fashion inn 4us

The post-war 'Baby Boom' war meant that there were an unprecedented number of teenagers at the start of the 60s and, with unemployment virtually non-existent compared to today, they had plenty of money. The items on which they chose to spend it were pop music and clothes, to an extent previously undreamed of. Teddy Boys had established a teenage market in the fifties and made it acceptable for males to dress for show. Now both sexes became increasingly fashion-conscious and the trend-makers made the most of it.The biggest fashion change from the Fifties came in the rise in hemlines. Mary Quant, who opened her first Bazaar boutique in Chelsea's Kings Road in 1955 with partner Archie McNair and future husband Alexander Plunket-Greene ( after whom the restaurant underneath called Alexander's was named ), followed by a second in Knightsbridge in 1961, is generally accepted to be the instigator of the mini-skirt fashion although its exact roots are unknown. Her ingenue smock dresses were also influential in the early Sixties. The boutique, although the idea had been around since the 1920s as a way of selling the by-products of haute couture, was seen as an innovation in shopping habits and was, as she said herself, '... a kind of permanently running cocktail party ' By 1963 Mary had formed the 'Ginger Group' which was exporting its own mass-produced designs to the U.S.A. and she also launched her own cosmetics range in 1966 and footwear collection in 1967. Shopping for clothes had become fun, a fact quickly picked up on by many others. Yves Saint Laurent, who had become the house designer for Christian Dior when Dior died in 1957, started his own fashion house and also opened up a chain of 160 boutiques called 'Rive Gauche', but not until 1966. Although not an innovative designer, he is important because he was the first couturier to develop ready-to-wear clothes on a large scale. In 1963 hemlines were just above the knee but the rise gained extra momentum and popularity when designs by Andre Courreges appeared in Vogue in 1964. By the end of 1965 skirts six inches above the knee were not uncommon and some venues barred them from being worn. Coco Chanel described the mini skirt as 'the most absurd weapon woman has ever employed to seduce men' and promoted its more 'staid' opposition, the trouser suit. The changing fashion scene did not go unnoticed by the Treasury. In 1965 we spent almost £1.7billion on clothing - on a £10 to £15 weekly wage! Up until 1966 skirts under 24" long were classed as 'childrens clothing'. In fact, the dresses were becoming so small that on 5th November 1965 the government brought in new Customs and Excise rules to prevent women avoiding taxes by buying children's sizes. The 10% tax depended on the length of the clothes ..... before a rethink! From 1st January 1966 womens clothes were assessed for tax purposes according to bust size, not length.