The 1960s were famous for some spectacular and dramatic epic drama films one of which was the film version of Cleopatra made in 1963 and starring, amongst others, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.
It really was a film of epic proportions well worth seeing a second (or a first) time but this article is about the eye make-up used by Elizabeth Taylor which bought in the ‘Cleopatra look for eyes’.
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Tagged Cleopatra, Egyptian, Elizabeth Taylor, eye makeup, eyes, Fashion, makeup, style
After the war, as the 1950s began, girls as well as boys began to find that jobs were easy to get.
In reconstructing the country there were abundant opportunities and jobs were plentiful enough to ensure that every girl had a choice of where and when to work. Of course pay was less than a man’s wage (no equal opportunities yet) but it was still not bad and, as rationing began to end (sweets were the last off ration in 1954), life began to get better.
Where wartime was ‘make do and mend’, the 1950s gave women in general a chance to become much more fashion conscious. Girls, in common with young men, wanted to establish their own identity and create their own fashion rules and this ultimately lead to the mushroom in fashion consciousness that was the 1960s.
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Tagged 1950s, 1960s, 50s, 60s, bikes, Fashion, female fashion, girls, leather, motorbikes, retro, rockers, teddy boys, vintage, women, womens fashion
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Men’s Fashion Part 3 Teddy Boys In Detail
Men’s Fashion Part 2 Teddy Boys
Men’s Fashion Part 1 Introduction
If you ride a motorbike in all weathers you soon learn to choose stout clothing that is warm and protective. Although not usually put forward as a major influence, the Rockers of the 1950s and 60s played a not inconsiderable part in shaping the fashion scene both then and today.
In the 1950s, while Teddy Boys gathered on street corners, other young men, perhaps those with a little more money in their pockets, purchased motor cycles and became ton-up boys or Rockers as they would be called.
Posted in Fashion
Tagged 1950s, 1960s, bikes, Fashion, leather, men, mens fashion, motorbikes, retro, rockers, teddy boys, teds, vintage
Previous Parts Of This Post
Men’s Fashion Part 2 Teddy Boys
Men’s Fashion Part 1 Introduction
Last time I looked at the history of the Teddy Boy and where his style of dress came from.
Initially, as I said, there was no distinct Teddy Boy style but this grew over a period of years as more and more people adopted a similar look. That is, it was peer inspired fashion and spread slowly. It did not emerge fully formed as a created fashion as is often the case nowadays.
Previous Parts Of This Post
Men’s Fashion Part 1 Introduction
As the 1940s became the 1950s, the hopes for a better life, now that peace had returned, began to bear fruit.
In Britain and Europe the horror of the war was receding as bombsites were cleared and redevelopment began. Full employment had been a reality since 1948 and pockets, whilst not overflowing, were at last beginning to fill.
Young adults, teenagers, now with money in their pockets, wanted to break the mould of being simply younger versions of their parents and create their own identity in the new world being born around them. Overshadowed by the aftermath of war yet tempted by the glitter, hope, music and emerging commercialism of America they began to look for an identity they could adopt and call their own.
Combining vintage with modern is a great way to wear the best of vintage and at the same time use the best of modern as well.
In the last article I talked about finding the right accessories to go with your vintage clothes and suggested a choice of bracelets. You might want to just refresh your memory of the article by clicking here (it opens in a new window).
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“Why do men dress the way they do?” It comes as quite a surprise to most men when they learn to just what lengths (pun intended) men’s fashion had descended in past decades and just how those old fashions keep on coming around again and again.
The 1960s were a formative time in fashion for both men and women but to understand how and why fashion changed and where the many 60s looks came from we need to look back to a slightly earlier time.
‘A tie is the one piece of a man’s attire through which he can truly show his individuality’.
For the most part, after the war in the UK, suits were worn both to work and outside for leisure and the tie was almost always worn, too. Shirts in that period had a separate collar attached with a collar stud and it was unthinkable (as well as rather odd looking) to wear a collar without a tie or even a shirt without a collar – at least outside the house.
