70s

The 1970’s In Fashion

1970s fashion, which began with a continuation of the mini skirts, bell-bottoms and the androgynous hippie look from the late 1960s, was soon sharply characterized by several distinct fashion trends that have left an indelible image of the decade commemorated in popular culture. These include platform shoes which appeared on the fashion scene in 1971 and often had soles two to four inches thick. Both men and women wore them. Wide-legged, flared jeans and trousers were another fashion mainstay for both men and women throughout most of the decade, and this style has been immortalised in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which starred John Travolta. The “disco look”, complete with three-piece suits for men and rayon or jersey wrap dresses for women, which the film further popularized, lasted until it was gradually replaced by punk fashion and straight, cigarette-legged jeans. Platform shoes gave way to mules and ankle-strapped shoes, both reminiscent of the 1940s, at the very end of the decade.

70s’ fashion took on a multitude of different styles and influences. As well as the hippy style of the late sixties, there was nostalgia for the past. First for the 20s and 30s, then the 40s and 50s and finally the Edwardian era. There was also concern for the environment and strong ethnic influences.

Men’s fashion adopted a look that would have been considered too feminine a few years earlier. Shirts were tight fitting with big collars and were brightly patterned. There was also a trend towards unisex clothes.

The formal suit was still expected to be worn to a dinner party in the 70s; for younger men it was usually only worn in the office or for formal occasions. Jeans, increasingly flared, were popular with men and women for everyday wear.

By the end of the decade, change was on the way. Punk rejected everything that had gone before.