The British are coming! The British are coming!

By Alex Giubelli

Sunday February 9, 1964. On that date, at eight o’clock sharp, more than 73 million people, mostly young ladies, eagerly sat in front of their black and white television set waiting for the popular Ed Sullivan Show to begin. As the curtains went up, and four young man with identical haircuts and suits appeared on stage, the sold out crowd went wild. The Beatles had just made their very first appearance ever in the United States, putting in motion a phenomenon never seen before in North America.

The Beatles with host Ed Sullivan in 1964

That phenomenon was given the name of British Invasion. It started out in the mid 60’s, when rock and pop bands from the U.K. were becoming more and more popular in the U.S. By 1965, nine of the top 10 songs of the Billboard Hot 100 were from British artists, and 50 out of the 100 were also British.

This phenomenon didn’t simply happen in the music industry. In 1962, the beginning of the James Bond series with Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery gave an extra boost to everything British. Also, Mary Poppins starring British actress Julie Andrews was released in 1964, becoming the most Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated Disney movie in history. In the fashion world, the ‘mod’ look became extremely popular in the U.S., promoted by international supermodels like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.

Twiggy