PonchoMeg's Guide to Hippie, Bohemian, Free-Spirited Living: A Lens for the Counterculture

Some things you might see on a Hippie/Bohemian/Free-Spirit

Notice that I only said "some"

• Long, flowing skirts in solids or prints. They are usually in Earth tones or in bright, artistic, colorful tones. Prints will often represent other cultures and ethnicities, highlight fun and fantastical imagery or artwork, or will be of something that occurs in nature (flowers, animals, etc.)
• Jewelry. Real. Fake. Classy. Costume. Vintage. New. You'll often see a lot of hemp, turquoise, and handmade beads, and also many layered necklaces and a plethora of chunky bracelets. There may be brooches, pins, and cuff links right along with the cheesy peace sign earrings and obligatory hippie buttons.
• Hats. Getting dressed is like getting in costume, and often, you may need a hat. Floppy beach hats, cowboy hats, berets, top hats, beanies... pretty much anything goes, as long as you have the guts and gusto to pull it off.
• Moccasins, sandals, and other comfortable footwear. Moccasins are great for indoor and outdoor use, sandals such as Birkenstocks are just so darn comfortable and good for your feet, and other cozy footwear like flip-flops, slippers, clogs, and boots are cozy, convenient, and yes... comfortable.
• Heels, thigh-high boots, and other uncomfortable footwear. So... Modern Bohemians sometimes want to make a different kind of fashion statement. High fashion is art after all, so it's okay to mix modern art into the wardrobe. With heels and boots, the sexier the better (but you may still see basic pumps and combat boots) and as for other uncomfortable footwear... well, all I have to say is, sometimes, it hurts to be beautiful. Or... well... it hurts to be art.
• Headscarves, shawls, wraps, belts, capes, and ponchos. Just as with jewelry, these accessories are wanted in any and all forms. Why? Because when not worn on the body, all of these can serve as decoration within the household: over tables, covering lampshades, across the tops of windows, on the back of chairs, as a part of an elaborate work of wall art, or just hanging on a doorknob. It's pretty groovy.
• Secondhand. Vintage. Antique. Homemade. These words mean a LOT to the Modern Hippie/Bohemian/Free-Spirit. Most of my own closet can practically be divided into just these 4 categories! (In fact, probably only about 20% is bought new or received as a gift)
• Tie Dye. If you have any hippie in you, I would hope you had a least a little tie-dye.
• Jeans. Whether they are torn, worn, frayed, and dirty or crisp, clean, dark and skinny... jeans are always cool.
• Vintage or new band t-shirts. We'll talk more about this in the music section, but some things you may see on these band t-shirts would be:
  The Beatles
  The Rolling Stones
  Pink Floyd
  Led Zeppelin
  The Grateful Dead
  The Moody Blues
  The Doors
  Phish
  Bob Marley
  Janis Joplin
  Jimi Hendrix
  Joni Mitchell
  Joss Stone
  Etc.

Music

• The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones
• The Who
• Janis Joplin
• Joni Mitchell
• The Doors
• The Moody Blues
• Jimi Hendrix
• Bob Marley
• Led Zeppelin
• Pink Floyd
• Queen
• The Grateful Dead
• Phish
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Joss Stone
• Bob Dylan
• Jefferson Airplane
• Ravi Shankar
• Frank Zappa
• Richie Havens
• Joe Cocker
• Blood, Sweat, and Tears
• Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
• The Animals
• The Byrds
• Van Morrison
• Cat Stevens
• Arlo Guthrie
• Etc.

Modern Bohemian, Hippie, and Free-Spirit Books to Read

• The Bohemian Manifesto - Lauren Stover
  The Hippie Handbook - Chelsea Cain
  RENT - Jonathan Larson
  The Princess Bride - William Goldman
  The Egyptian Book of the Dead - E.A. Wallis Budge
  Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman
  The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
  Scenes de la Boheme - Henry Murger
  Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
  White Oleander - Janet Fitch
  Girl Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
  Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
  The Way to God - A collection of Gandhi's words
  Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
  Summer Sisters - Judy Blume
  Wicked - Gregory Maguire
  The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
  Hippie - Barry Miles
  
  Plus: Poetry (especially that by Christina Rossetti, Edgar Allen Poe, Keats, Shelley, Byron, and Yeats), Plays (such as those by Oscar Wilde), Religious and Spiritual Texts, Children's Books (Like... Where the Wild Things Are), and other books that talk about hippies, Bohemianism, counterculture, drug use, etc.