stephen seen as a