How did hippies live?
Symbol of peace and of love, thestate of mind of the hippie movement born in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States. Led by very popular artists, the movement is built around a love for music, around informal meetings between individuals and through the absorption of narcotics. So, it was at the same time as the creation of the Rolling Stones, the heyday of Franck Zappa, the inspiring speeches of Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War and even the Kennedy assassination that this movement became democratized.
Originally, the hippies designate a group of individuals revolt against the consumer society of the American lifestyle. Exemplification of the degeneration of conquering America for its detractors, or a true peaceful society, but who were the hippies really and how did they live?
THE HISTORY OF THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT
THE ROOTS AND PRECURSORS OF THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT
In a first step, the hippie years is characterized by the theory of Civil Disobedience. Established by Henri-David Thoreau in his essay of the same name published in 1846. Civil disobedience is also taken up by John Rawls in 1971. He defends the thesis according to which the individual has a moral duty and an obligation to contestation when a political measure does not seem legitimate.
Added to civil disobedience is pacifism of hippie movement. If it is in a logic of protests, against the mode of consumption, capitalism and the bourgeois society of the “American Way of Life”, the watchword is non-violence.
Finally, it is a movement which has no hierarchy, no structure. Thus, it is anarchy that reigns within the hippie movement, but always an anarchy placed under the slogan of “Peace and Love”.
The hippie movement is therefore the counterculture par excellence of the 1960s and 1970s. But what is a counterculture ? This designates a protest movement which is embodied in different cultural aspects. In this decade, we find protests through music, mainly, but also through photography and cinematography.
The hippie of 60s and 70 also preaches thefree love and sexual freedom, in a form of unbridled sexuality which de-taboos the puritanical morals of their parents. A true way of life and not simply an adolescent crisis, this movement aims to be critical of Western society and its values, which it considers full of conformism and hypocrisy.
FORMATION OF THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT
The hippie movement was therefore formed in the course of 1960s, under the sign of the refusal of values bourgeoises of American society. We revolutionize the world by advocating non-violence, by listening to music, by conversing, and by loving each other and taking drugs.
Within the very heart of hippie movement come in various struggles social and political. We then find the new left, the Vietnam War pacifists and African-American civil rights activists.
HIPPIES, A LIFE CLOSE TO MUSIC
As a child of rock n roll and the Beat generation, which is embodied through rock and progressive rock groups such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin; as well as the garage rock style, the hippie music culture. Festive, surreal and alternative at the same time, this music never ceases to surprise.
THE SUMMER OF LOVE, A WHOLE SUMMER UNDER THE HIPPIE SIGN
During the summer of 1967, the Summer of Love. It is an informal event that takes place at San Francisco, in Golden Gate Park. Thousands of people flock to come together and make the victory triumph. hippie lifestyle. San Francisco, which was already full of symbolism, is becoming a place where multiculturalism and tolerance are exalted.
It is in this festive atmosphere free concerts and daily gatherings were organized throughout the summer of 1967. Individuals met and exchanged views in this park, which did not please the municipality and residents. Some excesses took place, but at the end of the summer the event ran out of steam.
THE WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL, THE PEOPLE OF THE HIPPIE CURRENT
It's at the end of sixties, during the summer of 1969, that the Woodstock festival took place. This was the height of the hippie movement. It took place about a hundred kilometers from Woodstock, in a field in Berthel, in the state of New York between August 15 and 17.
Huge artists perform during this festival, such as Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker and The Who. Despite a catastrophic organization and weather which did not spare the festival-goers, Woodstock became a legend of the hippie movement filled with pacifism, music, love and psychoactive substances.
THE ESSENTIAL ARTISTS OF THE HIPPIE STYLE
Hippie style artists mainly belong to musical styles such as rock, blue, funk and folk. They became myths due to their premature death. We find many emblematic artists of the hippie period in the Club of 27.
This is the case of Jimi Hendrix, famous guitarist and singer of psychedelic rock, blues rock and hard rock. He performed on the Woodstock stage and did a famous electric guitar cover of the American national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner. He died of an overdose of psychotropic drugs in 1970.
Janis Joplin, is another famous singer from the hippie movement who was part of the Forever 27 Club. A blues and soul singer, she is particularly known for her songs like “A piece of my heart”. She also performed on the Woodstock stage in 1969 and died of an overdose in 1970, less than a month after Jimi Hendrix.
HIPPIES, A LIFE IN THE HEART OF NATURE?
SAN FRANSISCO, SYMBOL OF HIPPIE COUNTER-CULTURE
It's all the California who embodies the lifestyle pacifist and the utopian ideology of the hippies, but particularly the city of San Francisco. Thus, San Francisco becomes the essential city of the hippie lifestyle. The Haight Street district in particular stands out as the birthplace of the movement. It is in this district that we find the house of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, with a renovation full of psychedelic frescoes, as well as the hill of Golden Gate Park where the Summer of Love was held in 1967.
Today, this neighborhood is still marked by the hippie movement, which we could describe as bohemian today, where we find numerous independent artists' studios, art salons, tattoos, small grocery stores, and stores promoting cannabis.
THE LEGACY OF THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT, THE BABA COOL CULTURE
A large number of current events and debates are attributed to this generation. This is how the culture of festivals born with them. Just like the consideration forenvironment and ecology. Indeed, it is with the hippie movement that environmental questions will grow, not as we know them today, but rather as a first consideration of nature.
THE DRESSING STYLE OF HIPPIES
The hippie generation The sixties tend to prefer loose, wide clothing that creates a fluid, airy look. Fan of ethnic patterned clothing and feathers
So, to find a look hippie worthy of the early sixties, why not go for a flowing bohemian skirt who will completely embrace this style? Don’t hesitate to accessorize your hair with all types of ornaments: headbands, scarves, flowers for a stylish look. Flower Power, Let your creativity speak.
So, if you have a hippy theme party planned, whether you are a man or a woman, adopt a cut with long hair, stripes A little retro, and large flowers. You will then have the perfect hippie costume for your evening, and if you choose to invest in classic pieces, you will have no problem wearing them in everyday life, because the hippie chic style makes its big comeback.