In 1964 a group of folks were meeting together in California. They would become known as the Merry Pranksters. They were drawn to the author Ken Kesey, and many of them were living in a commune at his home in California.
The group became known for their amazing journey across the US.
It was the summer of 1964, when they piled into their wildly painted school bus named “Furthur”.
You can get a full account of the trip in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
Some of the occupant’s of the bus included; Carolyn Adams (Mountain Girl), Allen Ginsberg, Wavy Gravy, and Paul Krassner. It has been referred to as the ’Magic Bus Trip’, traveling both ways from California to New York City, with an important stop at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. There were thirteen Merry Pranksters, and Ken Kesey onboard.
I forgot to mention that the journey was also an experiment in the use of psychedelic drugs. I would love to get a look at the styles of clothing that they all wore (should we dare to call it sixties fashions?) during their long sojourn. So make sure to stay tuned for a look into how they dressed, (or didn’t dress), as the “Magic Bus” crossed America in 1964.
The early sixties were not that different from the late fifties. But the fashion world was about to be turned on its head as the decade of the sixties would unfold. Until some key events happened it would remain fairly conservative. But in England changes had been going on for some time, and it wouldn’t be long before it spread to other world fashion centers, and then on to the masses.
At the end of the fifties a company called Gala Cosmetics brought out a line of new lipsticks. These were a pale color, but bright, some with titanium added. Other companies introduced new colors as well, like Max Factor’s strawberry merinque. Teenagers were not encouraged to wear red lipstick, so these soft peach and pink colors became popular fast.
We have to remember that in the sixties, as with any other decade, we had many groups of individuals choosing their particular way of expressing themselves. Some never changed, or the change was very slow. One such group would be your very clean-cut conservative type; the collegiate college kids.
However the Hippies were emerging on college campuses as well. But not with a strong fashion statement, unless you call fruit flavored lip glosses a fashion statement. They wore basically no makeup. The expression was seen more in their long hair, beads, headbands and loose clothing. Girls wore jeans more, creating a boyish looks, but still sexy. Some did wear leather vests and hats. So let’s not call this fashion, but certainly a change in appearance and dress.
In England the fashions and 60’s makeup styles were ablaze.
The Beatles arrived on the world stage in 1964. This was in many ways the beginning of the ‘English Invasion’.
Names like Mary Quant, Andre Courreges,Vidal Sassoon were being recognized as leaders in makeup and clothing styles. But lets not forget, for the first time in fashion history, it was the young teenagers, in this case the British teenagers who led this fashion revolution.
We were now going to see heavy makeup, a foundation called “translucent” which hid the complexion, then accented with perhaps a pink blush. Foundations had more of a tanned look to them. The eyes were the focus. As I said before the lips were pale, or nude, with maybe a bit of silver. False eyelashes, mascara, and eyeliner were an important part of the 60’s makeup kit. But how you used these ingredients was the key.
But women now had plenty of Idols and Movie Stars to look to for help. And magazines with step by step instructions in 60’s makeup, and how to get the Mod look, were readily available.
Twiggy was showing up everywhere with her big wide eyes and hollow cheeks. And there were other icons like Peggy Moffit, Jean Shrimpton, Edie Sedgwick and actress Julie Christie. We can’t forget Liz Taylor in “Cleopatra”. Oh, those Egyptian eyes!
Twiggy really showcased the Look;
Main Ingredients:
·Eyes major focus-eyeliner around entire eye-dramatic-large
