The queer people on top of the world
Paul McCartney and actress Jane Asher pictured out on the town in London's West End. Of all the Beatles, McCartney was the one who embraced celebrity culture with open arms. Asher, meanwhile, was a key figure of 1960s UK entertainment and arts culture.
Top fashion and celebrity photographer David Bailey at the feet of German model Veruschka. Bailey snapped everybody who was anybody in the 1960s. David Hemmings' character in Michelangelo Antonioni's 'Blowup' (1966) is based on the London-born photographer.
Swinging London was regarded as one of the great fashion centers of the world. Here, models wearing berets line up as Christian Dior unveil their latest collection in the West End of London in September 1966.
A novel publicity shot for the opening of the Tom Cat fashion boutique on Carnaby Street in 1966. Kinna the Cheetah is seen with model Christine Spooner and shop owner Irvine Sellar. In the 1990s, the Sellar Property Group acquired a site in London that would eventually become the The Shard, today one of Europe's most recognized skyscrapers.
Welsh singer Tom Jones visited Tom Cat boutique on many occasions, one of several big-name celebrities of the era who got suited and booted on Carnaby Street.
British fashion designer Mary Quant is seen here in the mid-1960s having the finishing touches made to her new hairstyle by Vidal Sassoon. Quant is credited with designing the miniskirt and later, in the early 1970s, hotpants. Sassoon, meanwhile, was noted for re-popularizing a simple, close-cut geometric hair style called the bob cut, a look favored at the time by Mia Farrow and a host of other international celebs.
The release on May 26, 1967 of the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' was a defining moment in 1960's pop culture, heralding the Summer of Love. The launch party (pictured) for the album was held at manager Brian Epstein's apartment in Chapel Street, central London.
On July 30, 1966, England met West Germany at Wembley in the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final. England won 4–2 after extra time to claim the Jules Rimet Trophy. It was the first—and to date only—occasion that England had hosted or won the World Cup.
An icon of Swinging London and considered to be one of the world's first supermodels, Jean Shrimpton graced numerous magazines during the 1960s, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. Her career rose to prominence through her work with photographer David Bailey. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential fashion icons of all time.
On April 15, 1966, the Rolling Stones released 'Aftermath.' The album was their first to consist entirely of original compositions, and marked an artistic breakthrough for the band. It was written around psychodramatic themes of love, sex, desire, power and dominance, hate, obsession, modern society, and rock stardom.
One of the epicenters of the Swinging Sixties, Carnaby Street in London's Soho district was originally laid out in 1685 and was named for nearby Karnaby House, spelled with a K. The first music club, a jazz club, opened on the street in 1934; the first fashion boutique opened in 1957.
Lady Jane was the first women's fashion boutique to open on Carnaby Street, in April 1966. As a publicity stunt, the owners had models changing in the shop windows for three days, which attracted huge crowds.
The classic Jaguar E-Type sports car was a British icon of the 1960s. Pulling up in Soho or King's Road in one of these sleek vehicles was seen not only as a fashion statement but a "look, I've made it!" declaration of success. Pictured is a 1968 Jaguar E- Type 4.2 fixed head coupe.
Few British television shows evoked the eccentric '60s better than 'The Avengers.' Episodes featured Patrick Macnee as the bowler-hatted, umbrella wielding John Steed with, variously, Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, Diana Rigg as Emma Peel (pictured), and Linda Thorson as Tara King. While Steed cut a conservative, establishment figure, his assistants were intelligent, stylish, and assertive.
Swinging London was not immune to the wave of protests and demonstrations sweeping across Europe and America during the late 1960s. In March 1968, police had to block off Grosvenor Square as rioting broke out near the US embassy during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration. Peace and love it was not!
'The Italian Job' stars Michael Caine. But the actor had earlier appeared in 'Alfie' (1966), seen here with co-star Shelley Winters in a scene shot near Tower Bridge. Caine represented a new breed of working class actor born and bred in London's East End and who managed to break down social and cultural barriers to reach the giddy heights of Hollywood.
In addition to music and fashion, the Swinging Sixties were symbolized by the political activism of the anti-nuclear movement. In fact, the movement had been active since the 1950s, when the Aldermaston protest marches began. In the early '60s, London saw scenes like this, where 88-year-old philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), a foremost voice in Britain for the abolition of nuclear arms, sat on the pavement with other demonstrators outside the Ministry of Defense in Whitehall.
The Swinging Sixties saw London flourishing in music, fashion, and art. Pop artist Peter Blake achieved worldwide fame for designing the sleeve for 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' Meanwhile, David Hockney, pictured here in 1967, became celebrated for painting near life-size portraits of friends, lovers, and relatives, before finding further fame in America.
Known as "Groovy Bob," art dealer Robert Fraser was a pivotal figure in the London cultural scene of the mid-to-late 1960s. Close to members of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, he established the Robert Fraser Gallery on Duke Street in 1962, where he launched and promoted the work of many important new British and American artists.
Outside of London, the term "Swinging Sixties" was somewhat of a misnomer. Britain's Prime Minister throughout much of the 1960s was the Labour politician Harold Wilson. In 1967, he gave his infamous devaluation speech where he announced his government's intention to devalue the pound against the dollar in the face of a nationwide recession. During the broadcast, he assured listeners that the "pound in your pocket" had not lost its value. But tough times were ahead.
London's East End in the 1960s was the domain of twins Ronald and Reginald Kray, the foremost perpetrators of organized crime in the area. The Krays mixed with politicians and entertainers, and were even photographed by David Bailey. Both convicted of murder in 1969, the twins spent the rest of their lives behind bars.
London may have been swinging, but the capital, and indeed the entire country, came to a standstill on January 30, 1965, as Winston Churchill's funeral cortege slowly made its way from Westminster Hall to St Paul's Cathedral.
Ronnie Biggs, one of those involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, became even more notorious after his July 8, 1965 escape from Wandsworth Prison in south west London. Biggs lived as a fugitive for 36 years, much of that time in Brazil, before giving himself up to British authorities in 2001. He died in 2013.
Other well-known Carnaby Street fashion boutiques of the era included Domino Male and Tre Camp, both pictured here in 1968, as well the wonderfully named I Was Kitchener's Valet.
London in the early 1960s became home to satire with the opening in 1961 of The Establishment club. It was founded by comedian Peter Cook and writer and politician Nicholas Luard, both of whom were also important in the history of the magazine Private Eye, a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine that is still published today. The club itself closed in 1964.
From the 1950s into the 1960s, there was a mass migration of workers from all over the English-speaking Caribbean, particularly Jamaica, who settled in the UK. They are widely viewed as having been a major contributing factor to the rebuilding of the post-war urban London economy.
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Twiggy is arguably the most famous model of the Swinging Sixties. Known for her thin build (thus her nickname) and androgynous appearance, Twiggy was one of the first models to wear a miniskirt, one of the defining fashions of the 1960s. She's pictured here in 1966 on a deserted King's Road, where Quant had her boutique.
London in the mid-1960s also witnessed the sexual revolution, which had its roots in the USA. The so-called permissive society challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships. In the UK, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalized homosexuality.
The Swinging Sixties took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s. Swinging London was the epicenter of this exciting era, which emphasized modernity and fun-loving hedonism, and reconfigured the music, fashion, photography, movies, and art of youth culture. But London in the 1960s didn't always swing so smoothly. The capital also had its fair share of crime, and witnessed political unrest and anti-establishment revolt.
Click through the following gallery and take a nostalgic look at Swinging London.
Catch a dose of Beatlemania: time traveling to London in the Swinging Sixties
A 1960s capital vibe
LIFESTYLE England
The Swinging Sixties took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s. Swinging London was the epicenter of this exciting era, which emphasized modernity and fun-loving hedonism, and reconfigured the music, fashion, photography, movies, and art of youth culture. But London in the 1960s didn't always swing so smoothly. The capital also had its fair share of crime, and witnessed political unrest and anti-establishment revolt.
Click through the following gallery and take a nostalgic look at Swinging London.