Twiggy, Mods and Hipsters

Twiggy and the Mods were the best thing to happen to fashion, style and design in an era focused on changing the world. The Mods were a subculture of artsy individuals that evolved out of the beatnik coffee house culture in the 1950's in London, England. Their ability to reinvent themselves and their pursuits make this group difficult to define in one little blog post. The Mods redefined beauty. The women pinned their style with short hair, little makeup but loads of eye liner and mascara and those oh so short mini skirts . The men were for the first time free to express themselves freely wearing Italian suits with narrow lapels, v-neck shirts, skinny ties and pointed leather shoes. Everyone wanted to cash in on this new sophisticated bohemian sense of style and attitude. Soon the fashion world began to mainstream the "mod" style. In 1966 Twiggy was named the "Face of 1966" by the Daily Express and by 1967 she was on the cover of Vogue and The Tatler. She became known worldwide and everyone wanted to be Mod.

In 1967 I was a skinny little girl living in suburbia and desperately trying to figure out how I fit in. I loved the Beatles, Pop Art and Mod clothes. Twiggy made skinny cool and Mod was fun. As Mod swept the USA I swept the stores buying miniskirts, fish net hose, go go boots and bright colors galore. I had found a way out of my black and white life. But as with all good things Mod went to the wayside and a new subculture emerged, Hippies.

Fast forward to the Hipsters. They are the current cool subculture of artsy individuals born of middle class parents and fond of independent films, alternative music and the liberal arts. They tend to be well educated and have a flair for fashion. In 2003 they got their own handbook coined by Robert Lanham. The Hipster Handbook is a funny guide for those of us who once were "Mod".