#schoolwear photography

[professorpski]

New and Old Collide in 1965: Pop Fashions to Knit and Crochet

As the fall fashions are upon us, I have been perusing some of the vintage knitting books in my collection. Like the makers of sewing patterns, the yarn companies made a point of keeping up with the latest style trends. So anything “pop,” as in popular with young people, was adopted and sold during the cultural Youth Quake of the 1960s. Yet not everyone wanted to be wearing the newest trends, and knitters may have been specially wary of choosing a fad which would be out of style soon. To spend that much time making something and have it become last month’s fashion would be too painful. The result is a weird combination of the new and the old in the booklet.

On the cover you see a traditional fabric pattern, the argyle, but it is done up in a bright yellow and paired with matching stockings. Notice the odd uncomfortable, almost inexplicable pose of the model. The idea was to get away from the stiffness of traditional fashion photography by adding movement and action. Which is pretty hard when moving people create blurry photos. You see a similar attempt to create movement by the models with the matching sweaters on the young man and young woman. Although the look is unisex and they are both wearing pants, the buttons on the sweaters still follow the conventions with right over left on her and left over right on him.

While stockings were a way to cope with the modesty problems raised by the hemlines of miniskirts, knee socks were another fashion trend. The ribbed blue and green sweaters came with directions for making the socks as well and you see them worn with miniskirt or shorts. This looks strangely childish as only kids wore knee socks in the early 20th Century, the weird erotic little girl look was one of the unfortunate trends for grown women in the 1960s.

Still tradition remained.  Along with the these new, bright looks were the cardigans and pullovers for everyday sportswear, for tennis, for skiing, for schoolwear. So both the teenage who hankered for a top made out of bright, crocheted granny squares and her mother who thought she really should have a classic blue cardigan could find satisfaction.

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