1969: Hippie high school

1969

Hippie high school

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

dropped classes

Woodside High, California.

The latest rule in girls’ high 

school

fashion is that there isn’t any.

LIFE MAGAZINE, 1969

Left to right: Pam Pepin, Pat Auvenshine and Kim Robertson, at Corona del Mar High School in California.

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.

A Southern California high school student walks toward her classmates while wearing the "Mini Jupe" skirt.

Guess what, I might be the 

first 

hippie pinup girl.

JANIS JOPLIN

High schooler Lenore Reday stops traffic while wearing a bell-bottomed jumpsuit, in Newport Beach, California.

Beverly High School classmates.

Southern California high school students wear hippie fashion, in California.

Southern California high school student wear Bermuda overalls.

Students of Woodside High wearing hippie fashion, such as ponchos, boots and sandals, in California.

High Schooler Nina Nalhaus wears wool pants and a homemade jacket at high school, in Denver, Colorado.

Beverly Hills high school student Erica Farber wears a checker and tiered outfit as she walks with a young man.

High school student band, in California.

High school student wears hippie fashion consisting of bell bottoms and boots.

High school student Rosemary Shoong.

Southern California high schooler wearing a buckskin vest.

High school student wearing an old-fashioned tapestry skirt and wool shwal

High School teacher Sandy Brockman wearing a bold print hippie-style dress, in Denver, Colorado.