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Trends, Fabric and Fashion, 1967

Front cover of a magazine. It has a white border with a large colorful photograph of a model sat down. It has an orange background and the model is sitting on the floor with her elbows on her knees. she has straight hair, dark eye make up, a natural lipstick and she is wearing a colorful flower print jump suit.
The front cover of Trends, Fabric and Fashion, 1967. The model on the front cover is wearing the latest fashion, a bold flower print jump suit. Image courtesy of Hartlepool Museum Service.

To celebrate Fashion Week 2021, we are diving into our collections and finding those styles that never go out of style. Hartlepool Museum Service hold an amazing collection of 1960s clothing that was donated by a fashionista who spent her life collecting the top trends.

Fabric swatches in a white magazine. The swatch in focus shows a see through material with sewn pink shiny beads on in a zig zag pattern.
Close up of the fabric samples in the Trends, Fashion and Fabric Magazine, 1967. Image courtesy of Hartlepool Museum Service.

The 1960’s stands out as a fashion changing decade where hemlines got shorter, fabrics got more colourful, and many adopted the hippy lifestyle, with free-flowing dresses, flared trousers and long hair. The decade conjures up images of Twiggy, bold make up, platform shoes and songs from the Beatles.


Two models can be seen posing on this page with fabric swatches beneath their pictures. Image courtesy of Hartlepool Museum Service.

In the Trends, Fabric and Fashion Magazine, the latest fashions were talked about with various images and the latest fabric samples. There is velvets, cottons, beaded fabric, and thick pile fabric to choose from. One article in the magazine talks about the full-scale feminist revival with Tricelon fabrics, which is a mix of Nylon and Acetate which is now discontinued in the UK as many synthetic fabrics made during the 1960’s proved to be hazardous and prone to disintegrate.

The magazine would have been used by fashion designers and followers of fashion to choose new, in trend fabrics for original creations. They would be ordered from the magazine and worked up into dresses, skirts, jumpsuits and many other popular garments of the time. For followers of fashion this magazine was a must have!


Models posing for the Spring 68′ collection under the title of ‘a full scale feminist revival’ with thick pile fabric swatches on the opposite page. Image courtesy of Hartlepool Museum Service.

The fabric swatches shown in the magazine are made from all different types of materials, including velvets, beads, cotton, jerseys and wools. They are as bright and bold as the swinging sixties themselves!

In the 1960s many people still made their own clothes at home although it was becoming more popular to buy pre-made clothes on the high street. Dress makers and home sewers would have poured over these pages looking for inspiration for there next creation. Materials were changing fast during the decade and new man made fabrics were always coming and going

 


‘Its our Great New Jersey’ is the caption for these Jersey fabric samples in the back of the magazine. Image courtesy of Hartlepool Museum Service.

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