Mary Quinte, A Must To Mention In The Great Decoding Of The Changes Of Mini Skirts

famous clothing A chapter about the diverse 1960s and 1970s in the great book History of Fashion by experts Professor A Black and Professor M Garland begins with the following: "With the opening of Bartha's Department Store on King's Road in London by Mary Quinte, a new page in the history of fashion has begun."

Mary Quint made the world wear mini skirts (designer Mary Quint in the picture)

"Miniskirts" swept the world, and Mary Quint created the era of the shortest skirt hem in the history of clothing. Mary Quint became a fashion icon in the 1960s. She is different from the past design masters, not a fashion expert from beginning to end, but she was the leader of the fashion craze in London in the 1960s, and she is known as the "mother of miniskirts". It rose like a comet and shone like fireworks, but soon disappeared in the fashion industry. This is a unique and important design expert in the history of clothing.

Just before Dior died, she had already felt the changes of the times, the impact of new designers, and the traditional haute couture could no longer conform to the world trend. In his last few years of design, she had made major changes in modeling lines and functions.

At the same time, the ready to wear fashion developed after World War II has developed from the stage of rough imitation of high-end fashion to a new way, and has increasingly become the backbone of the leading trend in the fashion industry. Throughout the history of fashion, most of fashion is worn by adult women. The main contents of designers' high fashion are various luxurious dresses, leisurely dressing gowns, and tottering tight skirts.

People often do not pay attention to young girls, especially the diversification of lifestyle after World War II, the widespread rise of sports, tourism and swimming, which can not be a strong challenge to traditional fashion design. Some people say that the success of young ready to wear fashion is due to the sudden boredom of girls all over the world with Balenciaca's exquisite and elegant women's clothing. Indeed, the times need more lively young and more vibrant fashion.

The first to respond was London, England. As one of the fashion centers in the world, London has a dual character of conservatism and radicalism. It will sometimes become the most fashionable and revolutionary hotbed. London fashion in the 1960s was at the forefront of the world. In the 1950s, people of insight in British fashion industry began to brew this change.

Ms. Garland, the first professor of the fashion branch founded by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in London, is a garment educator with high attainments and foresight. She believes that the youth of 20 years old is the most beautiful and happy moment in life, and their clothes should be the most beautiful. Today's high fashion cannot conform to the general trend of the world. Therefore, Professor Garland promotes the "Young Women's Wear Movement" with great enthusiasm. At the same time, the emergence of various youth schools after the war, the contempt for traditional concepts and the popularity of pop art can not help but play a role in promoting the rebirth of the fashion industry.

When fashionable young people in the streets of England were wearing strange black clothes and riding motorcycles, Mary Quint, a young woman from Wales, made her fashionable clothes become insignificant.

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In 1966, J.C. Penney series designed by Mary Quant

A fashion revolution in the 20th century: cut your skirt short!

Mary Quint was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, England in 1934. She was the daughter of a teacher. At the age of 16, she went to London and studied in the Painting Department of London Gold Decoration College. After graduation, she began her design career in the studio of Eric, a milliner. Her design object was just the girl's fashion that had not attracted people's attention at that time. At that time, girls usually wore their mother's old-fashioned clothes. Mary said, "I often hope that young people can wear their own favorite clothes. They are not old-fashioned, but the real young women's clothes of the 20th century. But I know that this work has not attracted enough attention."

In 1955, young Mary Quint and her husband Alexander Prenkite Green opened the first "Barca" department store in the famous British King's Road in London. Their service target is youth oriented. The first dress launched by Mary Quinte is the famous "mini skirt". Although their industries were very small at that time, and they were more anonymous in the fashion industry, this weak shock just foreshadowed a strong earthquake in the future of the clothing industry, which was an epoch-making step.

We remember that in the 1950s, the skirt length hovered around the calf. In 1953, Dior just shortened the skirt hem by several inches, which made a big surprise in the press. But Mary Quint, who was little known at that time, started the clothing revolution in the new era with her fierce views. Her battle slogan at that time was: Cut your skirt short!

At this time, the Yingwang Avenue began to become an officially recognized gathering and cruising place for the "broken generation" of young people. They wore long hair, tight skirts, black and white silk stockings, making the Yingwang Avenue a popular destination. The following year, Ainsede, who took over from Professor Garland, also encouraged the students of Royal College to contribute to the clothing revolution in the new era.

In 1960, Mary Quinte made a pleasant and successful trip to the United States. The free and open character of Americans encouraged her to design ideas, and she received good responses in the United States. In 1962, Mary Quint designed the first series for the American market. The American Vogue magazine first published Mary Quint's women's clothing works, which was immediately widely welcomed.

In 1963, Mary Quint founded the "Vitality Group", which is popular worldwide for its simple, young and novel products. Miniskirts, as the representative of young women's clothing, are strongly impacting the world fashion stage. This new wave, which is called "London Shock" by historians, accompanied by "hippies" with leather boots and long hair, has brought great shock to the world. There are many fashionable fashion shops in London's Ganabi Street, which has become a famous place to attract tourists. In the same year, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Mary Quint the fourth British Medal in recognition of her outstanding contributions to clothing.

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In 1966, J.C. Penney series designed by Mary Quinte

In 1965, mini skirts and young women's clothes of the Cosmic Age were popular all over the world. Mary Quint further raised the skirt hem to four inches above the knee. The dress of British girls has become an object of envy and imitation. This style is known as "London Style". By the mid-1960s, "London Style" had become an international popular style. The trend of new fashion cannot be stopped. Young people enthusiastically welcome miniskirts, and middle-aged women also accept this change with admiration. A variety of different mini styles came into being.

A new generation of designers, such as Pierre Cardin, Guhaire, Saint Laurent and Angelo, have also launched a series of mini skirts with different styles. This year, Queen Elizabeth visited the United States. When her ship arrived in New York, the American and British fashion groups organized a large-scale mini skirt show. At this time, even the most conservative high-end fashion stores quietly cut their skirt products.

The 1965 spring and summer series of Andre Courreges

Fifty years ago, a famous fashion master, Jean Pardew, once laughed that the skirt was "created by a stupid mind". However, half a century later, such a short skirt appeared for the first time in the history of human clothing, and Mary Quinte won the victory of the world. This year, Mary also designed raincoats, tights, underwear and swimwear. The next year, her company added cosmetics and matching boots and shoes. The enterprise expanded rapidly. By the 1970s, her products had covered indoor furniture, bedding, knitted clothes, ties, stationery, glasses, toys, hats, etc.

The world-famous female designer soon became a shrewd entrepreneur. From a shoestring business (only 20 sewing machines and 20 workers at the beginning), she has grown to an annual income of 12 million dollars. She has more than 100 fashion stores across the UK, specializing in modern, chic and affordable fashion, wrinkled shirts, Shiny tights and so on. Famous women's clothing stores such as "You, Hurry Up" and men's clothing store "Noble Servant" opened. Later, her business scope spread to many countries. There were 320 dealers in the United States alone, and she has become one of the millionaires.

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Sassoon's famous hairstyle for Mary Quinte

After all, she is an idol of fashion in the 1960s, and has a unique talent. In 1975, the Museum of London held her retrospective exhibition. The exhibition commented on her like this: "... She was the first person who realized that it was necessary to create a new look for the new generation. She first attacked the traditional concept of clothing of most people in this country and the world, destroyed the barriers that hindered young talents to play, and opened the long closed window in all fields of fashion."

In the history of fashion, Mary Quinte has started a new chapter in fashion since the 1960s. Mary Quinte's women's dress design is fresh, lovely, lively and full of vitality, just like the famous model Tuowecki in the 1960s. The modeling line of Mary's women's dress is more concise and relaxed, which is fundamentally different from the exaggerated curves commonly used by Dior, Balenciaca, etc; Of course, it is not the old straight line of Chanel in the early years, but the modern style with comfortable and convenient clothes and free and open action. The Kardan Cosmic Costume of the same era, jeans and T-shirts that became popular in the 1960s, like miniskirts, have challenged the traditional aesthetic concepts. Fashion is no longer monopolized by ladies, and a new era of history has begun.

In 1969, the popularity of mini skirts reached its peak, and in 70 years, they evolved into hot pants, namely a kind of extremely short tight shorts. By 1971, the "London look" had disappeared rapidly, the skirt hem had dropped sharply, and the new dress had replaced the famous mini skirt.

Interestingly, over the years, people have been arguing about who is the real designer of the "mini skirt". Gu Haire is known as the youth symbol of the sixties in France. He said, "I invented the mini skirt, and Mary Quinte was just for commercial purposes.", Mary Quinte's answer is: "How the miniskirt is in France... I don't know, and this is not my personal decision. The fashionable dress, in my opinion, is inevitable. It should not be me or Gu Haire who invented the miniskirt in any way. It was designed by a girl on the street. The designer simply foresaw what people want. I don't want designers to quarrel like children, maybe It was Gu Haire who made the miniskirt first, but he will never be the first to wear the miniskirt. " We have no intention of getting involved in the debate about chicken or egg first, but Mary Quint's words reveal a simple truth, and the times make heroes.

The 1960s was an era of turmoil and rebellion in the western world. With the recovery of the post-war economy, the rapid development of scientific and technological material production, the rise of various social trends of thought and artistic schools, and the impact of conceptual conflicts on the fashion industry is the most important. In particular, most of the youth in the 1960s were born at the end of the Second World War and after the war. After the war, peace returned to the world, but it also brought about the peak of population fertility. At that time, the population of France under the age of 20 accounted for one third of the total population; Half of the population of the United States is under the age of 25. They are young and energetic, and have become an important part of the society that cannot be ignored in the 1960s. These young people, known as "post-war children", grew up in a peaceful and affluent environment, never experienced economic depression and cruel war, received good cultural education, loved thinking and consumption, and were a generation of energetic people indulged and pampered.

They are not satisfied with their parents' habits, despise all traditional concepts, and rebel against all the ready-made ones. Clothing is the most sufficient form of their "rebellion" tendency: to hell with traditional clothing! Their clothing is all about self-expression. From the existentialists who are characterized by sweatshirts and pants to the "collapsed generation" in the 1950s and the "hippies" in the 1960s, they all show their ridicule and contempt for traditional beauty with distinctive and strange costumes. Invest in the madness of swing music, pursue the stimulation of the Beatles, deny elegance, nobility, and gentleness, and advocate emphasizing personality, emphasizing self, and even ridiculing self.

This is indeed an age of diversity. It is an age when traditional ideas have been shaken. Long hair is no longer the exclusive right of women; Bavarian Strauss overalls have entered the ranks of fashion; Mini skirts are very popular. The best performance of young people is to show their body; Even in the sexual liberation movement, the bikini swimwear, sexless clothes and topless clothes brought are crazy products of this crazy era. The negation of traditional ideas is the purpose of every clothing revolution, but the impact since the 1960s has been far more violent and thorough than previous revolutions. If we say that the past was just a change from one shape, one aesthetic to another, then the impact since the 1960s has fundamentally eliminated traditional aesthetics and brought "ugliness" into the aesthetic field. This is enough to enable us to understand the rapidly changing fashion in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mary Quint stood out in the era of great changes in economy and society. It can be said that the mini skirt may not be a whim of a certain genius, but Mary Quint can understand the times and feel the pulse, so she provided the corresponding style for the 1960s. She is the spiritual leader of fashion in this era. The "Barcelona" store she started has shocked London. Even after she left the fashion industry for many years, she is still paying attention to young people's thoughts. When a reporter recently asked her about the "punk" faction in the 1980s, she said: "We have gone far enough in the 1960s, and it was difficult for us to rebel. Nothing happened in the 1970s, and now it is a whole new start. I like this."

Like the rebellious personality, this female designer was once famous!

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