What’s in a fashion? #MFRWauthor

Do you follow fashion trends in clothing or hairstyles?

Beatles and hair fashionNo, I’m all for comfort now and looking back, I must have been dull and boring because I was a middle of the road person with fashion. Let’s face it, hemlines and hair are the best barometers of social change and the sixties was dramatic. Women were demanding equal rights and hippies were demanding peace and love. Mary Quant, Twiggy, Marianne Faithful and Nancy Sinatra cast aside the prim fifties and the impact was huge. The model Jean Shrimpton sent shockwaves through conservative Melbourne when she wore a mini skirt to the prestigious Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival. Even worse, the outraged matrons huffed, her legs were bare! It didn’t take long for hems to rise and it didn’t matter if we were A-shape or pear shape, miniskirts and boots, black eyeliner and teased hair were in. When the four mop tops from Liverpool hit the music waves, the older generations threw up their hands. Not only were skirts growing shorter, hair teased higher, young men were growing their hair longer!

The seventies arrived with flared pants, bright colours, lots of hair and the 1970s fashiondisco! We were letting it all hang out and the winds of change were not welcome in some Australian boys’ colleges. The threats of detention or expulsion if students refused to cut their hair were met with walls of resistance. Fashion was more important. After dark mutterings on this out of control generation, the schools gave in with dire warnings – keep the hair off your face!

I think we became more relaxed as the new century approached, we wore what looked good and felt good for us, not what fashion dictated.
I’ve never been a fashion fanatic, but I must admit this year I like to colour coordinate my face masks with my clothes.

What do you think?

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Jan Selbourne

Perilous Love
The Proposition
The Woman Behind the Mirror
Lies of Gold—Silver Historical for 2019: Coffee Pot Book Club