YOUTH FASHIONS

Age of Protest

The spirit of political protest did not end with the 1960s. In fact, with President Richard Nixon's expansion of the war in Vietnam in the early 1970s, young people continued to protest the war. The antiwar movement was predominantly made up of draftage men and women who rejected the presence of American troops in what they considered to be a Vietnamese civil war. Rejecting the Nixon administration's explanation for the war, these protesters also questioned the entire value system of their parents' generation. Like the black power movement of the 1960s, the antiwar movement also spawned its own sense of alternative clothing and lifestyle.

Antifashion

Spilling over from the hippie movement of the 1960s, young Americans embraced self-expression and androgyny. United in their common rejection of the fashion industry, both men and women turned to unisex dress and hairstyles. Men and women wore faded denim jeans or army fatigues, cotton T-shirts or sleeveless tank tops, and boots. Many college-aged men and women continued to wear their hair long. The shag cut, short on top, longer on the sides and flat in back, became popular mid decade. It was one of the first haircuts to be popular with both men and women.

A New Look from Women's Liberation

Many women coming of age in the 1970s rejected the hyper-feminine ideal of their mothers' generation. The hour-glass figure made famous by Christian Dior in the 1950s was considered by many women to be outdated and sexist. These women embraced the more androgynous look of slim hips and flat chests made popular by models like Twiggy. Many joined their male peers by wearing the antifashion uniform look of jeans, T-shirts, and long hair. Most important, many of these women rejected the cosmetic and beauty industries, complaining that they demeaned women. Many chose to go without makeup, lipstick, false eyelashes, or perms and celebrated "the natural look."

Born Not to Spend

Rejecting the consumerism of their parents' generation, many of the youth turned to secondhand clothing stores and army/navy outlets for their clothes instead of traditional boutiques and shops. They blended old and new looks and forged a distinct counterculture style. Wearing an antique shirt with dirty blue jeans and a beret, or an Indian tunic with army fatigues opened a range of self-designed fashion for anyone willing to play. The ecology movement also made the natural look popular among the young. Knit blends, fabrics, and polyester suits were considered establishment, whereas cottons were seen as a healthy alternative for the planet.

Sources:

Ray Browne and Marshal Fishwick, eds,, Icons of America (New York: Popular Press, 1978);

Farid Chenoune, A History of Men's Fashion (Paris: Flammarion, 1993);

Barbara Ehrenreich and others, Remaking Love: The Feminization of Sex (New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1987);

Annalee Gold, 90 Years of Fashion (New York: Fairchild Fashion Group, 1991).