It's true that you don't see Hippies everywhere like we were in the sixties and seventies. Boho scarves and skirts on college girls, sure, or even costumes at parties. But bellbottom patched jeans worn with sandals, rose colored glasses, multi-colored vests, assorted beads bracelets tie-dyed accouterments, not so much.
Actually, you do see Hippies everywhere today. We didn't fade away by 1980. Everything we stood as a counter-culture became a vital, major core of society's cultural beliefs and discussion.
Of course there are those air pollution-snorting littering war-mongering racist cultural Neanderthals (no offense to actual Neanderthals) who are fight the tide of civilization's progress, but they're literally dying out as their political choices are killing them.
If anything could be said to be an identifiable flag of Hippie clothing identification, it was blue jeans. Sure, they've been around since the Gold Rush, but since the Sixties, they've become ubiquitous. Everyone has a couple of pairs. But as far as fashion uniformity, the fashion individualism of that period has spread. Work clothing is far more casual, with an extra kicker for Casual Fridays. Tennis shoes are worn at work.
While t-shirt began to be worn as more than an undershirt starting with Marlon Brando ("What are you protesting?" "Whatta ya got?") and James Dean, the sixties brought color and tie-dye, smiley faces, and then messages. Protest messages. Political messages. Individual belief messages, the core of Hippiedom.
Clothing is more of a statement of who you are than ever before. It's part of the first impression everyone makes. You see someone, and their total package of physical appearance creates an impression that you react to. I'm sure the expression "Dress to Impress" only vaguely had that in mind, but it's true, Even if you clothe yourself without caring one whit about what other people think, you want to convey that impression. So choose carefully.
We describe some of our clothes as a Statement tee, or hoodie. The reality is they all are. Some statements are just more definitive than others, some have a distinct message, some are subtle. Some say it in black and white, some have a colorful way of getting that message across. Some reflect a mood, an emotion, and sometimes, a tee is just a tee.
