That quote that has 'floated around' for years, 'If you can remember the sixties, you really weren't there', has always puzzled me. There is conjecture about who actually said it first, let alone what it really means. But it came back to me recently when DH and I were talking to DD1 about what we could wear to the 60s night. Like a lot of younger people, DD1 has strong ideas of what was around in the 60s...but many of her concepts of the era aren't what we remember. And we were definitely there!!
A decade can be a long time in terms of fashion for example...especially if you start the decade as a child and end the decade at the end of your teens. ( no adulthood at 18 in those days...it was 21!)
Come and travel through my time in the Sixties via some old photos...
Then my early teens...
In Grade 8 at High School, I did Domestic Science but hated sewing...but I had grown up watching my mum sew, so she showed me how to use her machine and at home, right throughout my teens and year beyond, I happily sewed outfits. ( eventually sewing for my mum as well)
Much to DD1's amazement, I had never been a hippie or 'flower child' in the 60s. 😃
Those photos brought back memories, Maria. I wasn't a hippie either :-) I think most of us made our own clothes whether we did domestic science or not as most mothers sewed and taught us. There weren't the clothing shops around in those days like there are now especially where we lived in a country town.
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny. I was born in 1951. My first memory of the 60s were the civil rights protests in my town...very scarey. And the issues with racism at school. And when the Beatles came out but I loved the Rolling Stones and the Animals. And then the start of the Vietnam War. No, I was not a flower child. But I wore the mini's that barely covered your but and dresses so short they had matching panties. I think our memories of the 60s depended on where you lived. I don't think the Flower Power Era hit the Midwest in the USA until the early 70s, lol.
ReplyDeleteHi Maria. When I was at college 70/72 I was part of the hippie/rocker crowd - there was another 'mods' type group but I was not into their sort of music. Anyway, I dressed hippie with beads and bells - Woodstock was in 69 so it seemed like it all followed on from that. I too hated sewing at school - our teacher was about 90 (well it seemed like it to me at the time) but I loved making clothes at home. xx
ReplyDeleteMaria, do your photos ever bring back memories - fond memories. I, too, was there in the 60s and am grateful that I was ... I think our generation was/is a very lucky one. Enjoy your 60s night
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I don't have many good memories of the sixties. I started primary school in 1960 and moved to secondary school in 1966. Both were strict schools. The second school didn't even have an outside playground and it was a bit like being in prison. Was I happy to leave there!!
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1967. So I was there but only at the tail end.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I don't ember it lol
Love the old pics.
Lots of memories for me, too, in your photos. I also learned to sew in the 60s and entered many of those "creations" in the county fair as I was a member of 4-H. I did have some hippie years and I think they were an intense and wonderful time to be young!
ReplyDeleteI was 5 when the 60's hit. What I remember most was mini skirts, hip huggers with huge belts, what I called "pirate shirts", midi skirts, maxi skirts and bell bottoms.... Not that I actually got to wear them (well I did get to wear the skirts and a pair of bell bottoms or two on the weekends).
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I'm a bit late to comment, but will add my tuppence worth...I remember reading somewhere that that comment about remembering the 60s was meant to imply a lot of people were doing drugs and so had no memory of the time. I was a surfie chick, but a bit of a rebel, as I refused to sit on the beach watching the boys surf, then fetching them food when they came in, and learnt to surf too....like the movie Puberty Blues. But I wore the bell bottoms, the tiny minis and long flowing flowery dresses, and used to paint flowers on my face and eyelashes under my eyes, like Jean Shrimpton. It's so great to see all your photos throughthat decade, Maria, I recognise some of your clothes as what I also made.
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