Fashion, Food and Literature
During the ‘60s fashion was drastically changing and becoming hip with the start of culottes, go-go boots, PVC dresses and more.
Culottes originated from France and became very popular in America in the 1960s. They are shin-length to ankle-length denim pants that are very wide and look like a big skirt. Women wore them as evening wear with a colorful top.
Go-go boots were very popular in this decade among women and became a dominant fancy shoe style. They were worn with colorful knee-length dresses to parties and discoes. The boots were often white, but could be all other colors, and they were very glossy. The boots had a thick heel and were extended to roughly under the knee. PVC dresses were the hippest and fanciest of the decade and were worn by young women to discoes and parties, often with go-go boots. The dresses were the same material as the boots, very glossy, and made with all different kinds of patterns and colors. They were mostly sleeveless and had very boxy designs. This dress was a drastic change because of its very short length and flashy material and color.
After the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, was released in 1963, bikinis became very popular across television, magazines and daily life. Women wore bikinis more often as opposed to the older one piece bathing suits.
Miniskirts, pillbox hats, thick false eyelashes and very bright highlighted colors were extremely popular in this decade. Women started to stand out and take risks in their fashion with mismatched patterns and short skirts. In the late 60s bell bottom jeans became popular among women and men which were slimmer versions of culottes. The bright colors started coming together and a new style of “tie-dye” was created. T shirts, dresses, and accessories were dyed with crazy colors and worn around casually. Men’s in this decade cleaned up well with newly popular plaid button-down shirts, turtlenecks and sports jackets. The shirts were tightly fit and worn with different colors of bell bottom jeans. Men wore more subtle colors and did not stand out as much as women. Longer hair and beards also became common among men in this decade. Tie-dye shirts were worn in the late 60s in casual places. Women’s hair in the ‘60s was very pushed up and sculpted with headbands and curled ends. Men grew their hair and combed it to the side while the Afro hairstyle became very popular among African Americans in this decade.
A wide variety of food became widespread in the 1960s in backyard barbecues, upscale urban restaurants, cocktail parties, drive-ins and diners. Signature dishes ranged from ice berg wedge salad and fondue to Buffalo wings and exotic fruits. Julia Child inspired many home cooks in her television cooking show “The French Chef” that aired in 1963.
Similar to the fashion of this decade, literature became more open and risky. 1960s novelists John Updike, Philip Roth, Gore Vidal, John Rechy and William Styron started writing in more sexually frank styles as a result of inspiration from Henry Miller in the 1930s. Race and gender also became open topics in literature. Popular novels of the decade were Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1969) and Portnoy’s Complaint by Nathan Zuckerman (1969).
Culottes originated from France and became very popular in America in the 1960s. They are shin-length to ankle-length denim pants that are very wide and look like a big skirt. Women wore them as evening wear with a colorful top.
Go-go boots were very popular in this decade among women and became a dominant fancy shoe style. They were worn with colorful knee-length dresses to parties and discoes. The boots were often white, but could be all other colors, and they were very glossy. The boots had a thick heel and were extended to roughly under the knee. PVC dresses were the hippest and fanciest of the decade and were worn by young women to discoes and parties, often with go-go boots. The dresses were the same material as the boots, very glossy, and made with all different kinds of patterns and colors. They were mostly sleeveless and had very boxy designs. This dress was a drastic change because of its very short length and flashy material and color.
After the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, was released in 1963, bikinis became very popular across television, magazines and daily life. Women wore bikinis more often as opposed to the older one piece bathing suits.
Miniskirts, pillbox hats, thick false eyelashes and very bright highlighted colors were extremely popular in this decade. Women started to stand out and take risks in their fashion with mismatched patterns and short skirts. In the late 60s bell bottom jeans became popular among women and men which were slimmer versions of culottes. The bright colors started coming together and a new style of “tie-dye” was created. T shirts, dresses, and accessories were dyed with crazy colors and worn around casually. Men’s in this decade cleaned up well with newly popular plaid button-down shirts, turtlenecks and sports jackets. The shirts were tightly fit and worn with different colors of bell bottom jeans. Men wore more subtle colors and did not stand out as much as women. Longer hair and beards also became common among men in this decade. Tie-dye shirts were worn in the late 60s in casual places. Women’s hair in the ‘60s was very pushed up and sculpted with headbands and curled ends. Men grew their hair and combed it to the side while the Afro hairstyle became very popular among African Americans in this decade.
A wide variety of food became widespread in the 1960s in backyard barbecues, upscale urban restaurants, cocktail parties, drive-ins and diners. Signature dishes ranged from ice berg wedge salad and fondue to Buffalo wings and exotic fruits. Julia Child inspired many home cooks in her television cooking show “The French Chef” that aired in 1963.
Similar to the fashion of this decade, literature became more open and risky. 1960s novelists John Updike, Philip Roth, Gore Vidal, John Rechy and William Styron started writing in more sexually frank styles as a result of inspiration from Henry Miller in the 1930s. Race and gender also became open topics in literature. Popular novels of the decade were Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1969) and Portnoy’s Complaint by Nathan Zuckerman (1969).
Page Written By: Katherine Mikchi