topic Re: London in the swingin' 1960's in Fashion

London in the swingin' 1960's

feline groovy — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 10:37:21 GMT

Will also try to post pics of London during the groovy 1970's...

New exhibition captures London street life in the Swinging Sixties

*Swinging Sixties London: Photography in the Capital of Cool is currently showing at the Foam gallery in Amsterdam
*It features almost 200 photographs, many showcasing popular figures back in the day
*The shots were taken by a number of iconic London-based photographers

PUBLISHED: 09:50 EST, 23 July 2015 | UPDATED: 09:53 EST, 23 July 2015

In 1965 Vogue editor Diana Vreeland proclaimed, 'London is the most swinging city in the world at the moment' - and this nostalgic collection of photos certainly seems to prove it.

The images are part of a new exhibit which pays homage to life in the Big Smoke during that time, when mini skirt-clad supermodels were taking centre stage and the Beatles reigned supreme.

Swinging Sixties London: Photography in the Capital of Cool is currently showing at the Foam gallery in Amsterdam and features almost 200 iconic snaps from the era - including a waistcoat-clad Twiggy and a carefree Mick Jagger.

Style icon: A new photo exhibit pays homage to life in London during the Swinging Sixties, when mini skirt-wearing supermodels were centre stage and the Beatles reigned supreme (above, Twiggy captured by Terence Donovan in 1966)

Stopping traffic: Norman Parkinson, or 'Parks' as his close circle knew him, was hailed as the grandfather of British fashion photography - his above photo from 1960 is titled Traffic, Queen

All smiles: Photographer Eric Swayne documented dozens of icons during the Sixties, including Mick Jagger (above)

Twiggy is pictured in front of a Union Jack flag in a matching shorts and waistcoat ensemble, with an oversized polka dot tie and her trademark false eyelashes shown off to full effect.

While a baby-faced Mick Jagger looks smiley and relaxed with his arms crossed and a fur-trimmed coat slung over his shoulders.

Other famous faces to star in the show include Michael Caine, Jerry Hall, Jane Birkin, Grace Coddington, Keith Richards and Jean Shrimpton - the British beauty who's widely considered one of the world's first supermodels.

English actress and singer Jane Birkin, who was pictured by Eric Swayne in 1965, became well known for her relationship with Serge Gainsbourg

As well as the intriguing subject matter, many of the photographers featured in the show were also famous in their own right.

Londoners Terence Donovan, Brian Duffy and David Bailey - nicknamed the Black Trinity - became notorious for their catchy portraits of models, musicians, actors and socialites. As did Eric Swayne, whose archive was recently rediscovered.

Images from John French, Norman Parkinson, James Barnor, John Hopkins and Philip Townsend also appear in the Swinging Sixties London exhibit.

Norman Parkinson, or 'Parks' as his close circle knew him, was hailed as the grandfather of British fashion photography after working with Vogue and some of the biggest names in the industry.

Many of the photographs were originally shot for fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle. Hot styles of the day appear to have included turtle-neck jumpers, fur-trimmed collars, mini-skirts, waistbelts and kohl-lined eyes.

One particularly striking shot, which was snapped for French Elle in 1966, shows a model wearing a bizarre plastic rain coat with a huge turned-up collar.

Meanwhile, another photo titled Traffic, Queen from 1960, reveals London street life in all its glory. A woman in a blue fur-lined coat and red head scarf leans against a set of traffic lights as a double decker red bus speeds by.

Who's that lady? English actress and singer Jane Birkin, pictured above by Eric Swayne in 1965, became well known for her relationship with Serge Gainsbourg

This image, titled The Blue Wave, was shot by Brian Duffy - it appeared in the May 1966 issue of French Elle

London Police Box: Styles of the day included turtle-neck jumpers, skinny waistbelts and kohl-lined eyes.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

Trix — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 20:27:26 GMT

No question about it, London was the "it" place of the mid 1960s. It had more influence than Paris when it came to fashion and beauty with the young and/or hip crowd. As a teen at the time, I recall that if it wasn't London made or inspired we considered it to be something for our grannys. The fashion and cosmetic manufacturers knew it too and used London scenes and themes a lot for marketing to us. English models were able to make fortunes and achieve iconic status being the spokesperson for, or the face of, you name it.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

FlowershopGirl — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 01:12:49 GMT

Thank you for that taste of the photos. I'd love to see that exhibit for sure! I love fashion and it would be a great one to see in person!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

StylishLady — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 02:46:02 GMT

I remember around that time that boots became very popular in all lengths. I had a coat like that and a pair of thigh high boots that had attachments to connect to the girdles that I wore back then (before pantyhose). I even had a fun pair of white stretch vinyl knee highs that I wore with short shorts (hot pants). We even wore stretch vinyl stocking that you could wear with a pair of high heel pumps so that they looked like boots. Those were fun times, especially if you look at the prices.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

TY — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 02:51:04 GMT

Don't you just love the hair and shoes from that era? One of my favorite movies from the 60s is Georgy Girl. Charlotte Rampling looks marvelous in those Mary Quant clothes. I love the kitten heeled shoes from that time period too!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

CatsyCline — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 15:14:36 GMT

@StylishLady wrote:

I remember around that time that boots became very popular in all lengths. I had a coat like that and a pair of thigh high boots that had attachments to connect to the girdles that I wore back then (before pantyhose). I even had a fun pair of white stretch vinyl knee highs that I wore with short shorts (hot pants). We even wore stretch vinyl stocking that you could wear with a pair of high heel pumps so that they looked like boots. Those were fun times, especially if you look at the prices.

my Mom had those strtch vinyl stocking things! she had one navy pair and a white pair!

she went to NYC and got a Vidal Sassoon haircut, and i remember my Dad didn't like it at all !

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

chrystaltree — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 15:19:00 GMT

It's probably interesting if you remember the 60's. I was born in 1962, so the 50's and 60' s don't really interest me.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

jaxs mom — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 15:33:37 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
It's probably interesting if you remember the 60's. I was born in 1962, so the 50's and 60' s don't really interest me.

I think the 60's had some of most hidous clothes with horrible colors. The 70s weren't much better either.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

CatsyCline — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 16:35:30 GMT

the 60s were fab! Mary Quant and the big eye-liner, That GIrl hairdos, the mini-skirts and mini-dresses, white fishnets, go-go-boots, Twiggy everything. the Leather Look.

the 70s! no more rules where girls had to wear a dress to school, jeans of all types became the style, tight leg and big bell bottoms, landlubber jeans, straight-leg, Levis for girls (no more dungarees!) Ban the Bra! Maxi Coats, Midi Dresses, Micro Minis, Platform shoes! Tube Tops!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

author — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 18:48:24 GMT

What a fine reminder of the fashions I did live with in the late 60's and the 70's, loved them. Ah, fishnets, low slung minis with belts, turtlenecks, short Vidal Sassoon haircuts, pale lips, sigh.

Great time to be young and hip and oh yes, thin!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

blackhole99 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 00:07:24 GMT

@ashleigh dupray wrote:

the 60s were fab! Mary Quant and the big eye-liner, That GIrl hairdos, the mini-skirts and mini-dresses, white fishnets, go-go-boots, Twiggy everything. the Leather Look.

the 70s! no more rules where girls had to wear a dress to school, jeans of all types became the style, tight leg and big bell bottoms, landlubber jeans, straight-leg, Levis for girls (no more dungarees!) Ban the Bra! Maxi Coats, Midi Dresses, Micro Minis, Platform shoes! Tube Tops!

I absolutely loved the fashions in the 60's and 70's, I graduated from high school in 68 so we still couldn't wear slacks, but we rocked those mini skirts and dresses. Was never into the white GOGO boots, but loved fish net stockings and flats or in the 70's the platform shoes with a great bell bottom jean. Also, hot pants with a midi skirt buttoned up the front so you could unbutton it some to reveal the hot pants. I remember my Dad had a fit!LOL

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

Q4u — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 01:03:22 GMT

Kitten Heels were called Squash Heels (Kitten is cuter)

Go Go Boots

Falls (hair), Fake braids, wigs

Hot Pants with a Matching Military Jacket

Ponchos with fringe

Handbags with fringe

Anything with fringe

Hip Hugger Pants on your Hipbones with a Wide Plastic Belt

Onesies Blouses (had to be tucked in) that snapped at the crotch

Textured stockings

Gladiator sandals

Hobo handbags made with beads, fringe and rabbit hair

Wide leg pants

Wider leg pants

Embroidery up and around the leg of pants

Rings and cuff bracelets with chains that connected

It was a fun, irreverant time....

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

shoekitty — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 02:53:55 GMT

Although womens clothing was a drastic change from any era before, men had a real change. OMG. Remember they wore those polyester shirts with collars as big as airplane wings. They opened the buttons, wore gold chains. The suit lapels were huge!!! And ties 6 inches wide. The pants OMG, plaid, purple, red, yellow. Plaid pants, printed shirts. Men glued on mustaches for after work wear, hahaha. Most work places didn't allow mustaches, long hair and such. I remember my brother (a blonde) bought a black beatle wig!!

Matching Disco outfits, LOL! YUP

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

shoekitty — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 02:56:50 GMT

matching outfits!

High waist pants, LOL!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

shoekitty — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 03:03:55 GMT

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

151949 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 03:14:40 GMT

I guess I completely missed the "swinging 60's" I was in high school and we dressed very preppy, not at all swinging. Then nursing school, which the word conservative is a synonym for nursing school, then I was a young bride and starting a career. I think an entire decade of my life just went on by while I had my head in my books.

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

feline groovy — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 04:33:31 GMT

@151949 wrote:
I guess I completely missed the "swinging 60's" I was in high school and we dressed very preppy, not at all swinging. Then nursing school, which the word conservative is a synonym for nursing school, then I was a young bride and starting a career. I think an entire decade of my life just went on by while I had my head in my books.

But your life was/is better for having helped others in such a crucial way... right? 8)

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

shoesnbags — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:33:09 GMT

Thanks to everyone for this walk down memory lane. Ah, the 60s - a wonderful time to be young!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

Q4u — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:18:18 GMT

Oh my gosh.... that's DH's Leisure Suit~!! rofl.... he had two, one in Navy Blue (outstanding color, serious, for the job, etc..... then he had a baby blue (that's right!) and wore it with a white belt and white shoes (you heard me).... and had one of those airplane wing collar'd shirts with baby blue, white and navy paisley all over it. That was for the disco dates! We were just dating at the time and boy he was handsome (6'1" and looked like Lee Majors.... )... fun times and we thought we looked SOOOO sharp in those clothes~!!

Re: London in the swingin' 1960's

MissRose722 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 18:19:17 GMT

Great post, feline groovy - although I was a child during that time, how I remember the fashions of the 1960's. Loved them then, love them now. London was just as fashion forward (if not more so) than Paris, with the Mary Quant and Twiggy looks, as well as those Vidal Sassoon hair creations. Remember those Yardley of London ads (like the one below featuring Jean Shrimpton)? Carnaby Street ruled!