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Fashion of the 1960’s

Before the British invasion on fashion in the 1960’s women usually wore very smart, feminine designs during the 1960’s this changed massively.

A new and very different fashion influence, by the mid 1960s new colours, patterns and fabrics were being used to make clothes young, fresh and exciting.

One of the most important people in the changes that took place in the Sixties was Mary Quant. Mary Quant was a famous 1960’s designer and her influence on fashion of the 1960s was enormous. She is most famous for the mini skirt/dress, as well as her simple daisy motif. She is also responsible for making sleek bob haircuts and smoky eye make-up popular.

One of the faces of the sixties was Twiggy. Twiggy was known as the first British Supermodel, as she was on the cover of every major fashion and teen magazine of the 1960s. Twiggy was famous for being tall and slim and wearing simple, youthful 1960’s clothing.

The most well know fashion of the Sixties was the mini skirt, even though it was followed by the maxi and flower-power and many other crazes. The fashion revolution of the 1960s was that nothing lasted for long as fashion changed throughout the decade.

The fashion of the 1960’s challenged traditional ideas. They were producing clothes for young people and clothes that allowed young people to be themselves, rather than miniature versions of their parents.

Mods and rockers

The Mods (modernists) and rockers were two rival 'tribes' who both existed in the sixties and believed in different values, music and fashion ideals.

Rockers tended to be more rebellious and wore scruffier clothes - black leather jackets and jeans with black leather boots. They rode around on motorbikes.

Mods were well dressed urban youngsters and portrayed a clean look. Twiggy was a mod icon. Teenager Mods often rode scooters

Music of the 1960’s

Music

Music of the UK developed in the 1960’s into one of the leading forms of popular music in the world. By the early 1960s the British had developed a national music industry and began to export music to America with bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones. This music was heard in the United Kingdom over pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London and Swinging Radio England.

By the mid-1960s, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and other artists (listed on this wall) dominated the US charts this was known in America as the "British Invasion".

The Beatles

The real breakthrough in music came in 1962 with 4 individuals- John Lennon, Paul Macartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr named The Beatles they were to became the most famous pop group in British history.

The Beatles, unlike many British performers at the time, wrote and performed their own music, their music with real lyrics that caught the imagination of teenagers around the world. They also created a unique style of music which was a mixture of rhythm and blues and rock and roll it was this that made the Beatles different from so many of the performers.

More than anybody else, the Beatles came to represent the sixties. The impact of The Beatles upon teenagers was almost unbelievable. They were not just performers, they became heroes. The influence of the Beatles went far beyond the music that they wrote and performed. Their clothes, their hair, their accents, their offhand attitudes seemed to sum up the new age of the Sixties They represented the victory of youth over old age, of new against old. Tickets for their concerts were snapped up in seconds and audiences were hysterical.

‘I went to the Beatles concert at Wigan Ritz, with Gene Pitney and Mary Wells (two other singers) also on the bill. I wore a pencil slim skirt and spent the whole time screaming. I have no idea what they sang, but I remember we were all so happy to be there, part of a huge party.’ An account of a Beatles concert by Jean

Other artist of the 1960’s include Cliff Richard, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and Jimmy Hendrix

Technology

The 1960’s saw huge achievements in technology as new inventions were developed that saw the 1960’s become a time of advancement.

The 1960s were influenced by a generation with a fondness for change and far-out gadgets. Some of the main technological inventions of the 1960’s are listed below and were used in Britain.

1962- The audio (tape) cassette invented.

1962- The first computer video game, Spacewar, is invented

1963 - The first communications satellite and weather satellite launched

1963- Touch-Tone home telephones introduced.

1964- The first computer mouse was invented

1965- Sony CV-2000 launched, the first home video tape recorder

1967- The first handheld calculator invented.

1967 –The broadcast of colour TV systems started publicly transmitting

Television

Television sets became much more popular during the 1960s, with BBC2 broadcasting its first colour pictures in 1967. Famous programmes from the 1960s included:

• Coronation Street (which first aired as a twice-weekly drama in 1960 on Granada television);

• Doctor Who (first broadcast in 1963 about a time-travelling adventurer, initially devised as a fun way of teaching children about science and history);

• Andy Pandy

• Magic Roundabout

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