Groovy Girls

Groovy Girls

Hippie Chic – Head to Toe Hippie Style

For some, getting a hippie was a state of mind, an attitude, and a way of life. For other people, it was a trend statement.

Up until the early 60's, hairstyles and garments in North America (and to a lesser extent in Europe) were definitely much more or less homogenous. Trend houses in New York and Paris dictated the lengths of hemlines for ladies and also the style of suits for adult males. Men wore their hair in crew cuts and adult females wore bouffant or beehives held in location with liberal doses of hairspray.

Then the Beatles arrived on the scene with their mop tops, scandalizing the older generation and starting a hippiefashion revolution. What started out as a hairstyle became a symbol of nonconformity for the entire generation. A new, cool hairstyle was the initial step towards fashion liberation. Ladies allow their hair mature long and halted styling it (some even stopped washing it).
The hair accessories of choice were definitely garlands of flowers or headbands worn around the forehead. Men let their hair grow longer and longer, and they grew sideburns, beards, and mustaches. Before the term hippie became widespread, the older generation referred on the rebellious youth basically as "longhairs". African American men and girls halted straightening their hair and allow it mature out naturally, a type that became recognized as the Afro.

For trend inspiration, Paris and New York have been out; San Francisco and London were in. But most hippies would describe themselves as antifashion. They wore whatever seemed groovy. Girls wore their helmines up or down, from miniskirts and hot pants to maxiskirts and granny dresses. As opposed to emulating the wealthy and well groomed, they sought out peasant clothing and ethnic looks. Peasant blouses, gypsy skirts, ponchos, serapes, and saris ended up trendy for adult females, though adult men wore Nehru jackets. Caftans and dashikis were definitely worn by each sexes, accessorized with extended strings of "love beads," Native American inspired beaded necklaces, or peace symbol pendants.

Rather than shopping in huge department retailers, kids flocked to surplus and thrift merchants for secondhand outfits they could salvage and rework for a unique appearance. They turned jeans into bell-bottoms, patched them up with peace symbols or hearts, or created entirely new clothing out of patches of distinct clothes; they added tassels and fringe to castaway clothes to dress them up. Thus hippie clothes were born!

"The pure look" replaced the dramatic makeup, false eyelashes, and stylized hairdos worn by the Mods. Females wore no makeup, got rid of their bras, and stopped shaving their legs. The natural look extended to clothing, as well. Equally guys and women wore handmade or natural fiber garments, or no clothing at all. Nudist colonies and nude beaches flourished, and at concerts and festivals ladies typically doffed their tops. Those who weren't very uninhibited enough to forgo clothes altogether limited their nudity to their feet.

Most frustrating for the confused older generation was the unisex, or androgynous, appear. With girls in short hair and boys in ponytails, the two wearing jeans and t-shirts, old folks couldn't tell one sex from the other, and that, they thought, was going a bit too far.

About the Author

Jacob Simon writes about hippie stuff, 70s jewelry, crafts, music, hippie clothes and all kinds survival guides including zombie stuff. Visit his site to find out more now.

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