The Poster Dress

 In 1968, American graphic artist Harry Gordon fabricated mod-pop "Poster Dresses" in a series of five different designs. The shift dress designs included the 'Mystic Eye', 'Giant Rocket', 'Rose', 'Pussy Cat' and 'Hand' (which featured "Uptown N.Y." by Allen Ginsberg on top of a rather shocking hand gesture). The five different dress types came in one package, so you could wear whichever suited your current mood. The manufacturer stated "Toughness is woven into the non-woven fabric for long, l-o-n-g wear, and should you tire (which is doubtful), just cut open all the seams and hang it on your wall as a poster, or cover pillows." In the turbulent creativity of fashion in the sixties, this is just one example of innovation. The fact that the simple dresses were created by a normal person as opposed to a designer supports that, as William Zinsser of Life magazine said, "Overnight, fashion has turned from a humorless cult, ruled by a few fashion priests, into a game that anybody can play, any way they want to play it."

(Photos from vintage 1968 ads and Radical Rags. Last photo from My Mom, the Style Icon.)