Before Mary Quant, it was nearly impossible to rush upstairs while wearing a skirt or cry quietly while wearing mascara. The 1960s fashion designer who popularised thigh skimming mini skirts and created the first outfits for working women.
Mary quants empowerment towards women in the 60s was amazing. Imagine and young women walking into a modern, new world in a bold mini skirt, a sleek little blouse or a slender rib knit all accessorised with colourful tights and glossy leather boots in the 1960s...so powerful I KNOW!!
The mini skirt
I think that it is ironic that that this exploration of Quants lasting influence as a designer takes place at the same time as a significant development for the mini skirt. High hemlines, in the opinion of Mary Quant , who is frequently credited with creating the mini skirt and is supposed to have named the style after her favourite Mini Cooper car, symbolise "life and tremendous opportunity". She lacked formal design skills and had little business management experience. But what she did process was an understanding of what young women desired. The mini skirt was inexpensive and simple to wear, with a youthful appearance expressing an innocence that concealed its rebelliousness.
The 1960s- An evolutionary decade for women!
The place of women in the American society was changing during the 1960s as a result of huge cultural shifts. As more women than ever entered the paid sector, women frustration with the large gender gaps in pay and advancement and sexual harassment escalated. After the federal government legalised the birth control pill in the 1960s, more than 80% of wives of reproductive age were taking contraception by the end of 1960s. This afforded many women greater options and freedom in their personal life while also releasing them from the burden unintended pregnancies.
Americans gradually came to accept some of the fundamental demands of the 1960s feminists, including equal pay or equal work, an end to domestic violence, a reduction in the strict restrictions placed on women in managerial positions, an end to sexual harassment, and shared parental and household duties. Women were expected to play a passive and supportive role in the male-dominated workplace, therefore feminists recognised that fashion was (and still is!) political for many of these women. While the majority of women commuted to work in feminine dresses and pantyhose or chic pantsuits with feminine elements, feminists had a different vision of how women could advance in the workplace.
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