DentaDanes
Lecture
October 2008
Swinging 60's
Marion Hundleby
MA FRSAOften regarded as a turning point in social and cultural history, this lecture provides an overview of the design and decorative art of this memorable decade. Placing the 1960's in the context of changing social and demographic trends, the lecture considers examples of fashion, product and interior design, and features artifacts from the mini car to the mini skirt. The lecture also considers changes in marketing, the significance of London, the ubiquitous Union Jack motif and the revival of earlier styles such as Art Nouveau.
The opening lecture of the Nerja Decorative & Fine Arts Society was The Swinging 60's by Marion Hundleby, design historian who presented slides of design trends in 1960's England to a large audience who enjoyed remembering that creative decade.
With increased incomes in England, design began to challenge conventions and emphasise mobility and young people. Mobility appeared with the Morris Mini, an affordable car for the general public, and portable radios which brought the young to demand more music to carry with them, that of the rising Beatles, Rolling Stones and Who.
Ms Hundleby stressed women's fashions, some by Mary Quant and Biba, including the mini-skirt and Twiggy's androgynous look, men's newly colourful clothes, furniture which could be disassembled and moved, graphic design, including the use of the Union Jack on household objects, and magazine covers.
She featured brightly coloured textiles for decoration, mass produced housewares from Habitat, Art Nouveau wall posters, all to change quickly the appearance of a room. New marketing methods and growing television helped those styles to gain popularity.
The Swinging 60's left a legacy of change and mobility, an appreciation of innovative designs and fashion, and the chance for ordinary people to explore and enjoy life.
More about the lecturer Marion Hundleby...
In 2000 Marion was given an award by the Millennium Commission to research domestic design over
the last sixty years, with particular reference to the use of space, and changes of style in furniture
and decoration.
The resulting publication, together with a DVD giving excerpts from interviews, was distributed to
libraries in parts of the Midlands and beyond.
Here are the titles of some books that Marion suggests we might want to look at.
Breward, Christopher et al eds; Swinging Sixties V&A Publications 2006
Gardiner, Juliet; From the Bomb to the Beatles. Collins and Brown 1999
Hulanicki, Barbara; From A to Biba London 1983
Masters, Brian; The Swinging Sixties Constable 1985
Quant, Mary; Quant by Quant London 1966
Powell, Polly and Peel, Lucy; 50's and 60's Style, Apple Press,Quintet Publishing 1988
Whitley, Nigel; From Modernism to Mod, Design Council 1987.