The 60s: An Era Style Guide

The 60s gets remembered as a single look — the mod minidress, the white go-go boots, the Twiggy haircut. The actual decade was much wider than that. Early-60s tailoring was the last gasp of mid-century formality. Mid-decade gave us mod and the youthquake. The end of the decade slid into the bohemian, embroidered, transitional looks that would become the 70s.

Real 60s vintage is genuinely scarce now. Sixty years is a long time for cloth to survive — most of what was made then has been worn out, thrown out, or eaten by moths. The pieces that have lasted are usually the best-constructed ones, which makes good 60s vintage some of the best-built clothing you can buy in any era.

The three phases of the 60s

Early 60s (1960–1964)

The Mad Men years. Tailored sheath dresses, pillbox hats, fitted suits with three-quarter sleeves, gloves, hose. The silhouette was still close to the late 50s — defined waist, full bust, knee-length skirt.

Major labels: Christian Dior (Yves Saint Laurent's early couture years before he left for his own house), Balenciaga, Givenchy, Norman Norell (American), Jean Patou.

Mid 60s (1964–1967)

The mod era. Hemlines went up, silhouettes simplified, fabrics got brighter. Geometric prints, A-line shifts, op-art, mini-skirts, white boots, Mary Quant, Twiggy. The decade's signature look.

Major labels: Mary Quant, Biba, André Courrèges, Paco Rabanne (the chainmail experiments), Pucci (printed silks), early Yves Saint Laurent under his own name.

Late 60s (1967–1970)

The transition to the 70s. Hemlines came down again. Folk and ethnic influences entered. Embroidered peasant blouses, kaftans, fringed leather, maxi dresses. The earliest hippie aesthetic appeared.

Major labels: Ossie Clark, Zandra Rhodes, late Pucci, late Saint Laurent. Lots of unlabelled imports from India, Morocco, and Mexico.

The fabrics of the 60s

Wool gabardine and crepe: the suiting fabrics. Heavier weights than later decades. Tailored 60s pieces are noticeably more substantial than 70s tailoring.

Silk crepe and silk shantung: for dresses, blouses, and evening pieces. Often hand-pleated and hand-finished.

Cotton and cotton blends: for shifts, summer dresses, and the bright mod-era prints.

Synthetic experiments: the 60s introduced PVC, vinyl, and early polyester in serious volumes. Mary Quant's PVC raincoats and Paco Rabanne's chainmail dresses come from this. Most haven't survived well — the early plastics shatter and peel.

Wool jersey: mid-60s knit dresses. Surprisingly comfortable and stretchy. Used by Saint Laurent for the early ready-to-wear and by Pucci for printed dresses.

How to spot real 60s vs reproduction

1. The construction is heavier than expected

Real early-to-mid 60s pieces are over-built compared to anything from later decades. Hems are deep (often 5–7 cm), seam allowances are wide, and bodices are interlined for shape. A 60s shift dress can weigh twice what a modern equivalent does in the same fabric.

2. The zips are metal and often side-seam

Real 60s pieces have heavy metal zips, almost always YKK, Talon, or Lampo. Side-seam placement was standard on dresses; back-zip placement was more 70s. Plastic-toothed zips are a hard signal of post-1990 manufacture.

3. The fabric content is unlabelled or hand-marked

The US didn't require fabric content labelling until 1960; Europe took longer. A real 60s piece often has no composition tag at all — or a single fabric word ("WOOL", "SILK") in capitals with no percentages. If you see a multi-language composition tag with percentages, the piece is post-1996 EU directive.

4. The label is woven, often in colour

60s labels are woven satin with the brand name in coloured thread — gold, navy, dark green. White-on-black or black-on-white printed labels are usually later.

5. The lining is silk or rayon, never acetate or polyester

Pre-1970s linings are almost always silk crepe de chine or high-quality rayon. Acetate becomes common in the 70s, polyester in the 80s. A "1960s" piece with an acetate lining is almost certainly mis-dated.

The 60s brands worth collecting

Pucci. Emilio Pucci's printed silks are the most recognisable 60s pieces. Vintage Pucci is increasingly collectible and increasingly faked — check the signature in the print (it should appear small, multiple times, never just once large).

Biba. Barbara Hulanicki's London house, the defining mod-era boutique brand. Original Biba pieces from 1964–1975 are valuable. Tags are gold-printed on black satin, often with art-nouveau lettering.

Mary Quant. The white-on-black daisy logo is the mark. Mostly mid-priced ready-to-wear by today's standards, but original 1965–1970 Quant is genuinely scarce.

Yves Saint Laurent (early Rive Gauche, 1966–1969). The earliest Rive Gauche pieces. Look for the "Saint Laurent rive gauche" woven tag without "Yves" — that's the very early treatment.

Christian Dior (1958–1964). The Marc Bohan era. Cocktail dresses, suit jackets with three-quarter sleeves, hand-finished couture details.

Hermès (any 60s piece). Hermès scarves from this era are the gold standard. Hand-rolled edges, dense silk twill, prints that have aged perfectly. Always worth buying if authentic.

What to skip

The 60s has more problem categories than other decades because so much of what was sold then was experimental synthetic. Skip:

  • Most early PVC and vinyl pieces — they shatter and crack
  • Chainmail and metal-disc dresses unless the label is verified and the piece is structurally sound
  • Cheap mod-era polyester shifts (often acrylic, often degraded)
  • Anything with crumbling foam padding (early bust shaping and shoulder padding used foam that has aged badly)

The reality check

A surprising amount of what gets sold as "60s" is actually 70s or even early 80s. The mod silhouette stayed popular into the 70s, and many of the brands kept producing similar pieces. If you're paying premium prices for "60s" vintage, ask the seller to date the piece using the label, the zip, and the construction — not just the shape. A genuine 60s piece will check all three.

Where 60s pieces show up in the shop

Genuine 60s is rare in the inventory because so few pieces survive in wearable condition. When I find one, it goes into:

If you want a close-up of a label, a construction shot, or a measurement before buying, email hi@bohemefolk.com and I'll send it.

— Victoria

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