Every season without fail, some aspect of ’60s fashion is referenced on and off the runway. (For updates on the ’90s, ’00s, and 2010s trends that are still relevant, look no further.) For example, this season, we saw loads of street stylers wearing white boots—a classic item from the era. But that’s not where the decade’s fashion influence ends. It was a momentous time for fashion and the way we consume it. In the ’50s, Dior set the tone for postwar style with its structured hourglass silhouettes. But come the ’60s, hemlines rose and waists loosened as the sexual revolution gave way to an onslaught of new fashion possibilities.
Instead of introducing a singular defining trend, it was a decade where many fashion tribes emerged, each with a signature style. Rather than fashion houses, It girls set the trends. Brigitte Bardot had her beehive, and Audrey Hepburn perfected chic minimalism, while Twiggy’s elfish clotheshorse look made her the poster girl for Mary Quant’s colorful minis. And that’s all before we’ve even discussed the high glamour of the likes of The Supremes and Cher. However, all of these looks, while different, have one thing in common: We still wear them today. Keep scrolling to click through the ’60s fashion trends we’ll never chuck out of our wardrobes.
1. The Miniskirt
Style Notes: You can’t talk ’60s fashion without mentioning the miniskirt. By 1966, Quant was designing minidresses and skirts that sat six or seven inches above the knee, and while she can’t lay claim to inventing it—that accolade goes to André Courrèges, who first explored shorter hems in 1964—we can credit her with the silhouette’s eventual success.
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2. Leopard Print
Style Notes: While floral may be the motif most associated with the era, leopard print was just as popular. Worn by celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, its "rock-star” association ensured its cult style status.
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3. The Beret
Style Notes: Throughout the course of the decade, interest in French New Wave films continued to rise, which directly correlated to the prevalence of the beret in ’60s fashion.
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4. Tuxedos for Women
Style Notes: Despite the popularity of looser silhouettes and higher hemlines, trousers were still considered vulgar for women. In 1966, YSL debuted Le Smoking, a tuxedo that epitomized sex appeal and was considered to have such potent powers of seduction that it was banned from restaurants. (Socialite Nan Kempner was famously turned away from a New York brasserie for wearing one.) The look was excoriated by fashion critics, who implied that Yves Saint Laurent was trying too hard to appeal to young people. Regardless, it was a hit.
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5. The Babydoll Dress
Style Notes: The onset of the sexual revolution liberated women in terms of their style choices, and comfort took precedence over form for many. Loose around the waist and the shorter, the better, the babydoll dress was a symbol of rebellion for the young mods who made them popular. They symbolized a rejection of the sculpted styles that were so popular in the ’50s.
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6. Orange and Brown
Style Notes: While there were a lot of psychedelic patterns swirling around the ’60s, toward the end of the era, brown and orange became incredibly popular as a sort of backlash against the bolder colors of earlier years.
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7. Flares
Style Notes: However, by the tail end of the decade, flared styles took off as a more acceptable form of eveningwear, Their loose nature ensured they were seen as less revealing.
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8. The Pillbox Hat
Style Notes: Jackie O’s style was unfalteringly elegant, and it made her a fashion pinup for women worldwide. Her boxy suits, big sunglasses, and pillbox hats were her signatures.
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9. Space-Age Fashion
Style Notes: The space race in the ’60s had young designers clamoring to create out-of-this-world styles. They assumed that intergalactic travel for the masses was imminent and that, naturally, we’d all need to look chic on the moon. André Courrèges’s designs epitomized the space-age look of mod-influenced bonnets, dresses, and boots made in high-tech fabrics with clean lines. Now, the look has come full circle: Chanel and Christopher Kane took intergalactic inspiration for their recent collections, debuting metallics, chainmail, and otherworldly whites.
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10. Vinyl
Style Notes: Young designers in the 1960s were keen to explore the use of man-made materials in their creations. Exploiting the previously untapped potential of modern plastics and synthetic fibers like vinyl and nylon, they created outfits that were easy to care for and fun to wear in equal measure.
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11. Mod
Style Notes: There are plenty of trends that fashion designer Mary Quant gave us in the ’60s, but it wasn’t just the Peter Pan collar or the miniskirt; it was a combination of a few looks that came together to give us the mod. The influence of this era still lives on today.
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12. The Off-the-Shoulder Top
Style Notes: Brigitte Bardot and fellow fashion icon Jane Birkin made the off-the-shoulder top a staple of women’s wardrobes in the ’60s. The look was risqué but ideal for jetting off to the French Riviera. The top is still incredibly popular to this day.
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13. Rounded and Oversize Sunglasses
Style Notes: Rounded and oversize sunnies were vital in the ’60s. From John Lennon’s classic glasses to Jane Fonda’s cat-eye hybrids, we’re still wearing these today.
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14. Contrasting Buttons
Style Notes: Still reeling from the frugality of the ’50s, contrasting buttons proved to be a cost-effective way to update garments and make them more directional in the decade that would follow. This is a design trick still used today—2019’s obsession with tortoiseshell buttons serving as a prime example.
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15. Beatnik
Style Notes: Beatnik fashion started back in the 1940s, but it was still going strong in the ’60s. It was mostly identified by a love of black with a Breton top thrown in for good measure.
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16. Tonal Dressing
Style Notes: The era’s love of bright colors was taken to the next level by wearing one hue from head to toe—a look we continue to spy during fashion month and on Instagram to this day.
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17. Sequins
Style Notes: The signature look of The Supremes was glamour, so it’s not surprising that sequins featured heavily. The groundbreaking girl group’s members changed over time, and when a member left, they had to leave behind their outfits.
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18. White Boots
Style Notes: Thanks to the likes of Nancy Sinatra (pictured) and her hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin,” plus the go-go dancers who were known for wearing knee-high boots, white shoes (and boots) are still popular in our wardrobes. You need only look to this season’s street style to see what we’re talking about.
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19. The Satin Blouse
Style Notes: There’s nothing we don‘t love about Cher’s style—from then and now (yes, even that lace bodysuit). But back in the ’60s, her style was so, so cool and included a range of satin blouses.
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20. Fringe
Style Notes: Fringe is still a frivolous and pretty much nonfunctional part of clothing. However, in the ’60s, this looked ace on the likes of Marsha Hunt.
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This post originally appeared on Who What Wear UK.
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