60s Hippies

Gen Wright asked:


Beads hold ancient roots, and their cultural significance can be traced to their early use in bartering. Beads served as a primitive currency, and they still retain their value today. In modern times they are found in the form of decoration as jewelry, rather than money.

In earlier times, beads were made from a variety of materials from fishbone right through to teeth and as cultures become more sophisticated, so did the materials that beads were made from.

In ancient days, people fashioned beads from a variety of materials. Early materials ranged from fish bones to teeth. As cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, so did the beads, techniques and materials with which they were created.

Today, beads are mostly used in jewelry making, textile embellishment and in the fashion industry. To yield a more “designer look,” crafters often choose glass lamp-work beads over plastic buttons in garments. Costume jewelers and makers of “fine jewelry” utilize a diversity of beads, which vary in intricacy of design. This adds a look of quality and uniqueness to their work.

Fine jewelry houses predominantly use precious and semi-precious gemstone beads; the costume jewelry industry more often uses beads made of plastic, acrylic, wood and glass. Skilled artists can use the inherent versatility and wide range of designs, manipulating beads in many ways to create their pieces. Endless stringing combinations, and a plethora of cuts and finishes ensures that beaded jewelry needs never look dull, boring or dated.

Recently, the home crafts market has seen an explosion in the use and sale of beads. For example, they used to serve exclusively as small, detailed embellishments for needle work projects. The last decade, however, has seen a surge of interest in beads. Accordingly, craft project hobbies (a.k.a. making classic jewelry, beaded candle holders, curtains, and wind charms) have also enjoyed increased popularity.

In fashion, there has been a resurgence of the “hippie Bohemian” look; people have consequently returned to using beads in the art of jewelry making. Beads have come to signify uniqueness in style and individual expression. They provide a new, modern look in fashion. In the 1970s, the public saw home made jewelry as a symbol of the “hippie” culture. Long strands of love beads were as interesting as things got. As the internet blazed into the forefront of popular culture in society, the jewelry making market saw direct impact. Now crafters may easily communicate with each other, sharing techniques and setting trends.

Ultimately, the bead charm bracelet is an example of how a classic, Bohemian theme can be applied to create a contemporary look. The charm bracelet made its first appearance in jewelry during the 1950s. It has remained popular ever since, but has been largely limited to classic jewelry lines in the form of precious metals.

The 1970s, for instance, witnessed a resurgence in popularity of Bohemian culture in fashion. It empowered home jewelry makers to use their love of beads to update the classic” look. Suddenly, charm bracelets with colorful glass beads were everywhere. One could see them on catwalks in high fashion, as well as on the streets. The home crafter could select from a large variety of beads to create his or her own style and unique fashion statement.

Styles come and go, but beads will always be in vogue. Whether you prefer an elegant, long string of pearls or a plastic stretchy bead bracelet, the bead is here to stay.



LESLEY

Guy Kingston asked:


Seattle, Washington, has become a centre of West Coast chic. It is as cool as LA, using the word “cool” in the modern sense, meaning “fashionable” – although it is also cooler than LA in the more traditional sense of the word, meaning colder, and wetter.

It is therefore ironic that this global symbol of all that is hip and trendy is also the home of two multinationals which have become symbols of the unacceptable face of globalised, anti-competitive capitalism.

One of them, Microsoft, chose an affluent suburb of Seattle as its world headquarters, but the other, Starbucks, is home-grown.

Starbucks’ status as local hero did not protect it from being a prime target of rioters during the World Trade Organisation summit held in the city in 1999. They were following an established tradition: whenever protests against globalisation get out of hand, the violent fringe seems to make vandalising the nearest Starbucks a top priority.

Starbucks themselves have always been perplexed by the hatred they provoke on the left. They are, in many ways, a model of what those on the left would want a business to be: their employment practices, like Microsoft’s, are generally liberal, and they were one of the first multinationals to embrace “fair trade” – not in the traditional sense, as a euphemism for protectionism, but in the sense of sourcing their products in a way that they consider ethical.

They seem sincere about these principles and spend a great deal promoting them.

Yet there are people who spend a great deal of time – and money – criticising them. There are whole websites dedicated to complaining about Starbucks over a range of issues, including labour relations and the environment.

Does one believe Starbucks, who obviously have a vested interest in protecting their image, or their critics, who can be, to put it politely, a bit strange?

In addition to being under constant attack from the political left, Starbucks is also threatened from the right. An e-mail was circulated very widely alleging that Starbucks had refused to supply coffee to US Forces in Afghanistan because they opposed the war there.

This allegation was in turn denounced on the internet as an “urban myth”. Unfortunately, the nature of the internet means that the denunciations are as unreliable as the original allegation. Anyone can say anything online. A credible looking website could disguise either a corporate stooge or a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Once again, whom should one believe?

The most persistent allegation against Starbucks – one which has the potential to bring left and right together – is the commonly held view that global chains like Starbucks drive “small local coffee shops” out of business.

It is certainly true that there are a lot of Starbucks around, and many small local coffee shops have disappeared.

However, it is also true that running a small local coffee shop has always been a precarious business. Their average lifespan is notoriously short. Many are very badly run. Most of those which have disappeared would have gone anyway. Starbucks provided a convenient excuse.

Moreover, Starbucks can claim to be responsible for the revival of the whole coffee house culture. The customer base of the old coffee shops was limited. It was the global chains who really opened them out to everyone.

Few of the old coffee shops were on the high streets or in the prime locations favoured by Starbucks. They could not afford them. They did not attract enough customers.

That may change. The recession is already altering spending patterns. If there is a time for smaller, local coffee shops, it is now, when people may be looking for an alternative to the expensive designer coffee.

However, the greater danger is that the coffee shop is one of the luxuries people will cut out altogether.

Strange, but we may miss even the Starbucks when they are gone.

 



SUMMER

Thomas Cohen asked:


One thing that so many people don’t realize is that many hippies were in their own way fashion designers. While a true hippie would have never dreamed of joining the “capitalists” and “exploiting the masses” to market their creations commercially, many of their children have had no problem doing it.

It was the hippies and flower children that planted the seeds of designer jeans when they took out their scissors and sewing needles and began to experiment on their “Levis”. Often the motive for their clothing experimentations was financial necessity, due to the fact that they spent all of their money on pot and had to make do with their clothes.

So much of the clever work that was done on clothes by flower children of that ere is at risk of being forgotten. Of course clothing manufacturers are now scrambling to recreate a lot of what the flower children did with clothing during that era but there is a risk that they will only save what can easily be reproduced.

Also, because so much of what the hippies did with their jeans was done on “Levis”, to remain authentic it has to be reproduced by hand on a pair of Levis. For instance, a hole in a pair of Levis was never “patched” in the normal sense of the word. Rather, there was a few ways that it would be covered up.

When a hole was covered up it was always done with a color and pattern of fabric that completely contrasted with the light blue color of the faded Levis. Also, there was really no rules when covering up a hole on a pair of faded Levis, so bead work was often incorporated into the total look when a hole was being covered up.



TORY

Rebecca Welch asked:


If you happened across a home built from an underground house floor plan you could be forgiven for thinking the owners might be Hobbits because the only things visible might be a door or window set into a foliage covered hill. This type of home is actually a series of small, interconnecting domes made from cement and partially or completely submerged into the earth.

Such unconventional house floor plans are actually a step in the right direction for those persons thinking outside the box in terms of energy conservation and environmental benefits. Living underground in such earth-sheltered housing has its merits and takes a very conservative view in energy usage.

When considering an underground house floor plan, look for the following applications:

1. The house floor plan should blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors. The purpose is to exist in close harmony with nature.

2. The windows should be honeycomb style to harness solar energy.

3. Since the windows for this type of floor plan don’t open, an intake vent system with filters should be installed to draw fresh air from outside. The filters help keep out unwanted pests.

4. Air should be fanned from a solar collector through the home duct work into a rock store beneath the main living space. The store system maintains an efficient heat-exchange which works with the insulating soil to maintain a comfortable temperature year round. A good system would require no additional heating or cooling.

The dome shaped rooms give rise to maximum floor space and minimum wall area. Floor areas do not to conform to traditional housing expectations and and the living spaces are defined with curved walls with no sharp corners. Natural sunlight can be channeled into the house via the use of a skylight lined with natural reflective materials.

Underground house floor plans got their start in the 1970s from an Austrian architect named Eisenhofer. Sadly, most dismissed his energy efficient and unconventional house plans as nothing more than a hippie experiment. It has only been within the past few years that interest in earth-sheltered housing is attracting some interest. As people become more environmentally conscious, the popularity of underground house floor plans as an energy efficient alternative can only increase.



ALVA

Robert Fuller asked:


Tie-dyed shirts were used by the hippie generation to symbolize the values that they stood for. The wild mixing of the colors of tie-dyed shirts was a true expression of the liberation that they advocated. The uniqueness of each shirt was a symbol of their individuality, and the way they longed to stand out from the established society. Tie-dyed shirts are very unique. The mixtures of colors are always refreshing to look at, and the patterns look fun and enjoyable. This is why the trend of tie-dyed shirts and other garments are widely known around the world. Tie-dyeing is now considered an art, and a beloved design theme that is often closely associated with the hippie values: freedom, peace, and self-expression. Nowadays, however, the tie-dyed shirts are also a fashion statement. Those who want to combine uniqueness in terms of fashion, personality, and self-expression, find their medium through tie-dyed shirts.

Because of this, a lot of clothes manufacturers come out with tie-dyed clothes. However, the naturally hand-dyed clothes and garments are preferred. Some people even do the tie-dyeing by themselves, despite the mess dyeing usually causes. The effort, of course, is definitely worth it, because they will be able to stand out and express themselves.

However, there is an easier way to stand out and express oneself without getting all the tie-dyeing mess. The Sunburst Tie Dye Company not only offers dyeing products, and tie-dyed shirts, but also offers to customize your shirt for you. With the special product offer, Hippie Pippie’s Custom Tees for Kids, the Sunburst Tie Dye Company dye the shirts, but the design is definitely all you, because you will still be the one to design it. You can be sure that your piece will be one-of-a-kind. And this customization offers are available for the kids, whose enjoyable and cheerful characters are reflected by the bright colors of tie-dyed shirts. The kids can now enjoy wearing unique, colorful shirts designed especially for them, and hand-dyed carefully and creatively.

It’s also very easy to design the shirts just the way you like it. With the Sunburst Tie Dye Company’s available colors and patterns to choose from, you will surely get the design you want. You can mix and match colors and patterns to fit your child’s unique personality. There are other products available for the kids, and all of them are hand-dyed. You can even pair the shirts with some tie-dyed accessories such as the bucket hat and undergarments. For those hot summer afternoons to spend playing under the sun, the refreshing colors of tie-dyed tank tops will ensure he haves fun. The high-quality dye that Sunburst Tie Dye Company uses is environment-friendly and safe to use, and those t-shirts, tank tops, undergarments, and bucket hats are all safe to wear.

Your kids will certainly enjoy the bright colors, and you will certainly enjoy designing it with them. Let them choose the colors and patterns they want, so they can also express themselves even as children.

By purchasing, you can also help some kids out. Part of your purchases in Sunburst Tie Dye Company goes to the Little Tree-Huggers Campers Fund. Enjoy the colors, express yourself, avoid the tie dye mess, and help some kids go to a nature camp.

So when you’re about to go hippie with tie-dyed shirts, make sure you do it the genuine hippie way. Even if tie-dyed shirts, in general, are unique and self-expressive, it is still best to wear a tie-dyed shirt that you yourself designed, mixing the colors in the patterns that you want! There’s no better way to really express yourself and your kids’ characters.



GERRY

Debt Stoppers asked:


When I was a kid, I had a friend with “green” parents. But the term green in reference to being eco-friendly had not been coined yet. So we just called them weird.

 

They grew all their own vegetables, baked their own organic wheat bread, recycled everything and, in general, worried a lot about the environment (her dad also did yoga, which was getting more common but was still lightyears from being trendy). In the mid-1980s, they were considered liberal, eccentric hippies. Today? They’d be called an average American family.

 

So what does hippie-chic have to do with your finances? Well, just like the green scene caught on, I have a hunch that financial responsibility will, too.

 

Times are already changing. Up until the last year or so, people would talk about money—but it was only half the story. We’d flash our credit cards and discuss the things we bought—from the latest cell phones and tech gadgets to our new cars (probably SUVs)—but not how we would pay them. To keep up with the Joneses, we’d purchase publicly and struggle privately.

 

But I bet if you look around today, you’ll find someone who cut up all her credit cards, someone openly on a budget and someone in danger of losing her home (and maybe someone dealing with all three).

 

Our attitude towards debt is changing. Take foreclosure, for instance. Here’s the old way: You can’t make your mortgage payment, but instead of asking for help, you hide the bills and late notices and suffer silently so no one finds out—not your neighbors, co-workers, sometimes not even your spouse. Of course, you’re only putting off the inevitable, as they’ll surely find out in the end when the bank nails a “foreclosed” sign in your front yard.

 

I prefer the new way: You let friends and family know you’re in debt, and working to get out. You explain why you can’t go out to dinner or the movies or Starbucks as often, maybe why you can’t exchange presents this year. Heck, they’ll probably tell you they’re doing the same. It seems even the Joneses have gone budget chic.

 

Then follow through on your words. Make a budget and start saving. Look into Chapter 13 bankruptcy. With 10 percent of the nation facing foreclosure, it’s time we get over this bankruptcy stigma.  What’s so bad about saving your house by getting on a payment plan you can actually afford? It sure beats the alternative.

 

Our stance towards debt is softening. What used to be viewed as a weakness is now seen for what it really is—a common symptom of a national illness (credit dependence). And you should feel rewarded—not punished—for trying to treat it.

 

If you’re ready to join the bandwagon and bring your debt out into the open, DebtStoppers is here to help. Check out the tried-and-true tips in our new Debt Relief Toolkit. Not sure where to start? You’re always welcome to sign up for a free one-on-one debt analysis with one of our debt relief experts.

 

This recession won’t last forever, but despite all its drawbacks it’s changing some things for the better while it’s here. As a nation, we’ve been in denial for decades. Now we’re finally starting to see the light.

 



TREVOR

Thomas Cohen asked:


As crazy as it sounds, the hippie or flower child look is finding its way back into fashion conscious peoples wardrobes all over the world now. The truth of the matter, is that there really is a creative gold mine in the hippie era that has yet to be tapped properly by fashion designers and this means that there is a lot that you can do yourself.

In fact, allot of the design styles that flourished during the hippie era of the 1960s was do-it-yourself stuff that looks great. “Hippie beads” are a mainstay of that era and how you string them is really up to you. The sky is the limit as to what was strung on a good set of hippie beads but some common items that went on along with the standard assortment of beads were of course peace signs and small brass bells.

There is no mistaking the small round “hippie” sunglasses that were worn during that era and the most “hippie” colors were red and purple or blue. They tended to be round or oval and had wire rims. A great place to see examples of them is to go online and look at old pics of the Beatles and the Jefferson Airplane.

The hippie or flower child look uses a lot of tapestry as a fabric of choice in items such as purses and also macreme knotting was used to create belts and bags. After you have finished decorating yourself with the hippie look then you may want to consider doing some hippie decorating inside of your home with lava lamps, Hendrix posters and hanging bead door ways. Also, don’t forget to pick up a nice big brass incense burner and a good supply of incense in a wide mix of exotic flavors.



OTIS

CounselorDave asked:


 A very large percentage of the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors in our country are also Recovering Addicts. This especially pertains to those certified by agencies created specifically to improve the qualifications of those working in a previously hugely unregulated field. This certification became necessary, as so many Addicts inspired by the 12 Step Concept, want to “give back” what they have acquired that changed their lives for the better, and in many cases “saved their life”! 

 

I can only speak for myself, but approaching 10 years as a counselor, I believe myself to to represent the profile of very many counselors. I definitely have had issues that relate back to childhood personality problems like, shyness, insecurity, and fear. As a child I was very small. I began school, 1st grade, at only 5 years old, in rural Missouri.

 

My family relocated from there to California whan I was eight. When I graduated from 8th grade I was 4′8″ tall and weighed a mere 78 pounds. I had already spent 2 years in over-achievement, with a great degree of success. In 8th grade I was a starting line member in every sport. A benefit that came with that success, at that time, was that girls approached me, in spite of the fact that I was still so lacking in self-confidence that I could not approach them. So, at 12 years old, in 8th grade I won a popularity test at the annual Carnival and was crowned King of the Carnival. This was a very small rural school, though. My problems really surfaced in the next, or 1st year of High School. I was cut from every sport I entered in my Freshman year. This was a major blow to my somewhat bloated ego. I did still maintain a dominant role in my neighborhood, though. But school was important… very important to me as it is to all children. Thus I began my first associations with an alternative demographic and began drinking and smoking pot as regularly as an average 12 or 13 year old could… mostly Saturday nights. I also started hanging out with people 3 or 4 years old than I was. This period, I feel, set the trend for my life assuming the outcast or outlaw persona! Between my freshman and sophomore years I grew from 5′1″ to 5′8″ and shot up to 145 pounds, which left me sort of with 2 left feet and hands. It was a disappointing time and I began to drink and smoke pot more, usually staying under-the-influence all weekend.

 

This is in the 1960’s and a lot of social anxiety was going on with the civil rights movement many other societal tensions. The “underground” was forming and I was right there in the middle of it as much as someone my age could be. Remember, I had a tendency to associate with people older than me. My junior year in high school started with a move to a high school that just opened that year. I tried to make it a fresh start. I went to class everyday, which I had not been doing recently. My grades improved and at 5′9″ and 160 pounds I had regained my agility and made the Varsity squad of the wrestling team. Somehow I found the strength to refrain from drinking and smoking pot and cigarettes. I now had two lives that I kept unbelievably well separated from one and other (honing my skills of deceit)! I had my “Jock” friends, and I had my “Hippie” friends. After wrestling season ended, the hippies gradually became my “comfort zone”. As was the course all through high school, I was not very popular with the girls, especially those expected to be in the company of an athlete. This was a real problem that I suppressed and eventually came to accept, on the surface, as not very important, though my libido told me differently. My senior year I went out for wrestling and inflated the seriousness of a minor injury so I could quit. Luckily, my academic performance had so improved that I only had to attend classes for half of the day. Sadly, it gave me more time to pursue my alternative lifestyle choice! I was using drugs more frequently than ever and began involvement in politics, even attending demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, that were in their fledgling state, but would soon dominate the National stage. I graduated from High School at 17 without a clue regarding my future.

 

In a matter of months the “Draft” would resolve that issue. I knew that my number would come up soon because I would be 18 soon, and everyone in my uncommitted status of life got drafted shortly after turning 18. So, shortly before my eighteenth birthday I went to the Navy recruiter, to avoid the Army Infantry. This was also truly an attempt to change my future as I was certainly headed for drug addiction, already a serious drug abuser, and full-well knew it! Wrong!!! Wrong decision!!! Join the Navy… see the World! Guess what? That big old World out there had better, easier to get, drugs than I ever could have imagined.

 

 San Diego may very well have been the drug capital of California at that time, rivaled only by maybe, San Francisco. Of course I couldn’t use in Boot Camp; the first four months in the service. But, I stayed in San Diego, in schools, training in electricity and electronics and radio communications. The training schedule was arduous, but I found my first true love as a result… Amphetamines!!! This is an extremely addictive drug and you build tolerance to it rapidly. Starting with about 10 “Bennies” a week, I eventually found myself taking up to 100 per day. I had made a connection across the border in Tijuana and became a drug dealer to help support my enormous habit. In this precarious position, I was headed for an assignment in “Top Secret” classified communications at the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet Headquarters at Pearl Harbor. Again, I would make an attempt to arrest my drug abuse problem, and it wasn’t too difficult for a while.

 

At the Communications Center, we worked 12 hours on 12 hours off, seven days a week, for the first ten months I was there. Still, I managed to make some minor drug connections at Pearl Harbor. After that first 10 months we were allocated almost a 50% increase in personnel and I found myself with a lot of free time and also moved off base. It was easy to get Navy pay for off base housing because of their fear of “shop talk” in our off hours at Pearl Harbor. Well, folks, Pearl Harbor, as you know, is in Hawaii. I found myself living only blocks from Waikiki Beach. Now, I was able to return to a very familiar scenario; living a dual life, with my Navy friends and my Civilian friends becoming two separate lives. Somehow, I managed my Navy life. There was no drug testing back then, fortunately for me. Or, maybe unfortunately for me, I don’t know for sure. I made civilian connections and begun selling drugs to a dealer at Pearl Harbor that I had used for my own needs, previously. I also went to a lot of rock and roll music concerts, taking LSD, experimenting with Cocaine, and even getting my first taste of Heroin. I started helping the “Draft” resistance keep people out of the service and even worked with a Church that was a sanctuary for “deserters”. This led to a relationship with some local American Civil Liberties Union people, who offered to help me desert to Canada, but I couldn’t go that route. My love for my parents definitely had something to do with that decision, but truthfully, I was just plain old scared to make a move that big and bold and serious. I still had enough sense to see losing a “Dishonorable Discharge” as too high a price to pay for any reason. My family has a long history of service to this country going all the way back to Charles Carroll of Carrollton signing the Declaration of Independence. Anyway, by the Grace of God, I did get an Honorable Discharge, and make it through the whole ordeal of the United States Military. I may not have indicated it, but I was raised on John Wayne and have always had a true love for and pride in my Country. If not, I never would have seen enlisting as a solution to my drug problem. It’s true that the ‘60’s made me question a lot, but I’m tried and true, red, white and blue, at heart.

 

The biggest blow to my patriotism came as a result of working in Top Secret communications, though. I am a patriot and will not mention any details of my work, to this day. It must suffice to say that I could confirm that the President of the United States was telling the American public lies, period… outright lies!!! This is what led me to the draft resistance, and became a perfect excuse to become a full-blown Drug Addict. I did some other duty in the Navy but it’s mostly irrelevant right now. Let’s just say that I came home to California, disenfranchised, angry, and a regular dumping ground for drugs. I came home using anything and everything in almost every combination conceivable. On top of that, I had lost all faith, and for many years claimed atheism as my chosen belief.

 

I drew unemployment compensation the first year I was out, growing my hair and trying to be as much of a “hippie” as I possibly could. I did anything that would distance me far from the military! I have to admit though that right at first I screwed up big time and found myself in jail 28 days after leaving the military. I had a succession of drug arrests until my unemployment checks ended and had to go to work. I got my bearings and after living a dual life in the Military, doing it in civilian life became a piece of cake. From 1974 to 1991 I was what some call a “functioning addict”! I had good jobs and learned the trade of pipe welding and became a Union member with my own portable welding truck. Drug testing still wasn’t very prominent. I made well over a million dollars over that period but by the time of my next drug arrest in 1991, I owned no property, lost my welding truck, had two divorces, and had no money in the bank. I had specific addictions to alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamines. The “Meth” was the closer. From 1991 to 1995 I spent about half of my time homeless or in jail. Between 1985 and 1995 I did a lot of things I am ashamed of to this day. Worst of all was deserting my children, choosing drugs and addicted women over them!

 

In 1995, at 45, with my last trip to jail, I fell completely apart mentally and spiritually, and no longer had the desire to live, but had come to hope that there was a God. In lieu of a 3 year prison term, and incredibly compassionate Judge looked at my Military Service, my deceiving job history, and I think my obviously apparent declining physical condition and sentenced me to just jail time, and coupled it with a sentence to a drug rehabilitation program. That Judge named “Felice” saved my life, surely under the direction of God and by recommendation from the assistant DA. I now like to say the DA, the VA, AA and NA saved me. During that last arrest, I began praying again. When I got that last sentence I had already come to believe in God. About 10 days after becoming incarcerated, on the eve of my father’s (who was in the hospital) birthday), I had a radical religious experience, and my life was changed from that moment on! You can read about that in one of my articles at EzineArticles.com…  

 

I did my jail term. Successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program and the VA Hospital in Fresno, CA. Remained clean as a member of AA and NA. Went back to a full-time job (notice that I did not go directly into training for counseling). Went back to school for office skills. Went back to school at Cal-State University Bakersfield, Drug and Alcohol program and became a Certified Counselor through the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) and have worked as a Counselor since. I was working in the field before, and during my schooling, close to 10 years now. This I believe is a very common scenario of personal history for drug counselors, as I stated at the beginning of this article. My total acceptance of the help provided me in “Treatment” helped to make it successful for me. I must mention the loving caring staff at the VA program, too. I hold one person in the highest regard and that is my personal counselor, Sally Belle, who understood me so well. She gave me the initial inspiration and suggestion to become a Counselor.



RODERICK

Melanie Click asked:


The sixties was the decade that broke many fashion clothing rules. The late sixties saw the advent of the hippie movement along with its particular clothing fashions of bell-bottom jeans and flowing caftans made in batik prints and tie-dyes.

If you didn’t go for hippie fashion then you could chose the angel dress with its long, wide sleeves and skirt that was short and flared. The more conservative woman wore lounging pajamas with wide, pleated legs instead of frayed jeans. From culottes to the mini-skirt and the bikini, clothing became more daring and determined to bare as much flesh as possible. It wasn’t only skirts that became shorter, but the hemlines of dresses rose, with the whole of the western world’s younger females falling under the power. Even female suits reflected the trend with pastel colours, short skirts, boxy jackets with big buttons, topped off by the pillbox hat made popular by Jackie Kennedy.

Clothing in the mid-sixties went from the ridiculous to the sublime with the space look of PVC and sequins giving place to a new Edwardian look of double-breasted suits in crushed velvet, particularly for the men. They also favoured frilled shirts and brocade waistcoats. Twiggy and others similar saw that skirts were even shorter and tighter than before.

The late sixties saw the advent of the hippie movement along with its Clothing in the mid-sixties went from the ridiculous to the sublime with the space look of PVC and sequins giving place to a new Edwardian look of double-breasted suits in crushed velvet, particularly for the men. They also favoured frilled shirts and brocade waistcoats. Twiggy and others similar saw that skirts were even shorter and tighter than before. Particular clothing fashions of bell-bottom jeans and flowing caftans made in batik prints and tie-dyes. If you didn’t go for hippie fashion then you could chose the angel dress with its long, wide sleeves and skirt that was short and flared. The more conservative woman wore lounging pajamas with wide, pleated legs instead of frayed jeans.



LUTHER

Ka asked:


Fashion greets with joy the return of Poncho; an amazing and colourful piece of clothes that everyone needs in their winter wardrobe.

At the end of the 60s, poncho, along with huge skirts decorated in flowers and bell-bottoms, became the typical piece of garments of those young people who were fighting for universal peace and love and sang “Make love, not the war” in the manifestations against the system.

If you really want to dive in the complete atmosphere of those years, I suggest you to watch the film “Across the Universe” by Julie Taymor. It’s a beautiful musical that will make you dream thanks to more than thirty songs by The Beatles interpreted by great singers of our days such as Bono and Joe Cocker.

There are hundreds of different types of Ponchos to satisfy every single taste, from the super chic to the new hippy; Benetton suggests some items with long fringe and vivid colours such us pink, purple and green; Replay is more classic and makes its poncho with black and grey colours; Les Copains proposes a poncho in tartan wool with bright colours like yellow and orange; Louis Vuitton personalizes its poncho with its logo and transforms it in a very elegant item; Moncler offers a super-techno poncho made of black nylon with white geometrical pattern; Burberry suggests a pink poncho with brown and grey geometrical patterns, Chanel proposes very elegant poncho in blue and black.

United States are going nuts for Latin American stylists who propose original ponchos to match even with elegant clothes.

Adriana Santacruz offers her poncho in natural colours to wear with a white shirt or tied with a belt. Actresses like Jennifer Lopez and Drew Barrymore wear Carolina Herrera super-coloured ponchos.

On line, we found a couple of links to buy original and hand-crafted ponchos directly from internet, with credit card payment. La Mamita sells only handmade ponchos in alpaca wool, like the original ones from the Ande. Alpaca belongs to the family of llama and it is famous for its soft and warm wool perfect to face cold winters.

This year fashion shows beautiful items from dark green to the purple and from white to light blu.

Western films cinema’s icon Clint Eastwood wears his dusty brown poncho in one of the mythic scenes in the history of cinema in the famous film For a Fist of Dollars by Sergio Leone.

Recenlty, Betty, main character of the TV series Ugly Betty, wears a super colourful red poncho with ‘Guadalajara’ written on it.

Finally, if you really want to learn by yourselves how to create your own poncho, there are a lot of workshop teaching how to make colourful woollen items. The so called ‘Knit Cafè’ teaches this ancient and almost lost art that - it’s been scientifically proved - relaxes nerves and souls.

But if you want to buy exclusive ponchos created by Italian fashion designers and manufactured by the best Peruvian craftsmen, I suggest the web site La Mamita.  You will find a perfect combination of an ancient ethnic tradition with a young and cool style.



GILBERTO