The Hippies: Spread Of Hippie Movement In The Us

Throughout the 1960s the United States was impacted by the hippie subculture. Hippie’s culture consisted of fashion, drugs, leaders, and lifestyle. Most hippie’s dropped out of mainstream society and was known as flower children. Hippies sought a nonmaterialistic, peace-loving society in which they are their individual selves.

Fashion in the 1960s encouraged people to embrace who they are and to have the confidence to wear what they want to. The hippie era has been best known for social change. Different from the conservative ways, they wanted to have their own styles. Additionally, they dressed a certain way to set themselves apart from a society they disagreed with. They often wore free-spirited clothing, women wore miniskirts, bold colors, and sometimes see-through dresses showing off their bodies, hippies argued that it was necessary to exhibit as much natural beauty as possible. Men’s attire was bold, ethnic and floral. Floral patterns were a popular look worn on everything, clothing, face paint and even in the hair, “Men’s attire took on a look that departed from traditional, with figure-hugging velvet jackets with thin lapels; shirts in floral patterns and ruffled fronts; tight, tapered pants that sat so low on the hip; and sharp point shoes and boots” (Carnaby Street). Men’s attire had an effect on society, people were disturbed and constantly argued that they looked just like the women did. Men mainly wore, tie-dye shirts, worn-out jeans, robes, sloppy non-neat outfits and had long hair which was banned or discouraged in schools, “The hippie man with a flowing robe and long loose hair presented much the same outline, challenging society’s ideas about masculinity. You can’t tell the boys from the girls! was the outraged response” (Fashion Of A Decade The 1960s). There were multiple complaints about wearing these clothing, some would say that the style was “unisex”, and you could not tell the boys from the girls.

Women’s attire in the 1960s was significant, their style was always fluctuating. They wore crazy patterns and colors. Women loved to buy clothing from the thrift markets and design them. Women’s hippie clothing was often loose and made of natural fibers like cotton, or hemp. The attire was nothing usual, flower patches were seen on clothing, hair and even tattooed on. They often wore flowers in the hair and painted their bodies with peace symbols. There clothing consisted of blouses, t-shirts, oversized sunglasses, bold colors and even walked around barefoot. They also often wore a fringed vest, long flowing dresses, bandanas, and their crazy style was as unique as their personalities, “ Women’s fashion in the 1960s was full of change. Unlike the previous decades, the 60s were a time of emerging and diverse trends, From sophisticated and casual to bright colors and bold prints, the 60s embraces it all with stylish flair” (1960s Hippie Fashion). Women's jewelry was handmade or resulting from designs that were influenced by nature. They used beads, which were extremely popular, especially peace signs. In the 1960s minidresses, miniskirts, or minicoats were very popular. The fashion of the minidresses was mainly for check flared skirts and the empire style of the diamond check pattern skirt. The mini style was largely fashionable for young women. In the late 1960s, the midi and maxi style skirts got shorter, in the beginning, the midi dress extended below the knee, later in the midi dropped to mid-calf. These styles were seen as less feminine, which made women prefer shorter dresses. They then created midi and maxi skirts buttoned or zippered up the front which then was worn mid-thigh, “ The mini style was and still is largely fashionable for young women going out to the disco, short and miniskirts were also the fashion as an office or as casual dress” (Mini-Midi-Maxi Dress).

During the early 1960s, a large number of new types of drugs appeared. The most popularized drugs were LSD and marijuana. The hippies were usually associated with the use of drugs, the drug culture interacted with some or all of these factors to create the hippies. LSD is a psychedelic drug, which means that it can produce visual hallucinations as well as feelings. In the early 1960s, mass media celebrated the possibilities of LSD as a cure for psychological problems. Hippies were the ones who experimented with LSD. LSD was advocated for psychotherapy, self-exploration, religious and spiritual use. Hippies often promoted the use of hallucinogenic drugs, as a way of expanding consciousness. The use of LSD religious aspect for hippies. LSD is a mind-altering substance, which causes people to have hallucinations. This drug causes people to hear, see and feel things that are not actually there. This drug messes with the mind and can create bad ‘trips’ for some people, “Depending on how much a person takes or how bad their brain responds, a trip can be pleasurable and enlightening or, during a “bad trip,” a user may have terrifying thoughts or feel out of control” (LSD). Taking LSD was ritual among the hippies, it was considered as a part of being free and cool.