Best Baby Boomer Fashion Designers

Posted on September 10th, 2012 in 1960s,1970s,1980s,1990s,Celebrities,Fashion,Pop Culture by Terry Hamburg

So many designers, so little blog space, but three stand out as leaders of the baby boomer fashion revolutions, attaining stunning pop culture celebrity status in the process.

It started with Mary Quant who brought the mod scene and mini-skirt from Carnaby Street to main street. What began in 1965 as a local pop culture fad became de rigueur for young boomer ladies worldwide, showing off more leg than ever imagined. No warning, hardly a catch-your-breath transition—skin burst upon the scene like a whirlwind. The style signaled a sea change from the mature full-figured sweater-girl Marilyn Monroe to the adolescent, androgynous Twiggy—poster child for coming-of-age baby boomers. Thigh-in-thigh with the new fashion came pantyhose, go-go boots, and skimpy tops.

Roy Halston Frowick, better known simply as Halston, defined the 1970s and 1980s. After putting the famous pill box hat on Jacqueline Kennedy and re-inventing the chapeau as a fashion accessory, he dressed the Braniff stewardess. All the cool celebrities and jet setters wore his fashions.

Out went the patchwork-hippie styles and in came a refined minimal look, at the same time glamorous, sleek and sexy: ultrasuede wrap coats, flowing caftan, halter dresses—typically without buttons or zippers. Recognize the popular baby boomer style? You probably saw it on the Disco dance floor where Halston designs rock and ruled. And they were accessible. The designer was one of first to recognize the pop culture potential of marketing his own brand, and chose middle America J.C. Penny to cash in.

Who wasn’t influenced by Yves St. Laurent? He introduced an array of baby boomer looks, including safari jackets, tight pants and tall thigh-high boots, pop art chic, Chinese chic. The glamorization of male fashion for females was pioneered by Laurent, beginning with his famous Le Smoking Suit and followed by blazers, pant suits and leather jackets. This led the way to the polished business fashion that boomer working women in the 1980s demanded. Designers Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani stood on Laurent’s broad shouldered dress forms.