English Version | [Still] Swinging Sixties

Swinging. Adjective that informally characterizes something that is in fashion, that’s vibing, that there’s a buzz surrounding it. But swinging also symbolizes the act of moving from side to side and the 60s were very much a reflection of these two meanings of the expression. Swinging Sixties not only because they caused a roar, but because they brought a style that in way completed each other, but also much contrasted at opposite ends of the trend. From the classic and elegant polished look of a Jackie Kennedy, with her long, sophisticated pants and vests as part of a fitted women's suit which became a class vision, to the relaxed and hippy visuals of a Jane Birkin, with her peasant baskets, the bell-bottom jeans, girly blouses and casual tops (in a word, the flower power look in a city scenario), the 1960s were the decade that had it all, even several revolutions in different areas - and Fashion was no different.

Starting off with the miniskirt that debuted women's knees for everyone to see - shocking! -, a milestone that Cristóbal Balenciaga, with his sack dress, in 1957/58, had already sneak peeked, but that became worldwide with Mary Quant in 1964: her lace dress with an impossibly short hem for the era, allied to the affordability of prices, crowned her as the mother of the miniskirt, so history would put them in the books forever - both Quant and the skirt. Before the decade was over, te mini even turned into micro-mini and for years to come, designers would play with its length, making it long again, for instance. Though, that wasn't a reflection of a short reign for the miniskirt: even when the midi length was on trend again, the mini didn't lose strength, because its arrival wasn't about hem height, it was about choice. And today, that choice is still in vigor, since even when the mini isn't on the top runways, it maximizes as a must in our closets. Another unavoidable essential clothing of the sixties that doesn't succumb to passing trends, because from the start it had timelessness sewed in to its silhouette, is the shift dress, that A-line smock that Yves Saint Laurent made viral even without the boost of social media at the time. His take in the 1965 Mondrian print, served as a headliner for a design that has date of birth, but never gets dated. Along with the historical geometry of this silhouette, Yves lived up to the swinging idea of the time and went to the opposite end of the spectrum of female canons to make Le Smoking avenge, placing the lines of male tailoring into womenswear, a disruption that still serves today as an inspiration to an everyday life of anyone that wants a polished but sexy look. It landed in 1966 in an avant-garde way to stay forever in our main wardrobe essentials. Incidentally, wanting to go to infinity and beyond in Fashion took almost literal proportions with the space age trend: the Atomic movement translated an era obsessed by space exploration, with the Moon landing happening in 1969, but the introduction of futuristic designs to be much more timely in the domain of everyday visuals. The aluminum silver in materials like vinyl, combined with resin accessories that were mere extravagant decorations of an unexpected look, or glasses that challenged the paradigm of its primordial function in models that stand out for its eccentricity and even whimsicality (in the best sense of the word, it emerged from the hands of the likes of Courrèges, who for the summer of '64 aptly entitled his collection Space Age. There may be no certainty of life in space, but in the 60s, there was wide confirmation that there was space for its influence in the lifestyle of those who were at the forefront of street style, and, throughout the ages to the present day, that alien presence that has infiltrated and rightly so in our everyday fashion continued to prove its existence. To do so, much was worth the multiplicity of materials that the 1960s were prodigal to bring to the collections, an array of options which, in the face of common and more organic fibers, seemed martian; they endured, with greater intensity, until the 20th century: nylons, acrylics, rayon, spandex, just to list some of the fibers that reigned the textile production, popular for their practicability and price.

To this list of novelties, add up a numerous of other silhouettes that were disseminated in space and time and still today are adopted as timeless styles: the boho, of course, a derivation of this peace & love, hippy chic sort of vibe, perhaps the most connoted with the sixties, but there is also a clear dominance at the time of a tailored side that Balmain, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta made sure to highlight in collections that continued to be put front and center, even in the face of prints and fluidity of the younger subculture. The casualness and relaxation of a youthquake that pressed for freedom and even a certain libertination, fruit of the revolutionary spirit, advocate of love, civil rights and anti-war of the time lived side by side with the elegance of a classical visual in skirt suits and minimalist dresses that broke up with the potential conservatism that was associated with them by refining the look with exquisite accessories and minimalist figure. Case in point, the muse of this trend in that age, Jackie Kennedy. Along with it, beauty trends reflected the multiplicity and contrast of these fashion options: pixie cuts or bobs, fringe and long hair, impossible lashes and nude lips, there was no lack of choice, exponentied by the new paradigm of the Fashion system that brought pret-à-porter to the big fashion Houses and made room for new brands, already assumed to be ready-to-wear like Biba, to emerge.

Today, these 1960s revolutions are a given in the plethora of style options: its muses, from Birkin to Kennedy, from Twiggy to Sedgwick, are still referrals for hairstyles and looks trying to emulate, with a modern twist, the lines that identified them as style icons. And, even though not “the” trend of the fall-winter 2024, it saddled some of the most reverent runways. In Celine, for example, Hedi Slimane explored the house archives to make an ode to the Swinging Sixties Parisians, considered the golden era of the maison: looks with two pieces, short hems, fitted jackets (as opposed to a much more fluid and relaxed summer, for the designer) were a clear wink to that time, in a cool Parisian tribute with a touch of Audrey Hepburn's sophistication - that kind of crossing you actually love to have in any season. He wasn't the only one taking cues from that Breakfast at Tiffany's allure: in Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri revived the 1968 Miss Dior line, now with the approach of the new century, in a tribute to the femininity of an era in which women claimed more than never their rights. In 2024, it remains the claim of the day, so nothing more appropriate to bring to the runway - and to the street - these structured lines sewn to subliminal messages of women's power translated into sets of skirt suits and trench-coats that scream “Miss Dior, CEO”. In Miu Miu, there is a similar narrative: the most polished segment of the trends in the 1960s finds a contemporary approach through Miuccia Prada's hands, for this cold season, with sophisticated cuts in noble materials finding themselves with the vibe of swinging sixties in A-line dresses, pearls, and double-breasted overcoats. But the end feel is far from dated: as it is the italian designer’s signature, the contemporary touch is a constant, even if it is just in styling, by coordinating these fab silhouettes of that decade with the staples of today's streetwear, as puffer jackets, or playing with lengths and volumes, a mastery that accompanies Miuccia forever. The end result is the purposeful feel of the 1960s, but with a conscious attitude of the century in which it is living in: it foregoes the then ingenuity of experimentation in new forms and functions just because one could, to now incorporate these silhouettes and references on a day-to-day basis because one wants to.

Which is, in fact, how swinging sixties have been incorporated since then into Fashion proposals and that it is so or more true this year. High fashion-top references can validate the relevance for that decade in today’s day and age, but the FW season has not made it into a major trend. Irrelevant: we never stopped emulating a Jean Shrimpton because there were no miniskirts in the runways or because the A-line jackets were so last season. Bell-bottom jeans will always have a place in off duty look, a double-breasted overcoat in a vibrant orange will always be placed in a winter made of grays and a mundane basket will always be the “Birkin” of the weekend, in the countryside or in the city. It is not a coincidence that the editorial starring Maria Pound that you just flipped through is as groovy as the 60s, but as brat as 2024.

Translated from the original in Vogue Portugal's The Big Book of Trends, published September 2024. Full stories and credits in the print issue.