"NOW AND THEN": A CHRONOLOGY OF THE BEATLE'S FASHION
October 10, 2024
Ava Balbuena
“Now and Then”: A Chronology of The Beatles’ Fashion by Ava Balbuena
On November 2, 2023, “Now and Then” was released. Sixty years after the release of “Love Me Do,” the first single from The Beatles, listeners have received their final song. The song’s position at No. 1 on the UK charts breaks the record for the longest period between No. 1 singles, with 60 years and 6 months since their first chart-topper, “From Me to You,” released in May 1963. “Now and Then” features vocals and instrumentals from John Lennon and George Harrison (who passed in 1980 and 2001, respectively) and utilizes a machine audio learning algorithm to isolate vocals and guitar work from cassette tapes originally deemed too muddy for use. The song is a bittersweet goodbye, with Lennon and McCartney singing, “I miss you / Oh, now and then / I want you to be there for me / Always to return to me.” The Fab Four’s final collaboration was released as a duo with a remastering of “Love Me Do,” their first single, bookending the discography of one of the most popular bands of all time. As we reflect on The Beatles’ cultural influence, it is impossible to ignore their style and a fashion evolution that has become as iconic as their music. ​
Image Credit: The Ed Sullivan Show
After shedding the “Quarrymen” moniker, The Beatles began their career in 1960 with a residency in Hamburg. The influence of the French and German styles they encountered during their time there became evident in their style. When they arrived, they wore tight leather suits and cowboy boots and greased their hair back to match Elvis. As they befriended German art students, they cut their hair into the “mop-top” styles that were eventually called the “Beatles Haircut” and became one of their first marks on the world of fashion. In Hamburg, they established themselves as recording artists and made the acquaintance of Brian Epstein, who became their manager and remained until he died in 1967.​
Image Credit: Michael Ochs
Image Credit: The Ed Sullivan Show
Beginning in 1962, Epstein undertook the task of cleaning up the boys, who wouldn’t be taken seriously by record companies in their greasy style. Paul McCartney had already tried to get the band to ditch the leather and was the first on board with the effort to tailor their look. Modeled after British pop groups and Black American vocal groups, their fashions became much more cohesive, as they adopted matching bespoke suits and skinny neckties. The tidied-up band’s attire became a hallmark of the 60’s mod look, popularizing Chelsea boots and collarless necks. It was in this style that they first came to America, launching the first wave of the British invasion and appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show in a historic 1964 performance. The 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night gave fans an insight into the band they were rapidly growing obsessed with. Clad in slim-cut suits that would come to inspire designers for decades, the group gets up to trouble, sneaking out to party while they should be answering fan mail. Their clean-cut appearance contrasted with their witty remarks and “rebellious” behavior which became part of their appeal.
Image Credit: Britannica
Image Credit: The Fest
By the 1965 release of Rubber Soul, the group had cemented their position in pop culture and began straying from the aggressively neat image that their style pushed. The album began the individual styling of The Beatles, though they maintained their overall uniform appearance. The cover of the album shows that they are still styled as a unit, in similar colors and silhouettes, but the individual pieces have begun to vary, a departure from their identical suits of the past. Their mop-tops have begun to grow into shags, evidence of their more experimental influences at the time. In varying shades of brown and black, The Beatles’ coats are zipped and buttoned high up their necks. They began introducing new shapes and textures, from turtlenecks to corduroy. It was in 1966 that John Lennon adopted the circular glasses that would come to define his look. Their appearance in the movie How I Won the War would tie them to Lennon’s anti-war activism, and the circular lenses soon became synonymous with “hippie” fashion. Revolver (1966) betrayed the beginning of the group’s foray into psychedelically influenced music. The movements of experimenting with drugs and free love manifest as echoing reverb on guitars and LSD-mimicking kaleidoscope visuals, and the band’s apparel shifted to accommodate their carefree attitude. On their 1966 US tour, they appeared with open suit jackets, in velvet, stripes, and vibrant warm hues.
Image Credit: The Rolling Stone
Image Credit: Jann Haworth and Peter Blake
In 1967, The Beatles released their most iconic album yet. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has one of the most well-known album covers of all time and has inspired innumerable reproductions. Flanked by icons of history and culture, the band wears vibrant, acid-colored military suits. In the decades after the end of the Second World War, military style had come back into fashion. Armed instead with instruments, The Beatles stand beside Carl Jung, Bob Dylan, three versions of Shirley Temple, their younger selves, among countless others. Decorated with real military medals and flowers, the band also introduced facial hair to their look. This era of style incorporated floral prints, scarves, and Afghan coats. The bold colors and feminine patterns were a testament to their experimentation and disregard for cultural standards. They could do anything and get away with it because they were The Beatles.
Image Credit: Michael Cooper
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
After Sgt. Pepper, George Harrison’s interest in mysticism brought the group to India in 1968. They practiced Transcendental Meditation and began one of their most fruitful periods of creativity, writing close to 50 songs in their short time there, many of which appeared on “The White Album.” The trip generated controversy and ended with the group denouncing the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The native dress they wore in India was swiftly incorporated into their attire after their departure, with loose, flowing silhouettes dominating their look as they continued to grow out their hair. When they wore suits, they were looser than ever before and even denim became a “smart” look for the group. Their image clearly reflected the anti-establishment values they had been developing for years by this point.
Image Credit: Don McCullin
Image Credit: Iain MacMillan
The iconic cover of Abbey Road shows divergence within the group. The photo of the four men crossing the road became one of the most famous photos in history. It doesn’t feature the name of the album or the band that produced it. The group walks away from the studio where they have just completed the final recording session together. Each member of the group is dressed in his personal style, with George Harrison in full denim, Paul McCartney barefoot, Ringo Starr in a black suit, and John Lennon leading the group in white from head to toe. The denim and white suits worn by John and George show that the two men have held tight to the memory of their trip to India, as they continued to practice the habits of mysticism they’d adopted while abroad. It is also an exit from their time as a band. Though it was their penultimate release, it was the final album they recorded, having finished Let It Be a few months earlier. Two days after finishing the record, they came together for a photo session, one which, unbeknownst to them, would produce some of the final photos of them as a group. At the home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, there is an intentional unity visible in the group. The colors and styles they wear coordinate, and in some shots, Lennon and Harrison wear matching wide-brimmed hats. Starr and Harrison both wear orange scarves tied around their necks. McCartney and Lennon sit on the grass together. Even with the orchestrated togetherness, there is a palpable dissonance. They stand apart at awkward distances, looking in different directions. A photo in which any member is caught smiling is rare.
Image Credit: Ethan Russell and Monte Fresco
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
On January 30th, 1969, The Beatles’ final concert took place on the rooftop of the Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row. It was an impromptu performance, and the four men would never play together as The Beatles again. They played for 42 minutes, for friends, family, and the cameras. Billy Preston joined them. One of the most talented keyboardists of the sixties, Preston is the only musician to be credited on a Beatles’ label, and collaborated so frequently with the group that he earned the moniker, “the fifth Beatle”. The group hadn’t planned for a concert that day, certainly not the one that would mark the end of their run, but you’d never know from their dress. It was a cold and windy day – Lennon borrowed a fur coat from Yoko Ono while Starr took his wife’s cherry red Mackintosh raincoat. Harrison wears a heavy fur jacket, bright green pants, and Converse. Paul McCartney wears a suit, polished in comparison to his band mates, echoing his early attempts to clean up the group’s look. As crowds filled the streets, the police attempted to shut down the concert, but the group continued playing, a testament to their rebellious nature. In their final performance as The Beatles, it is clear that they have developed into wholly distinct individuals, a far cry from the matching tailored suits and haircuts they once sported.
Image Credit: Variety
With the turbulent trajectory of the band’s style development, it is hard to imagine their entire evolution taking place over nine years. In that period, they released thirteen studio albums and a smattering of singles. Their rapid musical evolution was a product of their incredible productivity, with their tastes changing just as quickly as they acquired them. Their fashionable and sonic productions came hand in hand, and it is impossible to conceive of The Beatles without thinking of their mop-tops or the neon suits of Sgt. Pepper. The harmony between the attire and the records is unmistakable – as if their music could materialize in their closets. More than just revolutionizing the world of music and what it means to be a star, the style evolution of The Beatles demonstrates the ways that music and fashion have become inextricably intertwined.