Feminism in the Sixties: Its Effect on Fashion

The Sixties was a decade that brought new and exciting things to the world. There was a “second-wave of feminism” that started in the United States in 1963 by Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique. She created this after a reunion where she found many housewives that were not happy in the life they were leading as wives and mothers. The reason behind the name “second-wave” is that there has already been  a the first wave which was for women’s suffrage in the 1920’s were women won some legal rights but were still oppressed.  The “second-wave” was slightly different as it was concentrated on eliminating discrimination rather than gaining rights in areas such as voting. Few decades have seen many feminist fashion breakthroughs as the sixties with the introduction of the mini skirt in 1964 to Yves Saint Laurent ‘Le Smoking’ in 1966.

As well as focusing on elimination of discrimination, feminism was one of the most influential movements. Women struck back in all aspects of life, including the fashion industry. This meant that fashion designers and the everyday woman shook the conservative fashion that decades before had displayed.  In 1964, Mary Quant, a fashion designer from London designed the mini skirt although she was not the first to create the style; her version of the mini skirt was considerably more rebellious. This sparked a style revolution which many to this day talk about as a defining moment in feminist history and the sixties, as it showed leg above the knees. These skirts became a political statement for women taking control and exploring the world and options the world provides, essentially they were finding themselves. The skirt allowed women to express different things, such as, sexuality, defiance and the new carefree attitude that was becoming more and more prominent throughout the sixties was shown through shorter hemlines. 

Model Twiggy, modelling the mini skirt. She was famous because of her androgynous features.

In 1966, ‘Le Smoking’ by Yves Saint Laurent was released and was part of his pop art collection. This is an image of a woman looking very masculine smoking a cigarette in a suit and hat. He was not the first to create trousers for women as Marlene Dietrich famously wore a tuxedo in 1930, but it was the first of its kind to draw the public into the fashion industry as the first designer trouser suit. The increase in popularity of the suited look demonstrates the equality between women and men due to the fact he made it so androgynous. It provides women with a difference in their wardrobe other than dresses like the housewives of the fifties were expected to wear. In fact it was only the young who wore a pant suit and Yves Saint Laurent designed it for the adults who were women of the future, independent and individual with in the workplace.

Yves Saint Laurent's 1966 'Le Smoking'

 Women took the styles, one more feminine in the mini skirt and one more masculine in the pant suit and just seemed to run with it. Women wore trousers in a multitude of styles even those that were not that far off being a man’s style. This reflected on women’s need to be professional and recognised as more than just wives and mothers but can be just as good as men in their social and professional lives. 

Amy Spelzini 

Further Reading
    
Bleikorn, Samantha, The Mini Mod Sixties Books (Last Gasp 2003)

Dirix, Emmanuelle, Dressing the Decades: Twentieth-Century Vintage Style (Yale University Press 2016)