The Twiggy Era: 60's Fashion

As women began to venture outside the home,and search for more independence in the business world and beyond, their clothing followed. Sixties fashion was epitomized by the young woman. For the first time in Fashion history, young women become the "leaders of fashion." These young women were independent, determined, focused and extremely fashionable. Gone were the poodle skirts and sweater sets of the fifties and in their place came radical new fashion.
The first fashion revolution emerged in the early sixties with straight pencil skirts which now had inverted pleats in the front and back, allowing the knees to move freely and all the more ideal for the sixties dance craze; the twist. Sweater dresses that were belted at the waist were still knee length and flat pressed cardigans remained a fashion staple.
By 1966, British Designer Mary Quant was creating short slimming skirts that were 6 to 7 inches above the knee. She began to look for daring young British girls and found them in London. Young and adventurous they were willing to try the daring short mini. The mini skirt craze soon took off as the "Chelsea look", reaching the lights of London's infamous Carnaby Street and soon after the United States. Young women were thrilled with the new found freedom of the mini and the disapproval that came from adults.
As hemlines rose, arm lengths were shortened as well. Dresses became narrow shouldered and cut in at the armholes to reveal the arm and shoulder joint. Baby doll dresses made popular by teenage British model Twiggy were a favorite among the especially young. These dresses were full, flared and short tent shaped dresses with cutaway armholes or halter neck in delicate materials such as transparent tulle's, lace, or crinkled cotton crepe fabrics. In contrast to the ultra-girly baby doll fad, the mod fad of black and white patterns, opt art dresses and block pieced dresses in the Mondrian dress style also exploded onto the fashion scene. Yves St. Laurent, a young and adventurous designer, made the Mondrian dress a fashion icon, a more modified form of the shift or sack dress, it's color block jersey pattern drew attention to the figure, while still hiding all curves.
Undoubtedly, the sixties society had a massive impact on the way of dress. After the Beatles wore black polo neck sweaters on an album cover, young girls began sporting them underneath check pinafore dresses and young men began sporting the infamous Beatle haircut. The Vietnam War inspired a trend in "retro"military clothes and ethnic prints. Twiggy the stick thin British model, unknowingly started the stick thin fashion craze which would continue well beyond the decade. Jackie Kennedy made the pill box hat and three quarter sleeves popular. While well known designer Emilio Pucci captured the psychedelic era in his infamous and beautiful exotic prints.

The Voting Rights Act

Set up by Lyndon B. Johnson, this act eliminated sources of discrimination that were disabling people from voting. One exapmle of this is literacy tests. Before the passage of this act in 1965, literacy tests were instituted and many blacks, having a lesser quality of education due to segregated schools, were not capable of passing such tests. The act furthered a legislative end to discrimination.

The Space Age

The 1960’s was also known as the Space Age. After the Soviet Union launched the first satellite called Sputnik, the United States felt threatened by their superior technology. In response, Kennedy funded NASA( The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.) "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" Kennedy said in a 1961 speech. Thus, the 60's evolved into a race between the US and the USSR , as to who could land a man on the moon first. The American Apollo 11 became the first space shuttle to land on the moon, fulfilling Kennedy’s dream.

Agent Orange

A powerful chemical was released by the military, called herbicide. It was nicknamed Agent Orange. This chemical was dropped over Vietnam. It would kill forests that Viet Cong resistance was hiding in. However, it had horrible unknown side affects. The chemical contains dioxide that gives cancer. Many Vietnamese and Vietnam veterans suffered as a result.

Medicine

There were many technological advancements that took place in the 1960’s, particularly in medicine. CPR was invented, which saved victims that were going into cardiac arrest. There was also an invention for Polio and Measles, two diseases that greatly threatened people all around America. The first portable defibrillator was created, which provides electric pulses to anyone whose heart may have stopped.

The Vietnam War and Conflicts in Vietnam

The Vietnam War was due largely impart to a feeling of competition between the US and the USSR. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam had friendly relations with China and the USSR. They all recognized each other diplomatically. To counter, the US recognized the French puppet government in Vietnam. The Military Assistance and Advisory Group aided the French in 1950, and by 1954 US had spent over a billion dollars to aid the French. After the battle of Dien Bien Phu, The Viet Minh forces greatly suppressed French forces as the French were defeated. France withdrew from Indochina.
After France left, the Viet Minh set up a socialist government under the oppressive rule of Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho Chi Minh created a land reform program and won support of most of the population. Vietnam split into Communist North and Democratic South. Ho Chi Minh made his zone Communist in order to receive aid from the Soviet Union. An election was supposed to take place at the Geneva Conference. Because the United States knew Ho Chi Minh would win, US refused to sign the Geneva agreement. The Domino Theory was what made the US join the war. They believed that if they fought communism from spreading in Asia, they would not have to fight it in their homeland.
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, also known as the Viet Cong, supported Ho Chi Minh and fought South Vietnam and the Americans using guerilla warfare. The US used napalm and Agent Orange to burn the Viet Cong out of the forest. Another problem was that Viet Cong hid in South Vietnam towns, so soldiers could not distinguish them from ordinary Vietnamese. Kennedy’s plan was to win support of the people, that way the Viet Cong would have nowhere to hide.
Diem was an extremely corrupt and oppressive leader. He was most known for his intolerance of Buddhists. Several Buddhists publicly burned themselves to protest him. The United States assassinated him and brought other leaders to power. However, each leader proved to be more corrupt than the last.
Johnson had been leading secret attacks in North Vietnam. The Maddox was there reporting on them. After alleged attacks on the Maddox, Johnson won support of Congress to escalate the war. However, he lied to the people about why the Maddox was there in the first place. This was called the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
A major turning point in the war was the Tet Offensive. During Tet, a major holiday of Vietnam, there was a temporary truce. However, the Viet Cong secretly smuggled weapons and attacked cities during this time. From a military point of view, the US was successful. However, this greatly damaged American morale because there were many American deaths. The war lost much support throughout the country.
When Nixon was inaugurated, he installed a policy of “Vietnamization.” This was to gradually let South Vietnam fight their own war and withdraw American troops. However, all American troops were not pulled out until 1973.

Medicaid

Also established was the Medicaid program, which was means-tested and offered medical care to poor children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Unlike Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, Medicaid involved financial contributions from the states. These programs continued to exist into the twenty-first century, although many restrictions and time limitations had been added.