Hippie Movement

In the 60's, hippies sought to free themselves from societal restrictions, choose their own way and find new meaning in life. This made hippies instantly recognizable to one another and served as a visual symbol of their respect for individual rights and their willingness to question authority.

Hippies often chose brightly colored clothing and and the styles for the most part were loose and non-constricting. Styles such as bell-bottom pants, vests, tie-dyed garments, dashikis, peasant blouses, and long, full skirts with nature-inspired patchwork or non-Western clothing with Native American, African and Latin American prints. Much of hippie clothing was self-made in defiance of corporate culture, and hippies often purchased their clothes from flea markets and second-hand shops. Natural and foreign ccessories for both men and women included Native American jewelry, head scarves, headbands and long beaded necklaces. Tie-dyeing was very fashionable in the West in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as part of hippie style and still is today.

Hippie culture spread worldwide through a fusion of rock music, folk, blues, and psychedelic rock; it also found expression in literature, the dramatic arts, fashion, and the visual arts, including film, posters advertising rock concerts, and album covers.

Eventually the hippie movement extended far beyond the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and appeared in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries.