Shot with Mechanized Life's Filter Cam and Expansion Pack
Rock Per Annum moves forward another year to 1966. 1966 was a year of contrasts. The Vietnam War continued to polarize people, largely along generational lines. Star Trek made its debut, as did the Monkees. The Black Panthers were formed, and the first Toyota Corolla was sold. More importantly for our purposes, this was a year in which the notion of an album really started to be much more than just an assortment of material packaged around a couple of singles. Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, and Revolver made a strong case for the pop album as an art form of its own. The Velvet Musicologist Maht Wuyts will be ending the set tonight by playing Revolver in its entirety. His plan is that most weeks moving forward, he will end the night with an important album from the year in question. The set begins at 7 PM SLT tonight at The Velvet. Be there or be square. (I wonder if that phrase began in 1966?)
There was a lot of diversity in fashion in 1966. Hemlines were up, down and all around at the beginning of the year but by fall, were pretty firmly above the knee, though you wouuld often see a long coat paired with a mini-dress. The waist was gone forever, lost in a world of aline shifts and babydolls. There was a lot of experimentation with fabric. It was the year of the paper dress and of Paco Rabanne’s plastic and wire dresses. Yes, plastic a full 45 years before Josh McKKinley thought he discovered something new on Project Runway. Most women still wore cloth, however, and it often was a bright, bold print from textile designers like Emilio Pucci and Ken Scott. This dress from Subculture by Shauna Vella is a perfect example of the 1966 look.
Continue reading →