Popular Hair and Clothing Styles of the 1960s

Styles of the 1960s were all about pushing the envelope just a little bit more than in the 1940s and 1950s. Like the Roaring Twenties, women wanted crazier hairstyles and shorter skirts, both of which permeated styles in the ''¹..."60s.

Hair

Hairstyles in the '60s were long, short and everywhere in between.

Beehive: One of the most characteristically "'60's" styles was the beehive. For this style, women ratted their hair and piled it as high as possible in the top back of their heads. All of their hair was tied up in this style and hairsprayed to keep every piece in place. Sometimes they would put one curl on each side of their cheeks and spread bangs across their forehead to achieve the overall look.

Bouffant: The bouffant was part of the beehive, but could be worn on its own in half-updo's or as a perk-me-up to hair that was left down. Similar to the Snooki bouffant on Jersey Shore, the bouffant added enormous volume in the top back of the head. They could accomplish this by picking up the top back layer of hair and back-combing it to create a ratted mess. Then, they would lay the lifted hair back on top of the ratted area to make it look smooth.

Clothing

Women experimented quite a bit with their clothing and fashion in the 1960s. Not everyone wore the more outrageous styles, but those that did were sometimes known as trendsetters.

Short skirts: Whether the skirt was attached to a dress or on its own, its brief length was popularized as one of the most fashionable styles of the 1960s. Such skirts usually hit a few inches above the knees and were often plain-colored. The dress it attached to might be a tank-style sleeveless one or a tightly fitted long-sleeve one. This type of dress was often called a mini dress.

Go-go boots: Just when the styles of the 1960s didn't look like they could get any crazier, women started adding go-go boots to their outfits. These went with the short skirts and mini dresses especially. They had thick, chunky heels and plastic-like material that ended between the calves and knees.

Capris: Women often wore crew-cut, sleeveless shirts with colored capris. Capris, like those of today, were like shorter versions of pants and were sewn to look cropped at the calf. The capris were generally fairly high-waisted and might be the same color as the shirt.