# Sixties fashion
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 17, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638 "2011-09-17T17:14:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/21 "2011-09-20T21:24:55Z")
> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> This might be high school hippie, but I remember regular jeans being turned into bell bottoms by cutting out the side seams from the bottom up and then sewing in triangles of brightly patterned cloth.
Oh yeah, I remember those. Also making jeans into a skirt by cutting open the inseams and crotch. (You could either make a miniskirt or short skirt by filling in the front and back triangles with denim from the lower legs of the jeans, or else keep the skirt full length by sewing in triangles of bandanna fabric.)
Crocheted granny-square vest, generally in 100% acrylic yarn. Lord, those things were [fugly](http://www.etsy.com/listing/69818722/vintage-hippie-mod-granny-square).
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/22 "2011-09-20T21:26:27Z")
The real hippie ethos is to shun mass-produced things and make your own, because you’ve dropped out of conventional society.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/23 "2011-09-20T21:42:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> The real hippie ethos is to shun mass-produced things and make your own, because you’ve dropped out of conventional society.
Yup. I remember teaming up with an elementary-school friend (I was born in '63) to sell our homemade love-bead jewelry to the “big kids” in front of the post office.
And I remember making tie-dyed clothing in galvanized tubs in the yard, with those boxes of powdered RIT brand dye. (Today’s “neo-hippie” tie-dye styles in vivid neon colors using Procion MX-type fiber reactive dyes instead of the old all-purpose dyes, bright and pretty though they may be, do NOT look the same as original hippie tie-dye.)
And we weren’t at all a hippie family (though I did have one friend in fifth grade who lived with her mom and brother in a commune). But aspects of hippie style seeped in everywhere those days.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/24 "2011-09-21T17:05:07Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> Oh yeah, I remember those. Also making jeans into a skirt by cutting open the inseams and crotch. (You could either make a miniskirt or short skirt by filling in the front and back triangles with denim from the lower legs of the jeans, or else keep the skirt full length by sewing in triangles of bandanna fabric.)
>
> Crocheted granny-square vest, generally in 100% acrylic yarn. Lord, those things were [fugly](http://www.etsy.com/listing/69818722/vintage-hippie-mod-granny-square).
Oh, I had forgotten bandanas. Those were multi-purpose tools, kind of like non-sticky duct tape. It’s a pot holder, it’s a pouch, it’s a headband. . . (Not that kind of pot - that would go in the pouch.)
By the time the vests had filtered down to high school/junior high they were mostly rows of triple crochet, and all one color. My Mom was thrilled that there was finally a teenage fashion that didn’t appall her and that she could whip up herself. I think she made me three. That and Dad contributing an old fatigue jacket were about as in-style as I ever got.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/25 "2011-09-21T20:57:38Z")
Apologies for the junior-modding, but I would have thought this thread would have been shipped off to Cafe Society by now.
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### Author:  [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/26 "2011-09-21T21:21:17Z")
The John Lennon glasses are good, especially tinted. We called them granny glasses. Hip hugger jeans with any kind of wide belt. Tee shirts with a political message, such as War is not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things, or Free the Chicago Seven.
Nobody actually (ok, very few) wore headbands and love beads. (Since you say you’re going for authenticity.) Ditto about painting flowers on your face. The uniform, that we thought was so “different” lol, could sort have been worn by either male or female. Throw on a pair of thick-soled sandals or shoes (Earth shoes were big) and attach a roach clip to your belt and you’ve got it.
And, really, the media used the term hippies, mostly. We called ourselves Freaks.
Oh yeah, part your hair in the middle. Have a good time. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/27 "2011-09-21T21:31:07Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> Love beads are the definitive hippie accessory. Nothing says hippie like piling on those strands.
>
> 1960s counterculture fashion was diverse. A lot of other styles existed mingled in among the hippie styles. Men appropriated a lot of Old West-looking stuff, including broad-brimmed hats, handlebar mustaches, fringed leather jackets, and the aforementioned cowboy boots; they also repurposed military surplus clothes. They were seen by others as hippies the same as the core hippie styles, which were often unisex. Mod styles (Edwardian jackets for men, miniskirts for women), though very different from the core hippie look, got mingled in countercultural settings along with hippie looks too, and became indistinguishable from the point of view of squares looking from outside. Nothing says 1960s fashion like a pink and purple psychedelic print long-sleeved A-line minidress with a big floppy-brimmed hat, oversized sunglasses, and bold makeup. But that isn’t the core hippie style.
>
> It sounds like what the OP is after is the core hippie style: Love beads, headbands, sandals, bell bottom jeans, and tie-dyes are unisex. Broomstick skirts and braless tank tops or flowing kurtas for women. One important feature of hippie aesthetics was do-it-yourself embroidery, appliqués, and any other kind of decorating plainer clothes like jeans and jackets to make them elaborate, colorful, and individualistic. Especially lots and lots of colors all over the place.
>
> The key characteristics of hippies was that they had dropped out of conventional society, didn’t attend college, didn’t work in square employment. Hippies highly valued handicrafts and homemade items, and shunned mass-produced things as much as possible. Since they didn’t earn a lot of money, a lot of their styles were thrown together from whatever could be scrounged from thrift shops, then individually redecorated with colorful handicrafts.
Sorry, but I have to nit-pick a little here. College is where I hooked up with fellow Freaks. Thnx
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### Author:  [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/28 "2011-09-21T21:34:00Z")
> [@Becky2844](#):
>
> The John Lennon glasses are good, especially tinted. We called them granny glasses. Hip hugger jeans with any kind of wide belt. Tee shirts with a political message, such as War is not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things, or Free the Chicago Seven.
> Nobody actually (ok, very few) wore headbands and love beads. (Since you say you’re going for authenticity.) Ditto about painting flowers on your face. The uniform, that we thought was so “different” lol, could sort have been worn by either male or female. Throw on a pair of thick-soled sandals or shoes (Earth shoes were big) and attach a roach clip to your belt and you’ve got it.
> And, really, the media used the term hippies, mostly. We called ourselves Freaks.
> Oh yeah, part your hair in the middle. Have a good time. 🆒
If you can’t find a roach clip, slide a big bobby pin onto your belt. It works. 😉
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/29 "2011-09-21T22:17:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> It’s true. Back in the '60s people wore slacks and had their shirts tucked in. Things are more casual now, and many people dress like hippies did – not the cartoon version, but just casual things like jeans and such.
Jeans and long hair (for guys) had already become popular among young people, although they usually still did tuck in their shirts, at least if it was a conventional oxford type shirt.
I don’t think young guys really stopped tucking in their shirts until the 1990s when baggy, low jeans arrived. I can see how, when clothes are sized or styled extra large, tucking in shirts doesn’t really work. (I once bought a polo shirt that came down to mid-thigh, which I eventually wore exactly zero times.)
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/30 "2011-09-21T22:28:19Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#):
>
> But, as someone who was a child in that era, I will say that a major component of true hippie style – not just what your average teen would purchase at Sears – was sloppy, ragged, dirty, smelly. The true hippie did not care about personal hygiene as much as one might have wished.
>
> Take a look at the movie _Hair_, for example. Also pictures of The Beatles in the late '60s / early 70’s.
To be fair, this might have been true about a lot of hippies, but I haven’t heard any reliable statements to the effect that the Beatles, or other famous musicians who lost their coordinated stage outfits and grew their beards out actually cut back on showers.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/31 "2011-09-22T00:03:45Z")
I say, if you wear a tie-dyed T-shirt, a string of little multicolored beads, a macrame vest, granny glasses, long straight hair, a HEADBAND, and a flower, preferably the humble daisy, in your hair - these simple accessories speak volumes. It is an iconic look. I mean. What else could you be except a damn smelly hippie?? Don’t forget to flash the peace signe (and maybe draw a big old peace sign on your t-shirt with a magic marker). Sometimes bell bottoms, denim or otherwise, can be found in a thrift store. Sandals are a must!
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sixties-fashion/596638/32 "2011-09-22T02:49:51Z")
> [@Becky2844](#):
>
> College is where I hooked up with fellow Freaks. Thnx
So did I. In the 1970s.
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