Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: It’s up to You, again – Week 2

incomprehensibly heart-rending: to think we all made it this far

No matter what part of the calendar summer falls in, everyone looks forward to the season with some anticipation. It may be that few weeks off where one gets to do absolutely nothing or everything they’ve been procrastinating on and not able to get to during the rest of the year, a time to reconnect with friends and family or run for the hills to soak in some solitude. However we use our time, it somehow seems more precious than the hours that slip by during the industrious days of autumn, the slogging stubbornness of winter or the promise of spring.

We had plans. Right off the bat that should have been a warning and some indication based on precedent that a whole slew of other things would get in the way of anything we set out for ourselves to accomplish during this two-month supposed hiatus from the workaday. A detour here, unexpected guest there, some forced socialization (we do not especially play well with others and even less so when it is on their terms and not ours), an unexpected real-world project that, however exciting, is resulting in some unwanted indoor time when the sun is shining: it all takes us away from what we would rather be doing. Perhaps that makes it all the sweeter when we do finally return to what makes us tick, makes the possibilities tantalizing, more brightly coloured and fleshed-out (jotting down a quick note helps to avoid the “remember last week…” syndrome). Some things, like getting up in the morning, are a part of our day and even though recent posts have been, as the Professor put it, formulated on the fly they are necessary to our well-being. The Two Cents Tuesday Challenge is constantly amazed and ever so thankful that there are some constants despite it all.

Last week, we lobbed the ball back into your court, so for all the little gravatars that make us smile as we scroll – “It’s up to You, again…” Choice is a wonderful thing.

Heat    Surprise    Silly    Expectations    Lost    Abstract     Grateful     Bliss     T-shirts     Shoes    Loyalty    Painting    Cook    Wishes    Paths    Writing    Birthday    Wonder    Harvest     Size    Words     Routine    Calm    Curious    It’s up to You    Toys    Clean    Bold     Random    Heritage    Special    Happy    Gifts    Graffiti    Brilliant    Funny    Habit    Resolution    Relax    Sweet    Illumination   Decoration   Morning   Style    Home   Pressure   Temptation    Manipulation    Compromise    Procrastination

We would love to see your vision..

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

This was Thursday: 1969 Wild, Wet and Woolly

beautiful people

A look copied and loved by thousands today

When the first rumblings about the music festival of the century hit our neighbourhood many went into “long and hard planning in secret” mode. Everyone fantasized how they would get there, who they wanted to go with and what they would tell their parents they were doing when they were actually heading on down the highway with a t-shirt and change of underwear to what was arguably one of the most popular concerts of the decade. Woodstock – four days of music in the fields of a dairy farm outside Bethel, New York where standing in line for water and toilets wasn’t a big deal and clothing was optional.

Couture had already picked up on the exotic nature of the hippie lifestyle – Woodstock would provide them with enough material for a few more seasons-worth of collections, it was the real thing. In Europe, designers like Ken Scott and Zandra Rhodes took the best elements of bohemian colour, texture and design and translated it into eminently wearable, statement-making clothing.  The appeal of the counterculture refined hit the high street in a splash of vibrant prints and previously unused fabrics that changed the way we all looked at fashion – if the hippies and the hoi polloi could wear it, well, so could everyone else…

Hippie Couture - Dress by Ken Scott photographed by David Bailey for Vogue Italia, 1969

Dress by Ken Scott photographed by David Bailey for Vogue Italia, 1969

In our own time there is a huge resurgence among the under 30s in the terrible oxymoron that is hippie couture. The market with all the disposable cash that now asks their grandfathers if perhaps a vintage Levis jean jacket is tucked away or if that carpet-bag Grandma was holding in that faded black and white is still around are the ones being targeted by everyone from t-shirt and denim manufacturers to perfume panderers.  It is not much of a stretch to guess that someone is making wads of cash on the replication of an era that eschewed most things related to capitalism.

juicy couture perfume ad

Living the fantasy with a bottle of perfume the price of a 1969 Volkwagen…

45 years after half a million trudged through the mud, got stoned, listened to some of the best musicians of the decade, made love and planned how they were going to change the world, their descendants want “it” also.  They want to buy the idea of 1969 – the cool factor of the beads and feathers hinting at an irresponsibility and freedom that just looks so good it has to be documented and shared, now: it is rebellion of the commercial sort neatly packaged by one of their favourite brands. Today’s petty-bourgeoisie has been agitated into a credit-driven fervour not by the ideals and aspirations of past generations but by what those who made history at Woodstock were wearing – hippie chic. Perhaps an unconscious  longing for a new beginning underlies the obsession with these latest fads but that too seems questionable without an understanding of the original.

gal-woodstock-2-jpg

Grandpa Woodstock shows a peace sign as he walks with his wife Queen Estar. The couple were attendees of the original 1969 music festival. Photo courtesy of NY Daily News

The reality of it all is somewhat less glamorous. Time plods on or flies by depending on your state of mind and whether we sold out, became the man, kept our ideals and stayed on the commune or managed to find a nice balance between doing the right thing and still making a living, we’ve come a long way, baby…

Read more on:

Woodstock
Ken Scott Reborn
David Bailey
Remembering Woodstock – a slideshow
Where are they now?
1969