WEEK 8...
Was when we had to write a 1000 words and above essay on the same topic given for the ppt. Using pointers, we had to write the essay and accompany it with pictures to make it more interesting.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF
STYLE ICONS IN
THE WEST AND EAST DURING THE 1960S.
The reason for me to
select the 1960s is that the whole trend of miniskirts that came in during the
60s is very famous today amongst young girls, optical art that was introduced
then is something that we come across even today and illusions are something that
I’d love to work with. The major area covered in this essay is the style icons
of the east and the west.
Clothing during the 1960’s was characterised by liberation from constraints and taboos. Young people were allowed to adopt unconventional clothing styles, and the textile industry adapted accordingly. The catchword for advertisers and the media was ‘youth’. The prime example of the trend was the miniskirt fashion. Jeans, sweaters and t-shirts became universal dress for the young in their late teens and early twenties, who modelled themselves mainly on pop stars. Towards the end, long hair came into fashion. Loud colours and new types of materials such as plastic film and coated fabrics appeared.*[1] 1960’s in the west was known as the swinging 60s and is associated with the birth of British pop music and fashion. The 60s featured a number of diverse trends. Women’s fashion in the 60s was all about breaking the rules. Gone were the restrictive dresses as women expressed more individuality and freedom in their clothing.
Clothing during the 1960’s was characterised by liberation from constraints and taboos. Young people were allowed to adopt unconventional clothing styles, and the textile industry adapted accordingly. The catchword for advertisers and the media was ‘youth’. The prime example of the trend was the miniskirt fashion. Jeans, sweaters and t-shirts became universal dress for the young in their late teens and early twenties, who modelled themselves mainly on pop stars. Towards the end, long hair came into fashion. Loud colours and new types of materials such as plastic film and coated fabrics appeared.*[1] 1960’s in the west was known as the swinging 60s and is associated with the birth of British pop music and fashion. The 60s featured a number of diverse trends. Women’s fashion in the 60s was all about breaking the rules. Gone were the restrictive dresses as women expressed more individuality and freedom in their clothing.
graphicbook.com
In the middle of the decade, the box shaped PVC dresses and the go go boots were popular.
In the middle of the decade, the box shaped PVC dresses and the go go boots were popular.
theinvisibleagent.wordpress.com
misschloeyoung.blogspot.com the widely popular bikini came into fashion in 1963 after being featured in the musical ‘The Beach Party’.
penelopepupsvintage.blogspot.com
Space
travel and abstract also influenced the fashion scene. In 1964, French designer Andre Courreges
introduced the ‘space look’. Optical art and the
space look brought a futuristic fashion with geometrical patterns and designs.
furinsider.com
Mary
Quant invented the mini skirt and Jackie Kennedy introduced the pillbox hat,
both becoming extremely popular.
braxtonandyancey.blogspot.com
maxminimus.blogspot.com
False
eyelashes were brought in by the first supermodel Twiggy.
While focusing on colours and tones, accessories
were of less importance.
littlescrapbookforartfashionandlife.blogspot.com
The
hippie movement also exerted a strong influence on ladies clothing style,
including the bell bottom pants, tie and dye and paisley prints.*[2]
Suddenly
the op art patterns started appearing on everything from clothes to
advertisements, stationary, furnishing fabrics.
In
India, the 60s was a decade when you were constantly told what you could not do.
The decade began promisingly with seemingly impossible dreams fulfilled.
People, both men and women, at least in movies wore very tight clothes. The
tight salwars worn by women then would have a slit at the back to give easness
for walking. The hippie craze that began in the west hit India in the early 70s
and the person who capitalized on it was Bollywood actor Dev Anand with his
‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’.
listenrecovery.wordpress.com
People
would keep long hair which was called the hippy cut. In 1967, Sharmila Tagore
appeared in a swimsuit in ‘An Evening in Paris’, which then was something very
bold. *[3]
lovetosew.com
One
of the most popular style icons of the 60s in the west was Jacqline Kennedy,
wife of J.F Kennedy (U.S president). Born Jacqline lee bouvier in New York in
1929. The girl who would eventually become the wife of the world’s most famous
man showed strong fashion sense since a very young age. Socialite, Wife, Mother, First Lady and a successful Editor,Jacqueline Kennedy, above all of these, is remembered for her style,
elegance, and grace. English Fashion and
Portrait photographer Cecil Beaton photographed the Bouvier sisters as debutantes for a Feature in American Vogue. As First Lady, Jackie was thrust into the spotlight. She was popular for
style of clean suits, knee length skirts, 3/4 sleeves on notch-collar
jackets, sleeveless A-line dresses, above-the-elbow gloves and
famous pillbox hats.
tdotfashion.blogspot.com
Whereas in India, Maharani
Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur was known for her personification of
beauty, grace, charm and elegance. She was listed among the world’s 10 most
beautiful women by vogue magazine. Mentioned in the
Guinness book of records for having the most expensive wedding in the 1940’s,
her nuptials had so many guests That her father’s palace n Bengal could
not accommodate everyone. Her presents included a blue Bentley, a two seater
Packard and a mansion in the Himalayas. Her chic saris, bold blouses and breath-taking
accessories were a rage. She chose the best brands of the day and was often
compared to former US first lady and style icon Jacqueline Kennedy. Even in
those days she had had a lavish grand wedding just like Jacqueline Kennedy’s
wedding. Both of them had a lot of similarities due to which they used to be
compared. Both of them wore a similar hairstyle, both were married to men who
ruled the nations, both were extremely rich and had their lavish expenses.
Sometimes, Gayatri Devi would wear similar looking coats as Jackie. Both were
very popular style icons of their times.
bollyspice.com
Bollywood actor Dev
Anand was the Indian heartthrob. Every man wanted to look like him. He scripted
a fashion statement with his scarves, mufflers and jackets and his signature puff, inspired by his childhood idol Gregory Peck. The
black suit which was popular even in the west, was followed by him, but was
banned from wearing it in public as his Female fans started sending him blood written letters after he appeared
in it in public.
www.tumbler.com
Actress Sadhana, besides
becoming the fashion icon for young Indian girls with her specific hair style,
still known as “Sadhana cut”, became famous as Mystery Girl with her three
suspense thriller films.Sadhana describes how she got her famous bangs:
“I had
a broad forehead, which showed prominently in photo tests. It would then be
covered with a patch of hair. When we were about to start Love in Shimla, the
director (RK Nayyar, whom she later married) said the patch wouldn’t do. Those
days Audrey Hepburn’s Roman holiday (1953)(in which she sports a fringe) had
just released. So I was promptly rushed off to a Chinese hairdresser and given
a fringe. It became famous as the ‘Sadhana cut’.”Sadhana's name and persona conjures up images
of stylish Sophistication and trend setting
fashion statements. She
was the queen of style for the Indian women of the 60s. Sadhana is at the top
of every mention of style and fashion in Bollywood. A generation of
Bollywood actresses copied Sadhana in mannerism, look, and style. Sadhana
possessed that intangible 'star quality' that manifested in an ethereal and
enticing screen presence.
Sadhana's initial popularity centred on a teenage audience who were looking for
something new. Sadhana
was fresh, modern, and most of all hip. She was someone the children of the new
rising middle class of an increasingly modern Indian could identify with. She
became the darling of the youth of India.*[4]
boards.weddingbee.com
No
other rock and roll group had more influence on the youth as did the Beatles. Music, culture, lifestyles, hairstyles, clothing styles and
attitudes all changed because of this remarkable band that emerged out
of Liverpool England in the early 1960s. The Beatles were
George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
When Brian Epstein became the Beatles' manager, he convinced the boys to
wash their hair and retire the leather. Therefore, they dressed in dark,
matching, impeccably tailored suits, and eventually, the famous Pierre Cardin
collarless number. The Beatle mop-top became such an issue that the Beatle wig
became the hottest novelty since the hula hoop. The Gandhi jacket worn by them
became very popular amongst both, men and women. The jacket originated from
India when
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru got in the whole fashion in the late
1940s.
Influence of 1960s
today: -
Optical
art which came In during the 1960s is Still being used today By designers. The most Recent was at the New York fashion
week by Marc Jacobs’s spring/summer 2013.
The mini skirt
invented by Mary Quant is very popular amongst young girls in both the east and
the west.
indiacine.com
Bell bottom pants are worn by some people even today.
denimology.com
Nehru jacket, got back in fashion by the Beatles in the
west is very much in vogue even today amongst both the genders.
stylemeindia.com
The whole trend of the chiffon saris got in by Maharani Gayatri Devi is
still in fashion in Bollywood and amongst the Indian women.
zeenastyle.com
The bikini which became popular in the 1963 is very popular in the east
and west today.
ibnlive.in.com
[Total
word count=1,389.]
Bibliography:-
[1]clothing
technology by Hannelore Eberle, Hermann Hermeling, Marianne Hornberger, Renate
Kupke, Dieter Menzer, Andrea Moll and Werner Ring.
[2]Wikipedia.com
[3]
Indiatoday.in –article by Mihir Bose.
[4] www.tumblr.com 