For women, the bikini became very popular along with low cut bathing suit bottoms. Women wore one-piece or two-piece bathing suits. They also colorful tanks, sporty board shorts and light sundresses. The surfer men wore surfer style, loose fitting trunks. Hawaiian prints and flip flops were popular choices for both men and women. They both accessorized with surfboards, a beach towel, big sunglasses, shells or a beach ball (McMahon & Harris, 2014; Myles, 2011; "Retro 1960's", 2012; Moss, 2013; "Surf Culture", 2014, "Surf Music", 2014; Beck & Parsons, 2007). During the 1950 and 60s, the surf culture had become a complete industry. It included a lifestyle, language, and fashion that surrounded and centered the sport of surfing. Riding the waves was more than just a sport to the individuals who participated in this group. It had become a cultural obsession. The surf culture became extremely popular in many places around the world like Hawaii, Australia, and California. This subculture had a great impact on popular fashion, music, literature, films, and much more. Surfers were dependent on the weather conditions that were rapidly changing. Surfing itself had gained a lot of popularity amongst teenagers during the 1960s and Surfer Magazine was then founded. Since the history of surfing was adopted from the ancient Polynesians and their culture, many of the aspects from the surf culture are very similar to theirs. Surfing has a restricted geographical requirement so surfers were greatly influenced by the beach life. Part of the development of the surf culture included localism where groups of surfers would label a certain surfing spot as their own. The genre of music that is greatly associated with the surf culture is surf music. This type of music was really popular from the year 1961 to 1966. It had been revived and had a great influence on the following rock music. There are two major forms of surf music. This first is instrumental surf rock, which is played with an electric guitar or saxophone that plays the main melody. It was established by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second form of surf music is surf pop. This form included both surf ballads and dance music with strong harmonies. This form is mostly associated with the group the Beach Boys. Many of the famous bands of this time were known for incorporating both surf pop music and surf instrumental music. Surf music is looked upon as one genre with a variety of styles and is termed surf rock. Surfers valued fellowship, kindness, and cooperation. They believed in working together and helping one another work towards common goals. They were associated with a casual, relaxed attitude that went along with their casual language and clothing. The styles of this sub culture were imitated by many people in different parts of the world. Non-surfers found the surf culture very interesting and admirable, so they would mimic some of their cultural aspects. In the mid 1960’s, beach wear became less conservative. Sources
McMahon, M., & Harris, B. (2014, April 28). WiseGeek. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-surf-culture.htm Myles, J. (2011, August 3). 1960's Southern California Surf Culture. HubPages. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://jjmyles.hubpages.com/hub/1960s-California-Surf-Culture Retro 1960's Swimwear, Beachwear and Surf Fashion. (2012). Dust Factory Vintage Clothing Wholesale RSS. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://dustfactoryvintage.com/retro-1960s-swimwear-beachwear-and-surf-fashion/ Moss, J. (2013, November 1). 1960s Surf Style: From Coastal Subculture to Hollywood Beach Party. Schedule by topic. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://ncp.pcaaca.org/presentation/1960s-surf-style-coastal-subculture-hollywood-beach-party SURF MUSIC. (n.d.). Surfing Safari. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://surfingsafari.wordpress.com/background/surf-music/ Parties & Entertaining Editor. (2007, August 13). How to Dress for a Sixties Party. eHow. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://www.ehow.com/how_2073967_dress-sixties-party.html Surf culture. (2014, March 5). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_culture Surf music. (2014, March 5). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_music Beck, J., & Parsons, J. L. (2007). Twentieth century dress in the United States. New York: Fairchild Publications.
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7/13/2015 08:27:30 pm
The surf culture became extremely popular in many places around the world like Hawaii, Australia, and California. Leave a Reply. |