What the late '60s really looked like

Lydia Gorinas, far right, her twin sister and her friends enjoy a Christmas Eve together in Chicago in 1967. "I loved the '60s very much," Gorinas says. "It was when 'mod' was a noun ... not an adjective as it is now."

Marjorie Zien, second from left, was 10 years old in 1967 when this photo was taken at her Aunt Fran's annual New Year's Eve party. She wore her "really cool mirrored vest" her uncle brought back from Pakistan and a handmade A-line skirt. Her sister, far right, sported a Nehru collar dress accessorized with a medallion necklace.

At 5 years old, Julie West wore a matching coat and hat in 1967. "I fancied myself a movie star or model wearing them," she says. "My mom really liked to dress nicely. Once she settled into her life in Chicago, she loved to shop and always made sure we wore the latest fashions."

Josh Johnson's grandparents pose with their kids in Georgia in 1967. "I think the fashion of the 1960s had a different kind of character that is missing in today's style," Johnson says. "I think it was classier and much more respectable."

In 1967, Patricia Anne Alfano was a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. She says the style in the '60s was much more conservative than it is today.

Nikki C. Morris wore a yellow dress and white gloves for her prom in 1967, but she says '60s fashion was too colorful for her taste. "I remember thinking that most of the dresses and the girls wearing them looked like Easter eggs," Morris says. "I wasn't a fan."

Natalie Montanaro, right, and her sister took a photo before their first Holy Communion in 1967. She says many women in the 1960s copied Jackie Kennedy's look. "Really, my favorite look was the short, cropped jackets with A-line knee-length skirts and a pillbox hat with gloves for church," she says.

Milda Contoyannis and her friend show off their dance moves at a house party in 1967. She wore her favorite minidress, and her friend wore a jacket and an ascot tie. "Nothing compares to the '60s," Contoyannis says. "You had to be there when it was happening."

Niena Sevilla's father attended a New Year's Eve party in the Philippines in 1968. Her dad, 18 years old at the time, danced with one of the partygoers he met at the event. "Women of the '60's were so natural," Sevilla says.

Janie Lambert, pictured in 1968, says Patti Boyd was one of her favorite models, and she loved 1960s fashion -- particularly the "mod" look. "I much prefer the '60s fashion over that of today and am happy to see the style returning once again," she says. "Loud, groovy but tasteful."

Miriam Cintron, right, used an iron and an ironing board to straighten her hair in 1968. "I preferred a more hippie look, but as I said, a clean hippie, not a shoeless one," she says.

Keith Long took this picture of his wife in 1969 on the running board of a steam engine in England. "Sixties fashion was a changing decade -- very dated in the early part and trendy and totally different at the end," Long says.

Raymond Johnson, right, poses with his friend on their high school graduation day in 1968. "There are no dress codes today, so young people are free to choose what they like and feel is most comfortable," he says. "That in itself is a giant leap from the '60s."

Dominica Lim's mom, far left, wears a tie and bell-bottom pants as she poses for a picture with her friends in South Korea in 1969. "I think the fashion of the 1960s was very classy with a touch of fun," Lim says.

Teri Coley Adams' parents enjoy an evening in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1969. Her dad is wearing a thin striped tie and a sports jacket. Her mom has on a red linen dress with a matching satin red peacock scarf. "As I recall, the dress was pretty short, well above Mom's knees, but she had the legs for it," Adams says.

Cynthia Carr Falardeau says this family photo from 1969 represents "a time of innocence."

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The iReport Awards are here! Go here and vote once per day through May 6 for the Community Choice Award.

(CNN) -- As "Mad Men" returns for its sixth season on Sunday, April 7, many viewers will tune in to see what happens next for Don, Peggy, Pete and the other characters of the hit AMC show. Many will also be eager to see the fabulous clothes they wear.

We can't help but wonder -- was all that glamour real, or is it just the magic of TV? We asked readers to share their snapshots from 1967-69 and show us what the late '60s really looked like.

Janie Lambert, 61, says she thinks "Mad Men" portrays the decade's conservative fashion and mod look accurately. But she remembers the late 1960s as more colorful and vibrant.

On the set of 'Mad Men'

"My favorite looks in the '60s were the bright colors and bold patterns, stripes and polka dots, miniskirts, long hair and pale lipstick," Lambert says.

'Mad Men' and the other 1960s

Many iReporters strived to keep up with the fast pace of the changing fashion in the late '60s. Patricia Anne Alfano, 66, went from a British-inspired mod style cheerleader to a hippie in a matter of three years.

In 1967, Alfano was an "Eaglette" -- an NFL cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Unlike today, the cheerleaders were covered from head to toe. The uniforms had long sleeves, and the cheerleaders wore gloves and cloth helmets.

"From the early 1960s until 1967, I spent tons of time on my hair," she says, noting her mod hairdo in the picture is actually a wig. "Wigs were big back then. Everyone had at least one."

In 1968, the style began to evolve. Alfano still spent a lot of time on her hair, but her peers began heavily criticizing all things materialistic, so the style became more casual.

Buzz abounds for the return of 'Mad Men'

"I was still 'fussing' a bit with my hair, but the times were changing, and so was I," she says.

A year later, Alfano joined the "flower children," moved to California, grew her hair out and wore more flowing clothes. She says many women stopped dying their hair or wearing makeup. Some even stopped shaving.

"It was all part of the 'revolution,' and the anti-establishment movement," Alfano says. "I must say, though, that through these turbulent times, I did continue shaving my legs and underarms."

Living large in Don Draper's New York

In 1969, the fashion changed to more vibrant, hippie clothing.

Though Nikki C. Morris, 64, wore a yellow dress with long white gloves to her high school prom in 1967, colorful dresses in the late 1960s weren't too appealing to her.

"All I remember about the fashion of that time was that it was too colorful for my tastes," Morris says. "I remember thinking that most of the dresses and the girls wearing them looked like Easter eggs. I wasn't a fan."

Do you have family or personal photos from the late 1960s? Share them with iReport, and we'll add the best to the gallery above.