Born from the beatnik era and fermented in the fervor of the Vietnam War, hippie culture was anti-establishment, pro-peace, groundbreaking, and a sweeping tie-dyed movement for change.
In San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, dressing hippie-style was the uniform for the protesting counter-culture individualists -- or at least oxymoronically, for the group that defined themselves as individuals. Flowers, headbands, peace symbols, and loads of fringe were "unisex," while mini and macro skirts mixed with halter-tops, saris and sarongs, blew the girdle off the Donna Reed set. Natural, handmade, embellished and braless, hippie couture wounded the department store while the thrift store and, ironically, the army surplus boomed.
Americans who had known the reason for WWII called for conservative patriotism, conformity, and haircuts as even greater numbers of young Americans and Vietnamese were being slaughtered in our senseless Southeast Asian war. Dead bodies were strewn across the nightly news because freedom of the press was not squashed by executive order. Peter Arnett's famous editorial quote, "It was necessary to destroy the village in order to save it," helped drive home a need for an end to the folly of death.
Thirty-eight years ago this month, the Kent State slaughter killed four students wounding nine others. Hundreds of campuses closed due to angry student strikes and protests. The youthful innocence that had been drafted to kill overseas was at war with the American establishment. Every college and high school campus resonated with student strikes, dissent, and chants for peace now. Young America flexed its muscle with fortitude in a single-minded cause even as thousands and thousands of their numbers were being drafted to kill the enemy. It was no more tumultuous than today's Iraq war, but since there is no draft, today only a few are hitting the streets.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's week-long honeymoon bed-in produced the infamous plea to "give peace a chance." The world has yet to follow that sensible call, although at Christmastime we hypocritically wish it upon civilization. The free spirited rebels abhorred mendacity. Sixties' youth practiced a sexual, societal, and cultural openness that celebrated their free spirit honestly instead of constraining them with a life lived with lies and half-truths.
The hippie culture was beset with problems, I'm not denying that, but one can't help but believe that the movement's heart is beating it's energized blood into the millions of Americans who are looking for hope in Barack Obama.
With longing to find our hippie remnants, I went on an archaeological dig through vintage stores, fashion magazines, and the internet. Romulus, whose shop recreates the bohemian fashion the counter-culture wore while they demanded change. His small workshop is buzzing with optimism for tomorrow as he handcrafts his leather and denim designs. In America's run to cheaper and less expensive goods, it's refreshing to see that made in America is still stamped on our most rebellious and expressive clothing.
Watch my video here.