■ ■ ■
TROUBLED TIMES: 1961–79
consumers. In fashion this shifting consumer demand, rather than the creations of designers, drove what was offered. The most successful designers learned to give the people what they wanted, which during the 1960s and 1970s was variety and comfort. Most of the major social and political changes of this period had an effect on the fashions people wore. People throughout the West were becoming more aware of the need to respect different cultural traditions and to allow for individual differences. In the 1960s this led to fads favoring the fashions of Native Americans, African Americans, and other cultures of the world. By the 1970s tastes in clothing had become even more individualized. It was said that people could wear anything they wanted—and did. Women especially were tired of having fashions dictated to them, and they chose clothes that were comfortable and liberating. This focus on
HALSTON In terms of fashion, the 1970s was the decade of the American designer Halston (1932–1990). His designs were simple but elegant, and he favored flawlessly tailored classic cuts. His clothes could be worn year-round, during the day and evening. His dress designs eventually became so minimal that they even came without zippers and buttons. Halston’s greatest fame came from his reputation as the designer of choice for celebrities. His clients included Elizabeth Taylor (1932–), Liza Minnelli (1946–), Andy Warhol (c. 1928–1987), Anjelica Huston (1951–), Bianca Jagger (1950–), Martha Graham (1894–1991), Barbara Walters (1931–), and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994). He once observed, “You’re only as good as the people you dress,” according to his biographers Elaine Gross and Fred Rottman. Born Roy Halston Frowick in Des Moines, Iowa, he enjoyed sewing and making hats as a child. After briefly attending Indiana University and the Chicago Art Institute, he worked as a window dresser while designing hats on the side. He also decided to take his middle name as his profes-
892
■
FASHION, COSTUME, AND CULTURE
sional name. His hat designs soon proved popular, and in 1957 he opened his own store in Chicago, Illinois. Two years later he settled in New York and was employed as a hat designer at Bergdorf Goodman, a fashionable department store. He soon became nationally famous by designing the bone wool pillbox hat that Jacqueline Kennedy, the incoming first lady, wore at the 1961 inauguration of her husband, John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). At the time the hats worn by women on formal occasions were intricately designed and featured an assortment of addedon items like fur, feathers, and even jewelry. Halston’s pillbox was just the opposite; it was a straightforward, unadorned, minimal design. Its popularity helped to usher in shorter, simpler hairstyles for women. In 1966 Halston created Bergdorf’s first ready-towear collection. (Ready-to-wear refers to clothes can be worn right off the rack versus custom-made designs.) Two years later he launched his own fashion salon. His career peaked during the following decade and the Halston name was licensed to a range of products, including sheets, shoes, and an especially lucrative series of fragrances. He marketed a synthetic, or man-made, fabric that he called Ultrasuede: a supersoft, su-