Saturday 3 March 2018

That 60's Look


Mod is a subculture that began in 1960s Britain and spread, in varying degrees, to other countries and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of London-based stylish young men in the late 1950s who were named modernists because they listened to modern jazz, although the subculture expanded to include women. Unsurprisingly, women made a whole big thing out of it: mini-skirts - progressively getting shorter and shorter, long boots, psychedelic prints, berets and black turtlenecks, androgynous looks, fake eyelashes, beehive hairstyles,  suede coats, mini dresses - all giving young women high visibility and relative autonomy.
Reflective of an era that defines itself as a period when women and men started expressing themselves through clothes, music, art and aspired to a competitive sophistication, the mod movement has always fascinated and attracted me. I love the vibrant colours, the geometric shapes, the clear lines, the refined looks with a minimalist tendency. They can't go unnoticed and they are everything but dull: they inspire, they generate reactions, they stand out and they have identity. There's an intrinsic nostalgia in a mini skirt and a feeling of joy and carefree, recalling an age when young people were truly relevant and a powerful element of change. I had fun going back to the Swinging Sixties by using the wonderful means of fashion and make-up to be transformed into a mod girl and imagine the times when my mom had a short hem line, a big hair do and many big dreams in her heart. How can one not love that Sixties look?