1960s Fashion Icons: Meet Women Who Shaped The Swinging Decade
Alice Watt
We chart the style icons and key trends that influenced the 1960s fashion scene…
From Brigitte Bardot's beehive to Mary Quant's geometric prints, every 1960s fashion icon contributed their own signature style to the decade. It was the era of the girl group, the gamine supermodel and the original IT-girls and the Sixties still provides designers today with an endless source of inspiration. Edie Sedgwick, Jackie O, Jane Birkin - these women were some of the greatest fashion influencers of all time, let alone the decade.
1. Edie Sedgwick
The wealthy socialite, toast of the New York art scene and a certain Andy Warhol's muse, Edie Sedgwick was the original IT girl. The essential ingredients of her good-girl-gone-bad aesthetic were lashings of eyeliner, chandelier earrings, mini mod dresses with sheer black tights and a crop of platinum hair - one day to be celebrated by Sienna Miller in the film Factory Girl.
2. Twiggy
No 1960s fashion round-up would be complete without Twiggy. One of the greatest beauty muses ever, Twiggy rose to supermodel fame thanks to her paint 'em on thick eyelashes and the boyish pixie crop that celebrity hairdresser Leonard chopped for her in 1966. Almost overnight she became the face of the decade - instantly recognisable, she's been immortalised on everything from Andy Warhol screen prints to Marks and Spencer shopping bags.
3. Anita Pallenberg
The biggest style influence on the Rolling Stones, archetypal rock chick Anita Pallenberg also just happened to have flings with half the band members. Her quintessential rock chick look of thigh-high boots, fringing and skin-tight prints still serves as a source of inspiration for the band and all our wardrobes.
4. Mary Quant
Not only was Mary Quant a style icon in her own right, she brought the era's greatest trends to the wardrobes of the masses from her shop on the King's Road. The mini-skirt, hot pants, coloured tights and plastic macs - we owe them all to design pioneer Quant.
5. Jackie Onassis
Before Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, there was Jackie Onassis. The original fashionable First Lady managed to maintain her impeccable style throughout her time in the White House, even as she lived through tragedy. Jackie's prim skirt suits, pillbox hats and super-sized dark glasses made her the style inspiration for women across America.
6. Audrey Hepburn
No 1960s fashion round-up would be complete without Twiggy. One of the greatest beauty muses ever, Twiggy rose to supermodel fame thanks to her paint 'em on thick eyelashes and the boyish pixie crop that celebrity hairdresser Leonard chopped for her in 1966. Almost overnight she became the face of the decade - instantly recognisable, she's been immortalised on everything from Andy Warhol screen prints to Marks and Spencer shopping bags.
3. Anita Pallenberg
The biggest style influence on the Rolling Stones, archetypal rock chick Anita Pallenberg also just happened to have flings with half the band members. Her quintessential rock chick look of thigh-high boots, fringing and skin-tight prints still serves as a source of inspiration for the band and all our wardrobes.
4. Mary Quant
Not only was Mary Quant a style icon in her own right, she brought the era's greatest trends to the wardrobes of the masses from her shop on the King's Road. The mini-skirt, hot pants, coloured tights and plastic macs - we owe them all to design pioneer Quant.
5. Jackie Onassis
Before Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, there was Jackie Onassis. The original fashionable First Lady managed to maintain her impeccable style throughout her time in the White House, even as she lived through tragedy. Jackie's prim skirt suits, pillbox hats and super-sized dark glasses made her the style inspiration for women across America.
6. Audrey Hepburn
How do we love Audrey Heburn’s 1960s style? Let us count the ways… First it was that 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany’s LBD, teamed with movie star shades and top-handle bag which won over our hearts. Then came the off-duty style game - a champion of chic capri pants and ballet pumps. Oh Audrey...
7. Ursula Andress
One of the most iconic movie moments of all time (certainly the most memorable swimsuit moments ever) was Ursula Andress’ role in the 1961 Bond movie, Dr No. Stepping out of the Caribbean sea and into the fantasies of the world over, that knife belt was the perfect finishing touch.
8. Jean Shrimpton
In 1960, Jean Shrimpton brought the fashion world to a halt. Unlike the more voluptuous models of the 1950’s that came packaged with stiff aristocratic poses, this leggy British brunette broke the modelling mould entirely with her super slender frame. Jean paved the way for fellow free-spirited waifs such as Twiggy and Penelope Tree and eventually Kate Moss and co.
9. Dusty Springfield
Big eyes, big hair and an even bigger voice, Dusty Springfield rocked a blonde wig and a column dress like no other. Altogether now, 'the only one who could ever reach me...'
7. Ursula Andress
One of the most iconic movie moments of all time (certainly the most memorable swimsuit moments ever) was Ursula Andress’ role in the 1961 Bond movie, Dr No. Stepping out of the Caribbean sea and into the fantasies of the world over, that knife belt was the perfect finishing touch.
8. Jean Shrimpton
In 1960, Jean Shrimpton brought the fashion world to a halt. Unlike the more voluptuous models of the 1950’s that came packaged with stiff aristocratic poses, this leggy British brunette broke the modelling mould entirely with her super slender frame. Jean paved the way for fellow free-spirited waifs such as Twiggy and Penelope Tree and eventually Kate Moss and co.
9. Dusty Springfield
Big eyes, big hair and an even bigger voice, Dusty Springfield rocked a blonde wig and a column dress like no other. Altogether now, 'the only one who could ever reach me...'
11. The Supremes
Long before Destiny’s Child made fashion and music collide, there was The Supremes. From all-sequin gowns to matching skirt suits (not to mention those incredible beehives) their impeccable matching style led the way for girl-groups and musicians the world over.
12. Raquel Welch
Pin-up Raquel Welch may be best-known for her fur bikini in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C, but off screen she worked an even more glamorous look, with pantsuits, Pucci prints, and sex kitten hair.
18. The Ronettes
There were a million girl groups in the 60s but The Ronettes were by far the coolest and sexiest of the bunch. At the heart of their look was the standard-issue mascara-and-miniskirt uniform but taken to new extremes. Skirts were tight and eyeliner was flicked so high it disappeared into their bangs.
25. Veruschka
Shot by Avedon, Irving Penn and Helmut Newton, Veruschka is the splashy German model who landed her first major magazine cover in 1963. All legs, eyes and lips, she exuded sex and lead a new direction in 60s fashion by pioneering a new skinny chic ideal.
BLOW UP 1966
"Blowup" (original title)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | 18 December 1966 (USA)
7.7
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 38,739 users
Reviews: 252 user | 100 critic
A mod London photographer seems to find something very suspicious in the shots he has taken of a mysterious beauty in a desolate park
Director:
Michelangelo Antonioni
Writers:
Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Julio Cortázar (short story "Las babas del diablo") (as Julio Cortazar) , 3 more credits »
Stars:
David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060176/
Sept. 18, 2014
Long before Destiny’s Child made fashion and music collide, there was The Supremes. From all-sequin gowns to matching skirt suits (not to mention those incredible beehives) their impeccable matching style led the way for girl-groups and musicians the world over.
12. Raquel Welch
Pin-up Raquel Welch may be best-known for her fur bikini in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C, but off screen she worked an even more glamorous look, with pantsuits, Pucci prints, and sex kitten hair.
18. The Ronettes
There were a million girl groups in the 60s but The Ronettes were by far the coolest and sexiest of the bunch. At the heart of their look was the standard-issue mascara-and-miniskirt uniform but taken to new extremes. Skirts were tight and eyeliner was flicked so high it disappeared into their bangs.
25. Veruschka
Shot by Avedon, Irving Penn and Helmut Newton, Veruschka is the splashy German model who landed her first major magazine cover in 1963. All legs, eyes and lips, she exuded sex and lead a new direction in 60s fashion by pioneering a new skinny chic ideal.
BLOW UP 1966
"Blowup" (original title) Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | 18 December 1966 (USA)
7.7
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 38,739 users
Reviews: 252 user | 100 critic
A mod London photographer seems to find something very suspicious in the shots he has taken of a mysterious beauty in a desolate park
Director:
Michelangelo Antonioni
Writers:
Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Julio Cortázar (short story "Las babas del diablo") (as Julio Cortazar) , 3 more credits »
Stars:
David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060176/
Twiggy: Rare Photos of a Sixties Icon
On Twiggy's 65th birthday, LIFE.com celebrates her career and her enduring style with a series of rare pictures by LIFE photographer Ralph Crane. Sept. 18, 2014
London in the 1960s was as central to the look and feel of that fabled era as any place on earth. The music that emerged from England (the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Cream and countless others) was, in large part, the soundtrack of the Sixties. The street scenes, especially along Carnaby Street in Soho, with Mods and hippies parading their utterly distinctive gear, provided youth culture around the world with exemplars of cool that are still embraced today.
Finally, the fashions that emerged from London, as well as the models who made those fashions both hip and famous, still echo through pop culture. Jean Shrimpton, Penelope Tree and, of course, the extraordinary woman known as Twiggy (born Lesley Hornby) were, for several years in the mid-1960s, the heavily made-up faces of Swinging London itself.
Today, Twiggy remains not only a fashion touchstone—with any slim young thing who sports short hair and liberal eye shadow inevitably pegged as “Twiggy-like”—but has also, incredibly, managed to stay relevant and productive for decades. Rather than simply and endlessly recycling the elements of her appeal that made her famous in the first place, Hornby went on to act in films and on stage (not just in set pieces, but in classic plays by heavyweights like Shaw and Noel Coward); recorded—and continues to record—as a singer; appeared on TV shows (like all great stars, for example, she took a turn on The Muppets); and wrote several books, including a well-received autobiography.
It sometimes astonishes people—or people outside the UK, at least—to learn that the skinny, blonde, mop-topped, teenaged model who took the fashion world by storm in the Sixties actually survived those crazy years, grew up and, incredibly, is still around.
Here, on Twiggy’s 65rd birthday, LIFE.com celebrates her career and her enduring style with a series of rare pictures—shot in California for a feature that never appeared in the magazine—by long-time LIFE photographer Ralph Crane. Captured at the very height of her fame as one of the first-ever supermodels, and during her first visit to the U.S. when she was all of 18 years old, the Twiggy in most of these pictures seems remarkably cool and sophisticated for one so young. (Perhaps not surprising, considering that she’d been one of the most famous figures—and had one of the most famous figures—in the world for the previous whirlwind year.)
In other shots, meanwhile, she looks refreshingly like a teen who is still thrilled that her life has taken her to these sorts of places, with these sorts of people. There are other Sixties icons here, after all—Sonny and Cher, for example, and Steve McQueen (wearing a shearling coat in the Beverly Hills sun, and somehow looking cool doing it).
Throughout it all, the vibe of all of these photos is distinctly, unmistakably that of the Sixties—specifically, that brief period in 1966 and 1967, before MLK and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, before Altamont, before the Manson family murders, before the decade died out entirely, when people might have been able to convince themselves that the Age of Aquarius was really just around the corner. Or, if not the Age of Aquarius, then at least a pretty groovy garden party at a mansion in Beverly Hills.
http://time.com/3880963/twiggy-rare-photos-of-a-sixties-icon/
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