After a little detour in to New Year glums, I’m back on track with a post about actual vintage related things. Not just things but a whole decade, in fact. The 1960s to be precise. I have a confession, until recently I have given the 60s a wide berth, where design and style are involved. Whilst I have always appreciated the innovation in all things cultural, it was never really to my own personal liking. I was resolutely stuck in the 1920′s to 1950s for fashion, make-up, homeware and music… or so I thought. I have never claimed to be an historian but I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what defined certain decades. It would seem I was blurring my boundaries a bit, living a bit ‘on the cusp’, you might say, between late 1950s and early 1960s.
I put my new discovery down, mainly , to the huge popularisation of this period with TV shows such as Mad Men and Pan Am, both of which I have been glued to. Whilst scrutinising, bangles, buttons and hair styles, as well as Don Draper’s 5 o’clock shadow (mmmmm) I realised that a lot of my favourite pieces, in my wardrobe, have been of the early 1960s era. The heavier winged eyeliner, the more A-line shaped dresses, bouffant hair styles and giant sunglasses are, of course the epitome of Jacki O (or Kennedy, as she was then … or Bouvier, even earlier) who was, in turn, the epitome of 1960s style.
This slight shift has seen me change, very slightly, the way I’m presenting myself at the moment. I have swapped the 40s eyeliner for a newly mastered flick, my nails have been other colours (other than red that is) my hair has been tentatively teased and back-combed though I’m yet to sport a full on ‘hive and my fashion choices have a been a little more simple and streamlined, with cleaner lines and more use of colour. Non of this, may I add, was bought recently, it’s all stuff I had, anyway, proving that, sunconcientously, I loved this all along! I’ve even been listening to The Pierces, a lovely sisterly duet, very reminiscent of the Mamas and the Papas. hear them HERE
Now, I’m not one to pass over the chance for a bit amateur psychology and I’m left wondering whether my new found interest in the 1960s also has something to do with my renewed optimistic outlook. After the gloms of the New Year, I’m now raring to go and much like Jacky O’s first husband’s ’we will go to the moon’ speech, I’m feeling a renewed sense of purpose, brightness and vigour.
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” John F Kennedy Sept 12th 1962 , Rice University Stadium
Emotional stuff, huh?