It's time to take a walk on the wilder side of the fashions of 1965! Vanity Fair (the version published in London between 1949 and 1972) had always marketed itself to the "younger, smarter woman". By 1965, with youthful styles in the ascendant and London starting to swing, Vanity Fair had a front row seat to the newest and grooviest in fashion.
Head over heels in love with prints: paisley in pink is a clinging dress in Tricel jersey with headband and stockings to match; paisley in blue is a loose sweater topping a slim skirt, headscarf and stockings to match. All by Martha Hill.
To a modern eye, these outfits look like tunics worn over leggings. However the "leggings" are described as "stockings"—not "tights"—implying that that they are separate garments held up by some kind of garter belt. The models' skirts, however, fall well above their knees. This is the dawn of the age of the miniskirt, though at this stage it had yet to percolate out from London and Paris to the wider world.
Martha Hill was a fashion designer and skin care specialist. Described as having a "kooky manner" she was in fact a generation older than the baby boomers, and started designing in the 1930s. However, her clothes hit a sweet spot with the young trendsetters in the 1960s and 1970s. Which goes to show, I suppose, that it's never too late to have one's time in the sun.
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