60s Youth and Subcultures

What do you imagine when you think of the Sixties? Mods and Rockers? Fashion and Carnaby Street? Music and The Beatles? Follow this pit-stop tour through the 'swinging decade' to find out how this stereotype was formed and how accurate it is.

Accompanied by photos taken at the end of the decade, you can compare the excitement of the 'high Sixties' with what these youth-fuelled places became as the decade wore on.

Some elements lasted; fashion and boutiques continued to target teenagers by being dynamic and attractive. But other aspects couldn't be maintained. The economic security, which allowed the youths to invest time, money and energy into leisure not work, couldn't continue for long. Then the realities of the wider world (Vietnam, the Cold War) dragged the good times to an end. The party couldn't last, but it did continue to influence culture and society. In fact, Sixties culture is still influencing popular culture today.

Created by London Metropolitan Archives