the 60s began with perhaps one of the most beloved fashion icons of all time – Jackie Kennedy – on everyone’s minds. Jackie kept things simple, modest, and feminine, and the rest of the nation followed suit, resulting in a perfectly polished population of women for the former half of the decade.

the latter half, however, brought forth a new icon to the scene – and her name was Brigitte Bardot. the French actress inspired the nation to forget the so called ‘rules’ of fashion and just have fun. Bardot was bold. she liked what she liked, and didn’t really care how you felt. the women of America decided they liked this, in fact, they liked it a whole lot, and thus, fashion changed hugely.

from this somewhat hedonistic but still entirely innocent fashion rebellion, something beautiful was born. Around 1965, designer Mary Quant introduced the miniskirt! anything with a hem above the knee was classified as ‘mini’, and thus deemed innappropriate for the work place. this youth driven fashion movement was also comprised of the revival of mary jane shoes, and the integration of babydoll style dresses and children’s fashion into women’s fashion.

dresses lost the excessively cinched look make familiar to the public in the 50s, and more shapeless styles a la the shift dress were popularized.

the modern art movement, or “Mod” movement was a huge influence on 60s fashion as a whole. colorblocking, fun prints, and excessively bright clothing, such as colored tights soon took over, and influenced the more preppy fashions of the time along with more hippie leaning fashions that progressed into the 70s.

a few more 60s fashion pics, because the 60s is my favorite decade in fashion!