Madras Fashion of the American Women's Costume in the Sixties

This study aimed to explore how India madras fashion was diffused in the American women's costume of the different social levels from 1960 to 1975, by using fashion illustrations such as photographs, drawings and advertisements collected from fashion magazines. The purpose was to obtain data for high fashion(Vogue), mainstream fashion(Mademoiselle) and college newspapers for youth fashion. The data were incorporated from 439 clothing items classified by different categories over the 16-year period. The results indicated that the appearance of madras in the American women's fashion in all social classes supported the idea that fashion change during this period accompanied a concurrent change in social environment. In America during the 1960s when there was strong influence of youth counterculture and interest was high on Indian culture, this corresponded to the time of maximum popularity of madras observed in American fashion in general from 1965 to 1971. Though the Indian influence on fashion in the sixties was often ascribed solely to youth counterculture, it is evident that different social groups-high and mainstream social classes, responded to the appeal of Indian culture in different ways.