Vintage Clothing from the 70's

Spotlight on: The 70’s

70s fashion trends

Seventies fashion tracked the evolution from sixties self-discovery to eighties self-absorption.
The hippie movement endured throughout the early seventies as bold colors and geometric shapes made way for earth tones and unstructured silhouettes. As the decade progressed, polyester plaids, wide neckties and pointed collars produced what for many would become some of the most cringe-inducing yearbook photos of all time.
Hemlines rose and fell dramatically between the still-popular miniskirt and newly introduced “midi” and full-length “maxi” skirts. Pastel pantsuits or gaucho pants and cowl-neck sweaters paired with calf-high boots became the feminist’s answer to menswear.
Barbers and cosmetic companies struggled during the grooming-optional seventies as youths abandoned the clean-cut past to grow hair long, let beards flourish and forego makeup. Denim, once the utilitarian choice of farmers and day laborers, was now prized less for its durability than for its versatility as a canvas for expressing personal style. Low-rise, hip-hugging bell bottoms were paired with tie-dyed T-shirts and personalized with bleach, embroidery and metal studs. Earth shoes and mood rings added a contemplative twist.
Welsh designer Laura Ashley countered the rebellious look with long skirts, high, scalloped collars and frilled household furnishings in silkscreen Victorian prints. In a nod to 17th-century romanticism, Yves St. Laurent introduced the peasant look, which featured tiered skirts and gauzy, off-the-shoulder blouses.

John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever

Music was a major force in shaping seventies style, from the dreamy sensibility of the singer-songwriter era to the androgynous glam of pop to the fetishism of punk.
Few images are more closely associated with the 1970s than that of John Travolta posed in “Saturday Night Fever,” one hand on a white polyester hip and the other pointing skyward. The 1977 movie ushered in the disco craze along with one of history’s most radical, albeit short-lived, transformations in menswear. Men’s fashion choices broadened from boxy, boring neutrals to colorful leisure suits with broad lapels, flared trousers and white stitching. Women gravitated toward wrap dresses and twirling chiffon skirts tailor-made for the dance floor. Other trends included platform shoes and zippered jumpsuits.
No designer is more closely linked to the decadence of the disco era than Roy Halston Frowick, an American designer known simply as Halston. Halston’s fluid, shoulder-baring designs became synonymous with the international jet set and Studio 54 excess.
Elio Fiorucci, an Italian designer who in the late 1960s had exposed Italian teenagers to American T-shirts and jeans, now brought international trends like Brazilian thongs and Afghan coats to the states. The label was later credited with creating stretch jeans and opening the door for the designer-jean market.
The advent of British punk placed London designer Vivienne Westwood and her partner, Malcolm McLaren, among the most influential fashion designers of the day. The pair’s London boutique, SEX, initially sold rubber and leather fetish wear and later expanded to include ripped jeans, torn leather jackets, spiked-collar jewelry and T-shirts featuring images of serial killers. The designs rose to prominence thanks in part to the Sex Pistols, who McLaren managed and who wore the clothes at gigs.

© 2008 Spotlight Vintage.