That '60s show: What American high school students dressed like in 1969

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That '60s show: What American high school students dressed like in 1969
Credit: ARTHUR SCHATZ/ TIME INC/GETTY IMAGES

Hippie high school

When students (and teachers) turned on, tuned in, and dropped classes

Chris Wild

Oct. 1969

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Woodside High, California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
The latest rule in girls’ high school<br> fashion is that there isn’t any. - LIFE Magazine, 1969
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Left to right: Pam Pepin, Pat Auvenshine and Kim Robertson, at Corona del Mar High School in California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images

Rooted in the the early 1960s "Beat Generation," hippies were about freedom — of expression, of living and, of course, of love. When it came to style, this meant individuality and customization over mass production: long hair for men, little makeup for women, bras optional. By 1967, a raft of publications and handbooks explained exactly how to dress like a hippie. Ruth Bronsteen's "The Hippy's Handbook" even included graphics on how to rock the look.But in 1969, the year of these photographs, hippie fashion was evolving from counter culture to, well, culture. And young people were informing the change. Most of the students you see here are wearing off-the-shelf fashions — still recognizably hippie, but more homogenized. Being a hippy was safe, but somehow not as free.

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A Southern California high school student walks toward her classmates while wearing the &quot;Mini Jupe&quot; skirt. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
Guess what, I might be the first hippie pinup girl. - Janis Joplin
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High schooler Lenore Reday stops traffic while wearing a bell-bottomed jumpsuit, in Newport Beach, California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Beverly High School classmates. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Southern California high school students wear hippie fashion, in California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Southern California high school student wear Bermuda overalls. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Students of Woodside High wearing hippie fashion, such as ponchos, boots and sandals, in California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High Schooler Nina Nalhaus wears wool pants and a homemade jacket at high school, in Denver, Colorado. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Beverly Hills high school student Erica Farber wears a checker and tiered outfit as she walks with a young man. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High school student band, in California. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High school student wears hippie fashion consisting of bell bottoms and boots. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High school student Rosemary Shoong. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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Southern California high schooler wearing a buckskin vest. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High school student wearing an old-fashioned tapestry skirt and wool shawl. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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High School teacher Sandy Brockman wearing a bold print hippie-style dress, in Denver, Colorado. Credit: Arthur Schatz/ Time Inc/Getty Images
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