14 Fashion and Culture of the 1960s and 1970s

Along with the political and social changes in American culture during the 1960s came a music and fashion lifestyle that drastically differs from that of the average American in the 1950s. The 1960s brought the sudden explosion of drug and alcohol abuse. While the Basiles had never had any problem with such abuse in their own children, it was popular for young Americans to use drugs that include marijuana, LSD (acid), cocaine and heroin. My mother, Donna, believes her lack of exposure to such drugs is mostly due to her attendance at a private Catholic school her entire life. Her and her siblings have heard of such drug use from their friends that attend public school but very rarely at their own. Joe and Jan’s biggest concern with such abuse was with the use of cigarettes and binge drinking. They would award their children one hundred dollars of they didn’t smoke one cigarette until they were eighteen. It just so happens that my mother, Donna, was the only child to got caught sneaking a cigarette.

Fashion during this era involved radical changes, patterns, colors and styles. Woman’s fashion gradually shifted from very short skirts to very long skirts from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. Men began wearing opened collared shirts and both genders began to wear platform shoes and boots. Both the drug use and sudden fashion shift have a direct correlation with the musical culture during that time. After the “British Invasion” of many popular rock bands from England, Americans began using them as models for clothes, habits and social norms.