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Everything about the hippie style was laid-back. Unstructured, loose, flowing and natural-feeling are all descriptive terms that can be associated with the hippie style of the sixties. According to dictionary.com hippie values that included "rejecting established institutions, believing in expressing love outwardly, and experiencing expanded consciousness and spontaneity were often expressed externally in the wearing of casual, folksy clothing and beads, headbands, used garments, etc." Suede, denim and gauze were favorite material choices of the times worn without regard to wrinkles, crinkles or ironing. Sandals were the footwear of choice.
Denim flared, bell-bottom, hip-hugging jeans without hems, frayed and dragging on the ground was the preferred look of the times. Fringed vests, midriff tops and long flowing gauze tops were staples of the look. - Colors included natural and earth tones as well as bright psychedelic swirling prints and flower-power prints in bright colors. A flower child might have worn a natural gauze top with denim jeans painted with bright-colored flowers, along with multiple accessories. Another favorite print of the times was the American flag. As in all times there were different strokes for different folks. The bold born-to-be-wild hippie style was quite different from that of the flower child, but both styles included bright colors and prints.
- Costume jewelry was in vogue. Long strands of beads known as love beads---worn alone or in multiples---were all the rage and worn by both girls and guys. Jewelry items that depicted the sun, moon, stars or zodiac aigns or the word LOVE were favorite accessories. Headbands of suede were also worn by both sexes. Perhaps the most prevalent accessory of the times was the circular peace sign. Peace, love and understanding were the values espoused and in the undertones in all things connected to the hippie culture, and that theory of life was best symbolized by the peace sign. It was not unusual to find flowers and peace signs painted on faces for everyday wear. The hippie fashion style was to exhibit their theories of life by painting it and wearing it on themselves as if they personally were a canvas to express the message and the art of their unique times.
- "Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair..." These are lyrics from the song Hair, the rock musical from the sixties. This one line says a lot about the hair style of the hippie look. Long hair, straight, curly and even frizzy, with or without headbands, was the hairstyle of choice.
- Glossy lips and a less-is-more approach to makeup combined with favorite scents such as musk, jasmine and patchouli. When integrated with other fashion choices of the sixties hippie look, they complete the laid-back hippie style.
