1960s Mod Silhouette

The 1960s changed shape faster than almost any other decade. In ten years, fashionable women's clothes went from neat, fitted suits that would have been at home in the 1950s, to the short, straight, geometric shift dresses of mod London and Paris "space age" couture, to long, flowing, hippie-influenced dresses at the end of the decade. Fashion stopped trickling down from Paris couture to everyone else. Much of it now came from young designers, boutiques and street style.

Three silhouettes

Early 1960s: ladylike elegance. Slim skirts below the knee, fitted or boxy suits, sheath dresses, and the easy, elegant look associated with Jacqueline Kennedy. Foundations and gloves were still expected.

Mid-1960s: mod and space age.

• The miniskirt. Mary Quant, whose London boutique Bazaar had opened in 1955, is the name most associated with it. She took hemlines from "prim below-the-knee" (as FIT puts it) to mid-thigh. André Courrèges in Paris is also credited with short skirts at the same time, and who did it first is still debated.
• The shift dress. Straight, waistless, unfitted, often sleeveless, sometimes A-line. It was worn short, with flat shoes or boots and tights.
• Space age couture. Courrèges showed his Space Age collection in 1964, with white and silver, PVC, "astronaut" hats and crisp, geometric cuts. Pierre Cardin worked in a similar futuristic, geometric style. Paco Rabanne made dresses of linked metal and plastic discs.
• Art and fashion. Yves Saint Laurent's Mondrian dresses of 1965 used blocks of colour pieced into a simple shift.

Late 1960s: hippie and romantic. Eastern influences, long skirts, prints, flowing fabrics and second-hand and ethnic clothing. FIT notes maxi skirts replacing minis by 1969.

New materials

The decade embraced synthetic and experimental materials: acrylic and polyester, PVC and vinyl, bonded fabrics (two layers laminated together), and polyester double knits that held crisp shapes without interfacing. They suited the clean, geometric designs and the idea of modern, easy-care clothes. See Synthetic Fibers.

Short skirts also ended stockings for many women: tights (pantyhose), which became widely available during the decade, were practical under a miniskirt in a way stockings and suspenders weren't. See Evolution of Undergarments.

The shift dress: how it's constructed

The shift is about as simple as a dress gets, and that was the point. It was quick to make and to wear, and fitted the expansion of affordable ready-to-wear:

• Front and back pieces, cut with little or no shaping at the waist, sometimes slightly A-line.
• Bust darts (usually from the side seam) for shaping over the bust, and sometimes small waist darts, but no waist seam.
• A centre back zipper, often with a neckline facing, or a pullover style with a keyhole opening.
• Facings finishing the neckline and armholes, or an all-in-one facing.
• Colour blocking or contrast bands, pieced in straight seams, for mod and Mondrian-inspired versions.

Sewing a 1960s shift

1. Choose a fabric with body. Crisp cottons, linen, wool crepe, double knit, or bonded fabrics hold the clean A-line. Soft fabrics make a shift look limp.
2. Fit the bust and shoulders. With no waist seam, the fit depends on the shoulders, the bust darts and enough ease at the hip for the dress to hang straight. See Dart.
3. For colour blocking, add seam allowances to each block of the pattern after drawing the design lines, and press the seams precisely, because every line shows.
4. For a modern finish, use an invisible zipper at centre back and an all-in-one facing or a lining. See Zipper Insertion.
5. Sewing PVC or vinyl: pins leave permanent holes, so use clips. Use a Teflon or roller foot, a longer stitch, and no iron.

The shift and the A-line skirt are good first garments because they need little fitting. An A-line skirt uses the same shaping logic. The late-decade move into long, soft, eclectic dressing leads straight into the 1970s.