The early 60’s Modernist girls wore straight, knee-length skirts and male-style shirts, which would be worn with a box-shaped jacket, patent-leather shoes and three-quarter length suede coats. This was marked contrast to the traditional womens style of the 50’s. They also had their own style of make-up (with the eyes being the prominent feature) using thick eyeliner, plucked eyebrows, and little or no lipstick.
As the fashion of mod girls changed from an underground into a more commercialized style it was developed by designers into something entirely modern. Models like Twiggy (who had been a mod herself) began to exemplify the high-fashion mod look, with the ever decreasing hem-line of the mini skirt, brightly coloured patterns and high boots becoming prevalent.
With the onset of the Mod revival, girls, like the guys, took influences from throughout the 60’s and would freely mix the early and later mod look. The label ‘Modette’ also appeared at this time, which was never used by the original Mods. There was a mod revival band called ‘The Modettes’ but in fact most girls did not like to be called modettes, as they were mods just like the guys.
Hairstyles:
The Pixie Cut
The pixie, a hairstyle characterized by its very short length and layering along the neckline, typically with longer layers extending towards the nape of the neck – a short layered women’s hairstyle with a shaggy fringe. A pixie cut refers to a short woman’s hairstyle generally short on the back and sides of the head and slightly longer on the top.
The Flip
“The Flip” was hip and initially favoured by younger women in the early 60’s. Shoulder-length hair was backcombed slightly at the top and then curled out at the ends.
The Bob/Vidal Sassoon Cut
In the 1960s, Vidal Sassoon made it popular again, using the shape of the early bob and making it more stylish in a simpler cut. Its resurgence coincided with the arrival of the “mop top” Beatle cut for men. Those associated with the bob at that time included the fashion designers Mary Quant and Jean Muir, actresses Carolyn Jones,Amanda Barrie, and singers as diverse as Keely Smith, Cilla Black, Billie Davis, Juliette Gréco, Mireille Mathieu.
Vidal’s Bob haircut became a huge rage among young women in the 1960’s. This was seen to be especially true in London, where this cut is still one of the most popular hairstyles for women.Vidal Sassoon also created other very popular hairstyles for women in the 1960’s. One such look was a short, layered cut, which was called The Shape. He also formed a cut known as the Nancy Kwan, which was worn longer in the front than the back.
The beehive
The beehive is a woman’s hairstyle that resembles a beehive; it is also known as the B-52, for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. It originated in the USA in 1958 as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of “big hair” that developed from earlier pageboy and bouffant styles. The beehive style was highly popular throughout the 1960s and remains an enduring symbol of 1960s kitsch.