Fashion History Spotlight: Make it Mod

It is no secret that I love fashion history. It’s also no secret that anything I know about actual history is because of its connection to fashion history. Throughout the history of the world what we have worn has directly related to what is happening in the world. This is much less apparent in the last fifty years as the plurality of fashion styles has increased, but there are still many connections.

I am often asked what my favorite period is in fashion and I always answer without hesitation, the 1960s, specifically the Mods. I love so much about the 1960s beyond just the clothes. I love the embrace of youth culture. I love the emergence of Pop Art, Op Art, and other contemporary art movements that came out of the 60s. I love that women were rebelling against the patriarchy and taking agency over their own bodies through what they were wearing and how they were handling their reproductive health. It is not by chance that the advent of the miniskirt and birth control coincide in the same decade. I love the 1960s so much I even live in a Mid-Century Modern home from the time period. Needless to say, I bought in to a decade in which I never lived. So what is it that makes the Mod fashions of the 1960s so appealing?

Mod styles of the 1960s were a defining cultural and fashion movement. They originated from London’s swinging street style and nightlife influences and quickly spread to Paris and beyond. It was a stark shift from the conservative styles of the 1950s and was the first time that the fashion industry truly embraced youth as its muse. The rebellious teenage styles veered away from emphasizing the hourglass figure of the 1950s housewife and ushered in mary janes, a-line dresses, Mary Quant’s mini skirt, and the vibrant prints of the op art and pop art movements. The Mods also brought us a revolution in hairstyles with the emergence of none other than Vidal Sassoon and his striking signature assymetric cut.

I love so many designers from the 1960s, but a few of my favorites are: Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, André Courrèges, Mary Quant, Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Rudy Gernreich. There are so many more that the list could go on and on. What was so amazing about these designers is that they were pushing the boundaries in ways we had never seen before and there were huge references to what was happening in the world displayed in their collections. You could write a book about each of these designers but I am going to give you abridged version with a tiny snippet about the significance of each designer.

Pierre Cardin

Pierre Cardin was very graphic and loved circles. Many of his apparel patterns referenced circles or used actual circle pieces to create things like oversized collars that were folded to make a striking silhouette. He loved circles so much he even created a house made completely of circle orbs. It is like a play land and has housed many fashion shoots and fashion shows over the years.

Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne had a background as a costume jewelry maker. He took those skills and released a limited collection of Twelve Experimental Dresses in 1964. The unwearable collection was created using leather, metal, and sequin discs linked together with jump rings. These dresses would be worn with a nude bodystocking underneath. They were considered completely impractical at the time but were also all the rage. To this day you can still find versions of these styles from Paco Rabanne’s namesake line as well as by companies knocking off the style. It is a look that is a staple among festival goers. I often wonder if they know this look originated sixty years ago.

André Courrèges

André Courrèges might be the designer most visually associated with 1960s mod fashion. His scalloped hem double-faced wool a-line dresses were absolutely spectacular. I would have no issue wearing one of his dresses today. They were absolute perfection. He was one of the first to pair his shorter a-line skirts with flats and boots on the runway. This created a much younger aesthetic than the look of the previous decade. Courrèges was also creating miniskirts very early, but he didn’t get credit as the creator of the miniskirt. That credit went to none other than Mary Quant.

Mary Quant

Mary Quant owned a famous London boutique called Bazaar. She was at the front lines of the Mod movement and was designing and selling the styles that defined the Mods. She worked closely with other creatives such as Vidal Sassoon who created her signature asymmetric hairstyle. Quant was completely immersed in the Mod look both as a designer and as someone who embraced the look as her personal style.

Emilio Pucci

Emilio Pucci was working from the island of Capri and creating graphic prints that made references to stained glass and psychedelic drugs at the same time. His caftans were extremely popular among wealthy tourists on holiday in Capri. Pucci is interesting because he is most well known for his warm weather looks but his start truly came from designing a ski suit that was discovered by the Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland. Vreeland was sent images of Pucci wearing his own ski suit by a photographer who was on a ski holiday. She loved it so much she had Pucci create a small line of ski suits for the magazine. After that he manufactured a line of ski suits and then expanded to his iconic caftans and warm weather looks.

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent was a darling of the 1960s fashion crowd. So many of his collections left a lasting impact on women’s fashion. One of his greatest contributions to women’s fashion is the influence of menswear on women’s wear and the introduction of pants to high fashion. However, his collection mostly closely associated with the Mods was his 1965 collection of dresses that borrowed style lines from the painter Piet Mondrian. This collection has been referenced countless times throughout the years and reinforced the cultural importance of contemporary art in the 1960s.

Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich was out there pushing all of the boundaries. He was very avant garde and was using fashion as a social statement to advance causes such as sexual freedom. He created dress with cutouts that were filled with clear vinyl inserts. It was very provocative following the wholesome image of the 1950s. He also brought us the monokini that was considered vulgar at the time. He pushed the cultural boundary as hard as you could push and then he pushed a little more. His influence is still very apparent in the all the clothing with cutouts that we have seen the last few seasons.

Twiggy &

Jean Shrimpton

We have talked a lot about the influence of the designers in the 1960s, but let’s not overlook the emergence of the ever important role of the model. We all have some visual reference to Twiggy who was the quintessential face of the 1960s Mod fashion movement. Her look was a striking change from the voluptuous models of the 1950s. She was tall and leggy with a slim frame and androgynous looks. She embodied the youthful look of the 1960s and she was every where. The other model very famous model from the 1960s is the woman fashion history considers to be the original supermodel, Jean Shrimpton. Don’t come after me, I know most people my age look to the models of the 1990s as the original supermodels, but there was someone before them paving the path to what it meant to be a supermodel. Jean Shrimpton, like Twiggy, was also closely associated with the Mods and the swinging sixties movement in London. She appeared on countless magazine covers and actually paved the way for models like Twiggy and our favorite 1990s supermodels.

I hope you enjoyed this little trip down fashion history memory lane. It is always amazing to see how much styles of the past continue to influence the present.

XO, Chelsea