The Hippie Chicks: Fashion and Philosophy

Out went the tight hair-do, the girdle, the panty hose, the hair spray, the lipstick, the eye liner, the mascara, the underarm deodorant and razors for removing underarm and leg hair. The list goes on and on. It was as if women needed a break from working so hard at trying to look like women.

The hippie chick’s wardrobe was a reflection of her counter culture philosophy. It often consisted of loose-fitting skirts, peasant blouses, caftans, faded jeans, sandals and if she was a tree planter, gumboots. Their hair would often be long and parted in the middle.

That’s not to say that the hippie chick wasn’t receptive to decorative finery. Out came the headbands, floppy hats, multiple bracelets and beads. The fabrics could be textured or floral in design. I knew one hippie chick who wore a long velvet cape and adorned her body with so many beads and bobbles that she tinkled when she moved and sparkled like a Christmas tree. (Being French she had a flair for fashion.)

Women’s Fashion in the 50s and 60s

Even before the hippy chick arrived on the scene, women’s fashion was undergoing radical change throughout the 50s and 60s sixties. Teenage girls stopped dressing like their mothers and embraced the poodle skirt, multiple crinolines, bobby socks, saddle shoes and high pony tails. By the mid 60’s we were wearing mini-skirts, textured stockings and go-go boots. We were still holding onto our hair spray. We needed it to get that "Jackie O" bouffant look. We also hung onto our makeup especially our eyeliner. Was it Elizabeth Taylor dressed as Cleopatra that gave us that look? I don’t know but it was fun while it lasted.

Hippie Chicks: What did people think about them?

It seems that the hippie chicks were tolerated more easily by society than the hippie men. Men in main stream society grumbled about “hippies” (meaning the men.) Meanwhile, if they saw a hippy chick walk by, they were enchanted. If they took the time to have a conversation with a hippy chick, they weren’t so enthralled. Hippy chicks had their own brand of feminism.

Did Hippy Women Change the World?

In my opinion, yes, they did change the world. Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo in her book Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counter Culture. (2009) defined hippie women as being “freed from the chains of an office desk and breaking through the picket fence of suburbia.” They banded together to rediscover skills in organic gardening, bread baking, keeping chickens, home remedies, midwifery and nearly lost arts and crafts. They appropriated Eastern and native American practices such as sweat lodges, folk medicine and spiritual rituals.

Halfway Hippie Chicks:

It wasn’t like everyone joined communes, smoked pot or believed in free love. My neighbor Val and I were half-way hippie chicks. Both of us were stay-at-home moms. We baked our own bread, cooked from scratch and grew vegetables in our gardens.

We did not give birth under a tree but we chose natural childbirth and to breast-feed our babies. Who pioneered this mindset? The hippy chicks!

Where Did the Hippie Chicks Go?

Most blended back into society. They managed health food stores, taught yoga and meditation or offered their services as midwives assisting in natural childbirth. They could often be found at rallies promoting peace and protection of the environment. Many of them, hands-on grandmothers, passed their wisdom on to their grandchildren, teaching them how to make the world a better place.