|
Marines land
in Viet Nam
|
|
Tapered and torso-fit ? mesh and polyester ... these were hallmarks of the underwear of the 1960s. Slowly the United States’ involvement in Viet Nam, which was to turn out to be the country's longest war, began taking more and more men to that far land. Military movies abounded, and the camouflage look even made its way into men’s skivvies.
The hippie movement and new causes for freedom of all kinds made both men and women want comfortable underwear. Comfort was usually described as less, leading some to wear none at all. Bra-less women became an everyday scene ... and naked men running across football fields was not uncommon.
|
|
John
Kennedy
|
|
As John Kennedy became America’s Camelot President, lycra was invented to replace rubber, and form fitting took on a new meaning. Underwear exploded as a tease, being exposed here and there to create sensuality. The age of the male underwear model, often a celebrity or sports professional, and always clad only in a pair of briefs, began in earnest. Initiated by small boutique underwear manufacturers, the trend was soon followed by the big names, like Hanes, Carter’s, Robert Reis and Jockey. |
|
Yuri
Gagarin
|
|
Yuri Gagarin, Russian Cosmonaut, became the first man in space in 1961, followed by American Astronaut, John Glenn, in 1962. For awhile the Russians were ahead. But the same American ingenuity and hard work that had produced the world’s finest underwear for the last 50 years allowed Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin to become the first men on the moon in 1969. |
|
Martin Luther
King Jr.
|
|
Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to help that dream become reality. King was assassinated in 1968, five years after President John Kennedy and just two months before John's brother, Robert Kennedy. |
|
|
The Beatles became the most popular rock group in history. Their TV appearances and concerts had everyone wanting to wear long hair, big shoes and bell bottoms. The peacock generation in fashion began. Men and boys wanted patterns and tints, the likes of which had not been seen in male clothing for a hundred years. Most notably, even underneath their visible clothes, men wanted color everywhere, even on their skivvies.
The fashion trends of the peacock generation lasted a few years, but the drift toward micro-briefs and nearly-nude male models in underwear advertising continued for decades. It was near the close of the 1900s before men started coming to their senses, realizing that maybe Dad and even Grandpa had a better idea. Nostalgia, love of comfort and the radical notion that "old ideas reinterpreted with new technologies" is a very good thing didn't start penetrating the domain of men’s skivvies until the next millennium was ready to dawn.
And that, as you've guessed by now, led directly to vintageskivvies.com — your only brand for 20th century underwear designs, brought to you in 21st century fabrics ... and your best source of artifacts from the annals of vintage men’s skivvies. <<
|
|
