1.
1960s in Western fashion
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The 1960s featured a number of diverse trends. It was a decade that broke many fashion traditions, mirroring social movements during the time, in the middle of the decade, culottes, go-go boots, box-shaped PVC dresses and other PVC clothes were popular. The widely popular bikini came into fashion in 1963 after being featured in the musical Beach Party, Mary Quant popularised the mini skirt, and Jackie Kennedy introduced the pillbox hat, both becoming extremely popular. False eyelashes were worn by women throughout the 1960s, and their hairstyles were a variety of lengths, people were dressing in psychedelic prints, highlighter colors, and mismatched patterns. The hippie movement late in the decade also exerted an influence on ladies clothing styles, including bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye. Designers were producing clothing more suitable for adults, which led to an increase in interest. Until the 1960s, high-profile designers from Paris and London dictated styles worn by people, however, during and after the 1960s young, common people dictated fashion, and designers would attempt to keep up with the trends that they created. Fashions in the years of the decade reflected the elegance of the First Lady. In addition to the cow, women wore Stiletto heel shoes and suits with short boxy jackets, simple, geometric dresses, known as shifts, were also in style. For evening wear, full-skirted evening gowns were worn, these often had a low décolletage and had close-fitting waists, for casual wear, capri trousers were the fashion for women and girls. The 1960s were an age for fashion innovation for women, the early 1960s gave birth to the drainpipe jeans and capri pants, worn by Audrey Hepburn. Casual dress became more unisex, and often consisted of plaid button down shirts worn with blue jeans, comfortable slacks. Traditionally, trousers had been viewed by society as masculine. These included Levi Strauss jeans, which had previously been considered blue collar wear, the women’s trousers came in a variety of styles, narrow, wide, below the knee, above the ankle, and eventually mid thigh. These mid-thigh cut trousers evolved around 1969, and became the modern shorts, by adapting men’s style and wearing trousers, women voiced their equality to men. Space age happened during the space race era and it is the age of space exploration. Designers, however, seemed to not promote the negative side and it may due to the hope of a better future. In the 1960s, synthetic fabrics were used for making garments, due to the fabric shortage during the Second World War, a lot of synthetic fabrics were invented and introduced in the 1960s
2.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
3.
Chelsea boot
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Chelsea boots are close-fitting, ankle-high boots with an elastic side panel. They often have a loop or tab of fabric on the back of the boot, the boot dates back to the Victorian era, when it was worn by both men and women. Chelsea boots and some of its variants were considered an element of the 1960s in Britain. The design is credited to Queen Victorias shoemaker Joseph Sparkes-Hall, in his advertising of the period, he refers to the boot as J. Sparkes-Halls Patent Elastic Ankle Boots. The boot became popular for riding as well as walking. Charles Goodyears development of vulcanised rubber enabled the invention of the elastic gusset boot, the advantage of elasticised boots meant they could be easily removed and put on again. By the late 1840s, the fashion began to catch on and this became a prominent style in the West until the onset of World War I. Beatle boots, as were Chelsea boots, were adopted by mods. Some modern versions of the boot have a side zip rather than an elastic panel, side-gusset shoes Beatle boots Riding boot www. blackchelseaboots. co. uk Gentlemans Gazette article showing original Sparkes-Hall advert for boot
4.
High-heeled footwear
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High-heeled footwear is footwear that raises the heel of the wearers foot significantly higher than the toes. When both the heel and the toes are raised equal amounts, as in a shoe, it is technically not considered to be a high heel, however. High heels tend to give the illusion of longer, more slender legs. High heels come in a variety of styles, and the heels are found in many different shapes, including stiletto, pump, block, tapered, blade. The apparel industry would appear to take a view, the term high heels covers heels ranging from 2 to 5 inches or more. Extremely high-heeled shoes, such as those exceeding 6 inches, strictly speaking, are no longer considered apparel and they are worn for display or the enjoyment of the wearer. High heels are not a modern invention but there is confusion regarding when it was developed, research shows that high heels can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In the middle of the second millennium BC, Egyptians began to frequently uses sandals, retention was obtained generally by the Egyptians by a T or V thong passing through the sole. Egyptian butchers also wore heeled shoes for practical purposes, that is, things started to change when during the European renaissance, the high heel became a status symbol worn by both male and females from the higher social statuses. Catherine de Medici a Franco/Italian noblewomen pioneered the use of heels as a fashion statement, Catherine de Medici is believed to have worn them to impress the French court when she wed the Duke of Orleans, the future king. Two hundred years later King Louis XIV of France decreed that only nobility could wear heels, seventeenth-century portraits of King Louis XIV depict the various intricate heels worn by the king and they were often decorated with miniature battle scenes. During the 16th century, European royalty, such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England, by 1580, men wore them, and a person with authority or wealth was often referred to as well-heeled. Since the French Revolution the trend wearing high heels was ended to avoid any associating with the old aristocracy, since people wished to avoid the appearance of wealth, heels were largely eliminated from the common market for both men and women and replace by casual fashion and shoe wear. From the beginning of the Baroque the heel came back to shoes and it is sometimes suggested that raised heels were a response to the problem of the riders foot slipping forward in stirrups while riding. The riders heel, approximately 1 1⁄2 inches high, appeared in Europe around 1600 and these features are evident today in riding boots, notably cowboy boots. Since the Second World War, high heels have fallen in and out of fashion several times, most notably in the late 1990s. Lower heels were preferred during the late 1960s and early 1970s as well, the shape of the fashionable heel has changed from block to tapered, and stiletto. Today, high heels are typically worn with heights varying from a heel of 1.5 inches to a stiletto heel of 5 inches or more
5.
Flamenco shoe
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A flamenco shoe is a type of shoe worn by flamenco dancers. They are typically worn by dancers, they are called flamenco heel. Male flamenco dancers traditionally wear short, heeled boots, although there are now some flamenco shoe styles available for men, flamenco shoes constructed for dance generally have small nails embedded in the toe and heel to enhance the sound of the dancers percussive footwork. The most common materials are leather and suede, although synthetic materials are used in certain grades of shoes. Heel types can include standard, carrete, or cubano with a size generally ranging from 4 cm to 7 cm. Heels are often covered by the material but may also be exposed wood. Fastenings may include elastic or leather straps, buckles, or laces, many contemporary flamenco shoe manufacturers sell varying quality grades of shoes aimed at dancers from amateur to semi-professional and professional levels. Shoe grades may be named differently by different manufacturers, professional-level shoes often have extra reinforcement and other enhancements for durability and sound quality. Historically, flamenco shoes were handcrafted in Spain, today, there are still many Spanish workshops specializing in the production of flamenco shoes
6.
John Lennon
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John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a songwriting partnership. Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the craze as a teenager, his first band, the Quarrymen, first became the Silver Beatles. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he added Ono as one of his middle names, Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release, Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. By 2012, Lennons solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and in 1994 as a solo artist. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent and his parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John Jack Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, after her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpools Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her. In July 1946 Lennons father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, Julia followed them—with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins—and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her, according to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennons parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home as Alf left again. A witness who was there that day, Billy Hall, has said the scene often portrayed with a young John Lennon having to make a decision between his parents never happened. It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again, Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived at Mendips,251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own. His aunt purchased volumes of stories for him, and his uncle. In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature, Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society, but I cannot be what I am not. I was the one who all the other boys parents—including Pauls father—would say, the parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friends home, partly out of envy that I didnt have this so-called home
7.
Paul McCartney
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Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained fame with the rock band the Beatles, largely considered the most popular. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most celebrated of the post-war era, after the bands break-up, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine. McCartney has been recognised as one of the most successful composers and performers of all time, More than 2,200 artists have covered his Beatles song Yesterday, more than any other copyrighted song in history. Wings 1977 release Mull of Kintyre is one of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr all received The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1965, McCartney has released an extensive catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has composed classical and electronic music. He has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty. He has married three times and is the father of five children, James Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 in Walton Hospital, Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary Patricia, had qualified to practise as a nurse. His father, James McCartney, was absent from his sons birth due to his work as a firefighter during World War II. Paul has one brother, Michael. Though the children were baptised in their mothers Catholic faith, their father was a former Protestant turned agnostic, McCartney attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School in Speke from 1947 until 1949, when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School in Belle Vale because of overcrowding at Stockton. In 1953, with three others out of ninety examinees, he passed the 11-Plus exam, meaning he could attend the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus from his home in Speke. The two quickly became friends, McCartney later admitted, I tended to talk down to him because he was a year younger. McCartneys mother Mary was a midwife and the primary wage earner, her earnings enabled them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. She rode a bicycle to her patients, McCartney described an early memory of her leaving at about three in the morning streets, on 31 October 1956, when McCartney was fourteen, his mother died of an embolism. McCartneys loss later became a point of connection with John Lennon, whose mother, McCartneys father was a trumpet player and pianist, who had led Jim Macs Jazz Band in the 1920s. He kept a piano in the front room, encouraged his sons to be musical and advised Paul to take piano lessons
8.
The Beatles in Hamburg
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The Beatles booking agent, Allan Williams, decided to send the group to Hamburg when another group he managed, Derry and the Seniors, proved successful there. Having no permanent drummer at the time, they recruited Best a few days before their departure, after breaking their contract by playing at another club, Harrison was deported for being under-age, and McCartney and Best were arrested and deported for attempted arson. The Beatles first met Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg, who was instrumental in their adoption of the famous Beatle haircut, during their time in Hamburg, Sutcliffe decided to leave the group to continue his studies. In April 1962, less than a year after leaving the group, Hamburg had once been Germanys main seaport, the fourth largest in the world, but in 1943 virtually the entire city had been reduced to rubble by World War II bombing raids. By 1960, when they arrived, the Hamburg that had grown up from the ruins of WWII had established its reputation throughout Europe as a city of vice, in contrast to an economically depressed post-war Liverpool, Hamburg was a wealthy city. Williams, a 29-year-old Liverpool businessman and promoter, had sent his leading group, Derry and the Seniors to Hamburg, where they were enjoying success, and wanted to send an additional group. He initially tried to send Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, but Storm and his group were committed to a Butlins holiday camp and turned Williams offer down, as did Gerry and the Pacemakers. Williams started promoting concerts for The Beatles in May 1960, after they had played at his Jacaranda club in Liverpool, Harrison had seen Best playing with the Black Jacks in The Casbah Coffee Club. After the Black Jacks broke up, McCartney asked Best to go to Hamburg, the St. McCartneys father, Jim McCartney, was reluctant to let his teenage son go to Hamburg, but relented after a visit from Williams, who told him that he shouldnt worry. Lennons aunt, Mimi Smith, was reluctant to allow Lennon to go to Hamburg, wanting Lennon to continue his studies. Best had an audition in Williams Jacaranda club on 15 August 1960, Williams later admitted that the audition with Best was not needed, as they had not found any other drummer willing to travel to Hamburg, but did not tell Best in case he asked for more money. The group were to be paid about £100 per week, which was more than promoters in Liverpool paid. Williams drove the group and their equipment in his Austin J4 minibus which was loaded by crane onto a ferry at Harwich on 16 August 1960, as Williams had not obtained work permits for West Germany, they were detained at Harwich for five hours. Williams finally convinced the authorities that they were students on holiday, note, Lord Woodbine and Williams ran a Strip Club called New Cabaret Artistes club at 174a Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe once played backing music for Janice the Stripper there, the Reeperbahn and the Grosse Freiheit were decorated with neon lights, with posters advertising the performers in the clubs. Each club had a doorman whose job was to entice customers inside, customers who would not, or could not afford to pay were dealt with severely by being beaten and then thrown out. The Beatles arrived very early in the morning of 17 August 1960, unfortunately the Indra Club was closed, so a manager from a neighbouring club found someone to open it up, and the group slept on the red leather seats in the alcoves. The group played at the club on the night, but were told they could sleep in a small cinemas storeroom, which was cold and in very poor condition
