I made it to the last day of an exhibit called Counter-Couture at the Bellevue Arts Museum, which allegedly “celebrates the handmade fashion and style of the 1960s and 1970s.” I went to be reminded of my life after college. I’m pretty sure most of these high-fashion hippie clothes never made their way up the coast from Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco to the Pacific Northwest, or across the country from New York’s Greenwich Village.

commune style

Tie dye was definitely in back then, and so was fringe, though neither played a prominent role in the show. Wait. Aren’t these back in fashion?

I do remember seeing the flowing commune style worn here. (It could also work in an on-screen ancient Roman saga.) This particular garment was a staple of members of The Source Family, led by Father Yod or YaHoWha. He and his fourteen wives lived in Hollywood, supported by the income from a health food restaurant Yod founded, which was popular with celebrities.

Patchwork played a role in fashion, but mostly to cover up holes in jeans and overalls.  Overalls for men and women were big. An entire piece of pieces like this one was not common.

Hats like these could have slipped from the 1970’s into 2016 without notice.  But the rest of the show consisted of clothing made for the special few. The rest of us couldn’t have afforded it in that earlier era even if we’d found it appealing. My husband and I did have an Indian bedspread, but no clothing that would have turned it into camouflage.

The cape to the left looks like it might fit into a contemporary fantasy film, and an English queen in the 1500’s might sport the “necklace” below. I’d gone to the exhibit to be reminded of the past. However, not much of the past came through.  Or maybe I no longer remember.