To those of you who were young in the 60’s - was it really ‘swinging’?

I can remember one of my cousins coming back from holiday, wearing a bell on a chain round her neck - one of the Hippies favourite accessories!
I was not allowed to buy one similar while we were on holiday, so when I got home I nicked the budgies and put it on a cord!

I was born in 1951 and absolutely adored the 1960s - still do. It was a time of optimism and possibility .... we really did believe we could change everything with love and peace. And we tried !

I was born in 1942 and was a great Barbra Streisand fan, couldn't believe that the Beatles made more money per show than she did! But I went to the States in 1964 so missed out on the British "swinging sixties". My first look at a mini skirt was on Shirley MacLaine in a restaurant I worked in. So far out and fabulous legs.....when I left California to come home, I missed out again on the Flower Power. Guess my timing was all wrong!

I was born mid 50’s so was ‘aware’ of a lot of the sixties. I really enjoy the music. I keep watching movies from those two decades. Not too certain about the fashions. Architecture was a bit pathetic. So, not everything was great. However, I had a great time.

I was born in 1953 and can very well remember the 60’s and longing to join in but too young and didn’t dare. My father made his disapproval of just about everything to do with it very clear, and I didn’t dare rebel. My mother was slightly less draconian but had very clear ideas of how we should look and behave and along with convent schooling I was pretty much squashed down and repressed.
Rather sad in retrospect.

It was a wonderful time, parties, boozing and hugging each other and loud singing in the pubs. Short skirts , crop tops, bell bottoms and garlands of flowers round your neck. I am so glad I was alive then.

I had an absolute ball- and then moving to London when I was 19 was just a ma zing.

Born in 47, I had a wonderful time in the centre of Liverpool in the 60s. Music, the Cavern, art, poetry. Roger McGough, Willie Russell, Adrian Henri all part of the gang.
However, I don’t think girls were sleeping around that much, whatever Jilly Cooper says. Maybe her hymen was popping, but mine wasn’t or many of my friends.

I started the 60's as a 10 year old + 1 day and by the end, my life had turned 360° twice over.

Hated the bullying at school. I was tall. Left school at 16 and started work as a typist. Started to make my own clothes as I loved fashion. Loved the freedom work brought.
Age of 17 - had my first holiday abroad (Majorca) with a friend.
Loved music and dancing - disco every weekend, which was in a small room above the local pub. Soul music blasting out.

Left home at 18 and moved to Cambridge, 150 miles away. Rented a flat with same friend, whose sister lived close by.

Married at 19 and pregnant as 1969 drew to a close.

The swinging sixties was over for me.

It was the only time my hair has ever been fashionable! Dark brown, dead straight with a Cathy McGowan fringe.

The problem in those days wasn't so much showing your knickers but trying to wear a very mini skirt with stockings and suspenders. We were so pleased when tights appeared in the shops.

I was only a child but a regular visitor to Carnaby Street. Such an exciting place. I remember buying a neon yellow badge .. Save Water, Bath with a Friend

I don't think I was totally aware of its meaning!

Mine were probably clumpy!

I used a safety pin Meryl!!!?

kittylester

I remember Cathy McGowan showing girls how to sit whilst wearing a mini skirt without showing one's knickers.

I always wanted hair like Cathy McGowan.

Alas mine was too wavy/curly and blow drying or straighteners hadn't been invented.

Loved every minute of the 1960s. The music, which I still love, the clothes - had a fab navy mini dress with lime green cuffs. My favourite shoes were green sling backs with black toe caps.

I wore Max Factor foundation, lots of eye make up, pale lipstick. Back combed my blonde hair.

I went out every weekend with friends dancing, occasionally a Chinese meal as the set menu was cheap.

I remember Cathy McGowan showing girls how to sit whilst wearing a mini skirt without showing one's knickers.

I was an art student from 1963 to 67 so one of the coolest people on the planet We were having a totally brilliant time. I knew one or two people who had tried purple hearts but hadn't liked them, and I knew someone who knew someone who was using heroin. When Biba moved to Church Street Kensington I was up there most Saturdays. Some of the dresses were as little as £3.50 and my grant was £5 a week so you do the maths! My mother had worked in fashion and she thought Biba clothes were beautifully cut. If you hand washed them carefully they lasted for ages. Mary Quant make up was a revolution - all that shading and shaping. I had a Mary Quant dress for my 21st birthday. It had been photographed in French Vogue - it didn't get better than that!

Block mascara. I was an expert at separating my lashes with a needle ? My mum was the first person to pluck my mono brow.

I was 19 when I first experienced London and the swinging south. Good job, good prospects and I remember it with huge affection. Didn't manage to find the drugs or crazy sex scene which I'm (now) hugely grateful for. Daft fashions and just fun, fun, with minimum responsibility is how it was for me.

I remember that mascara. Spit on the block, rub the brush in it and cake it on! ?

silverlining48

How about the mascara which we put in by spitting on a little brush.

Oh yes, it came in a little block

I first wore mascara when I was 15 when we had a dance at the Boys' Grammar School. Boys sat at one end of the hall, girls at the other until the boys plucked up enough courage to ask the girls for a dance.

Don't forget Long John Baldry!
Once seen, never forgotten and the inspiration for other musicians who came later such as Reg Dwight.

How about the mascara which we put in by spitting on a little brush.

Forgot to add, my aunt worked in a factory that produced the Mary Quant make up, we used to get loads! The silver tubes with the black flowers on. Plus good old Rimmel.

Born in 1955 so watched on from afar as it were. All aunts had the beehive, the black eyeliner, mini skirts/dresses and every weekend there was a party where us young uns were put to bed, but crept down and sat in the stairs and watched! The music was fantastic. The Stones, Beatles, Ton Jones, Chubby Checker and, later, all the Tamla Motown. They all had low paying jobs but family ties meant everything, although poor, they all seemed to love and live life. We had a good life I think. Today, we’d be classed as being in poverty.