Alexander Vasilyev Collection Exhibition "From Mini to Maxi. 1960s Fashion"

As planned, today we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Old Riga to visit the Alexander Vasilyev collection exhibition "From Mini to Maxi. 1960s Fashion." There were not too many people, so everything could be calmly viewed, read, studied, and photographed.

The 1960s are defined by several vivid personalities who, to a considerable degree, influenced and set the style of dress and deportment in society. Everyone remembers and still invokes Jacqueline Kennedy's restrained suits, her characteristic oval collar, and classically styled straight dresses. Actresses Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot - style icons of an entire generation.

The exhibition represented both world-famous fashion houses - Chanel, Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Nina Ricci, Jean Lanvin, and André Courrèges - and pieces by lesser-known or entirely unknown designers. At the very centre of the exhibition hall, a raspberry-coloured woollen evening dress (1963) from the fashion house Pierre Cardin, from the Brooklyn Museum collection in New York. Alongside it - accessories: a vivid red handbag, a hat, shoes, and a gilded buckle.

Another of my favourites - a Christian Dior evening dress and coat in turquoise and gold silk brocade (1964). Also worthy of admiration are the fine bead embroideries on other exhibition evening gowns and the bell-shaped cut - which, in my view, comes from much earlier years, but remains in fashion to this day.

A more modern touch - the scandalous Pop Art mini dress by US artist Andy Warhol titled Campbell's Soup (1966). A quite contemporary-looking summer ensemble saturated in sunny and lemon yellow - a mini dress and jacket in coloured linen (1964). All of the above from the Madrid fashion house Maruja Baena.

Summing up what is characteristic of 1960s fashion, the following can be highlighted:

·         laconic forms, geometric cut;

·         geometry in patterns, large colour fields, visual illusions;

·         3/4 sleeves;

·         belts with large, prominent bows;

·         coats and jackets with distinctly large buttons;

·         mini pinafores, mini dresses, and jumpsuits;

·         knee-high socks and shoes with round toes;

·         futurist style - use of unconventional materials in garment construction;

·         chignons and geometric short haircuts with a long, straight ponytail;

·         in make-up: eyes are accentuated, false eyelashes, light blue and white eyeshadow on the eyelids, dark eyeliner, lips in a skin tone.