1965, and fashion faced in two directions.
On the one hand, Paris was producing some very avant-garde stuff: Saint Laurent designed his "Mondrian" dress, Courreges his "space age" suits and Paco Rabanne his first plastic dress. Across the Channel in London (yet to be dubbed Swinging London, though it was already swinging) Mary Quant was well established, Biba had opened her first boutique, and John Bates was designing clothes for Diana Rigg in The Avengers.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, a more conservative aesthetic prevailed. Catalogues were filled with pictures of models sporting Chanel-style suits and bouffant dresses, cocktail dresses and beehive hairstyles. These fashions don't often make the history books, but the majority of women wore them. Ideas from the cutting edge of fashion (miniskirts!) gradually filtered into the mainstream.
Confusing? Don't worry. Contemporaries found it all equally confusing!
What is happening to Fashion?
Well may you ask... because lots of exciting things are happening right now, especially in Paris! Take the trouser-suit for instance... whether you're for or against it, it's going to cause a strong ripple in the local fashion scene this winter... and so will bonnets, crochet sweaters, feather boas, black velvet, jungle-print stockings and nanny-type alligator shoes!
COVER: The fresh look of mid-summer fashion is eloquently stated by an overblouse of printed Arnel sharkskin, teamed with plain canary bermudas of the same fabric...
Perfect clothes to wear on a beach... as shown here. Or at a picnic, a barbeque or any other casual outdoor entertainment.
