DECADES OF FASHION

• Pilllbox Hats- Pillbox hats were simple, elegant and did not break the bank, therefore every kind of woman could wear this fashionable hat.

• Sheath Dresses- Sheath dresses were all the rage because a women could feel sexy while also having the correct work or school attire. Also, dresses like sheath dresses were relatively easy to make, so young women could by a pattern at their local store and either sew it by hand or sew it easier with a sewing machine.

• Loose Dresses with a Belt - Before the ‘60s the fashion was relatively modest, now that the hems are rising, the young women of the 1960s do not want to go too far and make form fitting short dresses. The classic way of hiding how scandalous the hem of the dress is was by making the dress loose fitting. Although, the women of the 1960s wanted to show some of their figure, and they added in a thin belt to pull their outfit together.

• Jackie Kennedy, Style Icon- According to someone who has lived through the ‘60s, most young women looked up to the first lady, Jackie Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy wore several different fashion trends that the 1960s brought along including pillbox hats and kerchiefs. Jackie Kennedy was the woman to be in the ‘60s.

• Nylons All Day-  Ever since nylons came out in the ‘40s, everyone has wanted to wear them. In a more modest age, wearing nylons would have made you able to show some skin without actually showing your skin which pleased some of the older generations at the time. In an era when full petticoats were still being worn, nylons provided a little bit of a more appealing option.

• How Long is Your Skirt- I talked to a retired principal who in the ‘60s was in college for his degree and while he was there, he learned about dress codes and how multiple schools dealt with the rising hemlines. In church schools, women had to kneel down on the floor and if their dress did not touch the floor, then their dress was too short. In regular public schools, teachers had a special measuring device to see how short the hem of a skirt was. His wife also told me that when she was in college at the same time she had to wear a skirt and a blouse to all of her classes at the state school, only when the snow reached a certain level, was she allowed to wear her slacks.

Affects On Women