The Collectible '70s by Goldberg

Author:Goldberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2011-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Fashion

The Decade Without a Silhouette

The fashions of the '70s have been described as easy-care, funky, outlandish and retro. HMMM… that should tell us something. In the serious fashion world, the 1960s had been a mixed bag of successes and failures. With too many choices and rules-were-made-to-be-broken attitudes, confusion reigned. When the dust settled and the '70s dawned, fashion was no longer a “look,” but a catalog of “looks”— diverse styles often combined to produce even more hybrid “looks,” all striving to express individuality. One thing that did perish was the concept of distinctly different clothes only appropriate for certain parts of the day. Esquire magazine surveyed the situation for men in 1971 and reported, “A plaid sports jacket and checkered slacks worn with a patterned tie? Of course. It's all part of man's liberation from the drab unimaginativeness of his apparel…there is no longer any clear-cut distinction between what is appropriate for the boardroom and what for the discotheque.” In the '70s, people were not rejecting ties and shirts and everything else, just the rules that dictated what was acceptable and when—and for whom.

With these tried and true tenets tossed to the wind, fashion started out like so many things in the '70s as a wild and crazy extension of the swinging '60s. Experimentation was the rule and styles came quick and fast. Swirling psychedelic prints, dotted with geometric shapes, mushrooms and daisies were popular holdovers from the hippie culture.

Anti-fashion, a new concept in the field, dominated the 1970s, adding a complex twist to clothing of the era. Jogging suits, bell-bottoms, vintage clothes, unisex, glam and punk were all anti-fashion driven and very popular. As the decade wore on and the glitter wore off, fashion became co-opted by haute couture designers pushing a more conservative style. When the age of the yuppie dawned, status and name became the modus operandi for expressing oneself instead of the myriad of styles the early '70s had offered. Our loss.

While '70s fashion went in numerous directions-including anti-fashion— some styles and fads have come to define the times. These “modes” are desirable today:

• Natural or Ethnic Styles of the Hippies: As with the rest of popular culture, the post-'60s saw the hippie ethos stamped all over everyday fashion. Denim, leather, suede, natural fibers, beadwork and an incredible amount of appliqué, embroidery and crochet were all utilized on clothing to achieve the effect. Also popular was the Native Indian look with wide loose shirts of light fabrics, sandals, wide dresses and turquoise and silver jewelry. The Granny Dress featured frilly blouses with stand-up collars and skirts in the style of the rustic 19th century. Patchwork was almost a must with this style. Other ethnic influences included The Far East and India.

Fabrics of far-off India highlight the tie at left.

Middle tie incorporates bold designs inspired by Art Deco. Design at right is abstract.

Purple velvet and printed satin platforms. Photo: Trina Robbins.

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