I started this list of fashion-spotting films last month, beginning with An Education. I was hoping it would be the first in my Movie Marathon of 60’s Fashion…but, the movie isn’t available on demand (i.e., iTunes, Netflix), so I assembled my marathon with several hours of entertainment (a few movies, a TV show, and a mini-series) that I could easily stream to the screen above my sewing machine.

Just in time for this week’s Mad Men-themed challenge at The Sew Weekly, I shall continue my tour – one, each day this week for the rest of the month– of selected,1960’s fashion on film with one of my favorite Sidney Poitier movies:

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Costumes by Joe King, Jean Louis, and Edna Taylor

The story is about a newly in-love, interracial couple who must reveal their relationship to their parents. Civil rights was a fresh topic in the 1960’s, so the notion of “mixed” marriage was hard to swallow for both sets of parents. I love how relevant the movie still is, even now….interracial couples (like my husband and I) across America still deal will people’s lack of tolerance and acceptance.

I re-watched the movie in the hopes I’d see some comment-worthy styles of the time, but the girl who plays Sidney Poitier’s fiance and her mother, played by Katherine Hepburn, were dressed unremarkably.

Just when I was ready to give up on vintage fashion-spotting, the daughter of the fiance’s family maid has a small scene. She walks past Poitier, who notices she’s hot, then she exits the house and runs into a delivery guy who’s in the driveway dancing to some unexplained, groovy 60’s music. The maid’s daughter starts dancing along with him and the two get in a van and drive off together. What?

It was the only odd moment in the movie. And, the only fashion-spotting scene, too.

A pink and coral striped sheath with a ruffled skirt…and, that hair! What a quintessential, late 60’s look! I almost knocked-off this dress for last month’s Oscars Challenge, but I couldn’t find the right kind of striped fabric. If I ever do, it is SO on.