The Freaky High School Fashion Of The Hippie Era, 1969

These photographs, taken for LIFE magazine in the fall of 1969, explored the “freaky new freedoms” of fashion seen on high school students across the United States.

Some of the women show the strong influence of the “hippie” movement—long hair, beads, fringes and bell-bottoms. Others wear outfits that connect to psychedelia—luminous colors and loud patterns. Some have even fused elements of both—and more—to create their own personal expression. The shoot focused almost exclusively on women, but the few men who can be seen, by contrast, are wearing clothes almost indistinguishable from today. Their hairstyles are a different matter.

Cultural transformation was an irresistible force during the Sixties, and across America and around the globe civil rights, women’s and gay liberation, the sexual revolution and, of course, the explosive soundtrack of R&B, soul and rock and roll informed everything from politics to fashion.

h/t: rarehistoricalphotos