The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouthβs city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
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Miniskirts
Miniskirt - Passion and Power
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Overview
A woman models the iconic sixtiesβ miniskirt in the centre of Plymouth. Differing attitudes towards this daring wear as a bold fashion statement are caught on film. Miniskirts took the fashion world by storm in the swinging sixties and define the era. Short skirts were seen as items of dance or sportsβ clothing or worn by the film actresses of the 50s in films such as βFlight to Marsβ or βForbidden Planetβ. Historically short skirts have been worn by soldiers and tribes.
Mary Quant is the most recognised name associated with the miniskirt like AndrΓ© CourrΓ¨ges in France. Quant opened a boutique βBazaarβ on London's Kingβs Road, Chelsea in 1955 and encouraged experimentation with fashion. By the 60s many women expressed themselves politically and through new freedoms such as the way they dressed. Did Mary Quant invent the miniskirt? Mary had considerable influence in the mass appeal of the style of the miniskirt or minidress at the time. The popularity of the miniskirt endures to this day but remains as a contentious issue in many cultures.
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