1970s in fashion
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Lars_Jacob_et_al_%26_fashions_in_San_Diego_1971.jpg/220px-Lars_Jacob_et_al_%26_fashions_in_San_Diego_1971.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Diane_von_Furstenberg_dress_at_the_Met_%2852695%29.jpg/170px-Diane_von_Furstenberg_dress_at_the_Met_%2852695%29.jpg)
Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, Vogue proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now"[1] due to overproduction flooding the market with cheap synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bell-bottoms popularized by hippies, vintage clothing from the 1950s and earlier, and the androgynous glam rock and disco styles that introduced platform shoes, bright colors, glitter, and satin.[2]
New technologies brought advances in production through mass production, higher efficiency, generating higher standards and uniformity. Generally the most famous silhouette of the mid and late 1970s for both genders was that of tight on top and loose on bottom. The 1970s also saw the birth of the indifferent, anti-conformist casual chic approach to fashion, which consisted of sweaters, T-shirts, jeans and sneakers.[3] One notable fashion designer to emerge into the spotlight during this time was Diane von Fürstenberg, who popularized, among other things, the jersey "wrap dress".[4][5] von Fürstenberg's wrap dress design, essentially a robe, it was among the most popular fashion styles of the 1970s, would also be credited as a symbol of women's liberation.[6][7] The French designer Yves Saint Laurent[8][9] and the American designer Halston both observed and embraced the changes that were happening in the society, especially the huge growth of women's rights[10] and the youth counterculture. They successfully adapted their design aesthetics to accommodate the changes that the market was aiming for.
Top fashion models in the 1970s were Lauren Hutton, Margaux Hemingway, Beverly Johnson, Gia Carangi, Janice Dickinson, Patti Hansen, Cheryl Tiegs, Jerry Hall, and Iman.
Women
[edit]Early 1970s (1970–1972)
[edit]Hippie look
[edit]- The 1970s began with a continuation of the hippie look from the 1960s, giving a distinct ethnic flavor.[11] Popular early 1970s fashions for women included Tie dye shirts, Mexican 'peasant' blouses,[12] folk-embroidered Hungarian blouses, ponchos, capes,[13] and military surplus clothing.[14] Bottom attire for women during this time included bell-bottoms, gauchos,[13][15] frayed jeans, midi skirts, and ankle-length maxi dresses. Hippie clothing during this time was made in extremely bright colors,[16] as well as Indian patterns, Native American patterns, and floral patterns.[17]
- Women's hippie accessories of the early 1970s included chokers, dog collars, handcrafted neck ornaments, and accessories made from natural elements like wood, shells, stones, feathers, Indian beads and leather. All of these replaced standard jewelry.[13] Unisex hippie accessories included headbands, floppy hats, balumba balls, flowing scarves,[14] Birkenstocks,[18] earth shoes,[19] authentic beaded and fringed Native American buckskin moccasins, including knee-high boot versions, and sandals, including tire-soled versions and huaraches. The back-to-nature direction of the times meant that there was also a lot of going barefoot.
Glamour
[edit]- Although the hippie look was widespread, it was not adopted by everyone. Many women still continued to dress up with more glamorous clothes, inspired by 1940s movie star glamour. Other women just adopted simple casual fashions, or combined new garments with carefully chosen secondhand or vintage clothing from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s.[20]
- Glamorous women's accessories of the early 1970s included cloche hats or turbans, pearl earrings, necklaces, bracelets, feather boas, black-veiled hats, clogs, wedgies, cork-soled platforms, and chunky high heels.[21][13] Golden chains, gold-button earrings and rhinestone clips started to become popular again in 1973 after several years of homemade jewelry.[22][13][23]
Other early '70s trends
[edit]- More simple early 1970s trends for women included fitted blazers (coming in a multitude of fabrics along with wide lapels), long and short dresses, mini skirts, maxi evening gowns, hot pants (extremely brief, tight-fitting shorts) paired with skin-tight T-shirts,[16] his & hers outfits (matching outfits that were nearly identical to each other), and flared pants. Pastel colors were most commonly used for this style of clothing, such as mauve, peach, apple green, pink, yellow, white, wheat, camel, gray, and baby blue.[13] Rust, tangerine, copper, forest green, and pistachio became more popularized from 1973 onwards.[13] Sweaters were a huge phenomenon in the early 1970s, often outfits being judged entirely by the sweater. This fragmented into more styles, such as sweater coats, sweater dresses, floor-length sweaters, and even sweater suits. Many of them were trimmed with fur, especially faux. Chunky, shawl-collared, belted cardigans, often in brown and white, were also commonplace.[13] On the feet, platform shoes were widespread in a variety of styles,[24] including clog-like forms[25] and sandals, with relatively wide straps. The young paired these with colorful, often brightly striped knee-socks,[26] some with separate toes like gloves for the feet, called toe socks.[27]
- In the early 1970s boots were at the height of their popularity, continuing onward from the mid-1960s. Women had boots for every occasion, with a wide variety of styles being sold in stores for affordable prices. Despite the wide variety, the most popular boots were Go-go boots, crinkle boots (boots with a shiny wet look that was wrinkled), stretch boots, and granny boots (1920s style lace-up boots that ended just below the knees).[28]
Mid 1970s (1973–1976)
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Well_dressed_couple%2C_Michigan_Avenue%2C_Chicago%2C_July_1975.jpg/220px-Well_dressed_couple%2C_Michigan_Avenue%2C_Chicago%2C_July_1975.jpg)
Casual looks
[edit]- By 1974, the T-shirt was no longer considered underwear, and was by then made in elaborate designs such as slogans, sports teams, and other styles.[13] Around the same time the looser, more flowy shirts of the early 1970s had given way to fitted tops.
- By the mid-1970s, the hippie look had completely disappeared, although casual looks continued.[29] In the mid-1970s women wore sweaters,[30] T-shirts, cardigans, kimono, graphic T-shirts and sweaters,[16] jeans, khakis, gauchos,[15] workmen's clothes, and vintage clothing.[13] A denim emphasis continued from the early seventies, particularly strong in 1973 to '75, with denim and denim-look fabrics of various intensities of indigo paired with blue jeans, usually flared, and denim skirts in below-knee lengths.[31] In 1975, the slim-legged jean style known as the cigarette-leg was introduced, a style that would dominate the end of the decade.[32] Around 1976, casual fashion adopted a Parisan peasant look. This included capes, turbans, puffy skirts and shirts with billowing sleeves.[13]
- In the mid-1970s, accessories were generally not worn, adopting a minimalistic approach to fashion akin to that of the 1950s. The most commonly seen form of jewelry was a simple, thin, unobtrusive gold neckchain, sometimes in silver, worn under the collar against the skin by both men and women throughout the decade but becoming really ubiquitous starting in the mid-seventies. White pukka shell necklaces were also worn by both sexes. Small leather shoulder bags were worn by women everywhere, and popular shoes included Mary Janes, knee-high boots with rounded toes, including Dingo boots and Frye boots[33] (often with pants tucked in),[34] platform shoes and sandals, wedge-heeled espadrilles that often had long cords to wrap around the ankle,[35] Birkenstocks,[18] Famolares,[36] and loafers.[13][16] Despite the lack of accessories, the mood ring was a big fad in the mid-1970s.[37]
Active wear
[edit]- Clean-cut, all-American active wear for women became increasingly popular from 1975 onwards. The biggest phenomenon of this trend was the jumpsuit, popular from 1975 onwards. Jumpsuits were almost always flared in the legs, and sleeves varied from being completely sleeveless to having extremely long bell-sleeves.[13] Other sportswear trends included tracksuits, tunic shirts, crop tops, tube tops, sweatshirts, hip-huggers,[38] low rise pants, and leisure suits.[13][16] This continued into the 1980s.
- Accessories were less of an importance during this time, but two very desirable accessories included sneakers and tennis headbands.[16][38]
Tailored styles
[edit]- As the divorce rate rose and the marriage rate declined in the mid-70s, women were forced to work in order to support the nuclear family. The progressive addition of women to the work force altered shopping styles and fashion. Working women shopped on weekends and in the evenings. Feminized men's business suits such as tailored jackets, midi-skirts, and fitted blouses were their go-to choice as to "dress for success."[39]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Disco_dress_1970s.jpg/150px-Disco_dress_1970s.jpg)
- Starting in 1975, women's semi-formal wear became more tailored and sharp. This included a lot of layering, with women wearing two blouses at once, multiple sweaters, pants underneath tunic dresses, and jumpers worn over long, fitted dresses. The 1970s also featured some of the most scandalous dresses worn publicly in American history up to that point.[16] Other clothes worn in this style include suede coats, peacoats, blazers, cowl-neck sweaters, pencil skirts, backless dresses, extremely low-cut dresses, palazzo pants,[16] tube dresses,[13] evening gowns, jacket dresses,[17] and pinstriped pantsuits.[13][16] Women's dresses in the mid-1970s were dominated by pastel colors, but Asian patterns were also common.[17]
- Accessories for the more formal styles included high-heels (both low and high, mostly thick-heeled), turbans, and leather shoulder bags.[16] Boots continued their popularity in the mid-1970s. This trend expanded to other styles, most notably the wedge heel (arguably the most popular women's shoe of the mid-1970s). Boots became rounder, chunkier, heavier, and thicker, and were more expensive than they were in the early 1970s. Popular boots of the mid-1970s included wedge boots, ankle boots, platform boots, and cowboy boots.[28] The A/W Haute Couture Collection "Opium Collection" by the French designer Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by the Chinese culture and history.
Disco look
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Ulla_Jones_1976.jpg/150px-Ulla_Jones_1976.jpg)
- The disco music genre spawned its own fashion craze in the mid- to late 1970s. Young people gathered in nightclubs dressed in new disco clothing that was designed to show off the body and shine under dance-floor lights. Disco fashion featured fancy clothes made from man-made materials. The most famous disco look for women was the jersey wrap dress, a knee-length dress with a cinched waist. Essentially a robe, it became an extremely popular item, as it flattered a number of different body types and sizes, and could be worn both to the office by day, and to nightclubs and discos by night.[40]
- Disco fashion was generally inspired by clothing from the early 1960s. Disco clothes worn by women included tube tops, sequined halterneck shirts, blazers, spandex short shorts, loose pants, form-fitting spandex pants, maxi skirts and dresses with long thigh slits, jersey wrap dresses, and evening dresses.[17] Shoes ranged from knee-high boots to kitten heels, but the most commonly worn shoes were ones that had thick heels and were often made with transparent plastic.
The Big Look or Soft Look
[edit]- The leading high-fashion trend of the mid-seventies,[41][42] extending from 1973 and 1974 through the first half of 1978, was known as the Big Look or Soft Look,[43] with big meaning voluminous.[44][45][46] This was a loosening and increase in scale of the popular, casual peasant styles of the late sixties and early seventies[47][48][49] and a reduction and elimination of internal structure like linings and padding to achieve what was known as an unconstructed look and feel.[50][51][52][53] Introduced by designer Kenzo Takada in 1973,[54][55][56] carried further by Karl Lagerfeld in 1974,[57][58][59] adapted for the US[60] by Geoffrey Beene shortly thereafter,[61][62] and endorsed in silhouette the same year by the most influential designer of the time, Yves Saint Laurent,[63][64][65] it came to influence everyone[66] from Calvin Klein[67][68] to Mary McFadden[69] to Givenchy[70] to Perry Ellis, who was probably the look's biggest US exponent.[71][72]
- The Big Look relied on loose, billowy, oversized shapes;[73][74][75][76] comfortable, thin, gossamer-weight,[77] natural-fiber[78][79] fabrics like cotton gauze, crepe de chine, and challis,[80][81] often left naturally wrinkled;[82][83] a mostly neutral or earthtone,[84] forest-tone, or wine-tone color palette, with prints small, muted, and often floral;[85][86] layering;[87][88][89] drawstrings,[90][91][92][93] wrapping/tying,[94] and rope-cords[95] as opposed to hardware like buttons, zippers, and belts;[96] capes, serapes, and shawls[97] more than structured coats;[98][99][100][101][102] oversized, unlined jackets and vests;[103][104][105] extensive use of hoods[106][107] and cowlnecks;[108][109] full sleeve cuts like raglan, dolman, batwing, and bishop;[110][111] big, rustic-textured sweaters;[112][113] blouson tops;[114][115][116] full, often ruffled blouses cut so large that they slid off the shoulder;[117][118][119][120] camisoles;[121] smock tops and smock dresses;[122][123][124] bubble dresses or bag dresses;[125] tent dresses;[126][127][128] full sundresses;[129][130] and mostly longer lengths in skirts, high-fashion versions generally ranging from mid-calf to ankle,[131][132] though mini-tunics and mini-blousons were also part of the picture.[133][134][135][136][137] Occasional slits or slashes allowed for some show of leg amid all the billowing fabric.[138] Skirts were almost entirely dirndls,[139][140][141] with tiered or flounced versions called gypsy skirts or peasant skirts particularly popular.[142][143][144] Skirts were also sometimes layered, with, say, a white underskirt beneath a hiked-up, floral-print top skirt.[145][146][147][148] Pant shapes varied from full dungarees[149] to full culottes[150] and gauchos[151] to full shorts called paper bag shorts, but most were tapered from full, pleated or drawstring-closed waists to narrow ankles,[152] a style called "pegged" at the time,[153] sometimes cut too long so they bunched up at the ankle.[154][155] Dhotis, zouaves, and harem pants were also frequently shown.[156][157][158] Comfort and ease were watchwords during this period,[159][160][161] reflected in the Big Look's ubiquitous rolled-up sleeves.[162][163][164]
- Accessories worn with the Big Look were minimal,[165][166] things like unobtrusive hemp-cord necklaces maybe strung with a very few earthy-looking beads,[167][168] stickpins to hold layers of shawls together,[169][170] and tasseled fiber cords worn instead of belts, the ends dangling over tunic hems and layers of skirts.[171] When actual belts were worn, they tended to be in leather, narrow, and sometimes long enough to be double-wrapped.[172] On the legs, you might find more of the kind of layering seen above, called the "layered leg": thick, warm tights, socks, stockings, and legwarmers in substantial knits in earthy colors for fall/winter,[173][174][175][176] and perhaps white anklets and occasionally even layered cotton socks worn in spring/summer, even with sandals.[177][178][179] Footwear was almost entirely either very bare sandals;[180][181][182][183] rope-soled, canvas espadrilles, often wrapping around the ankle;[184][185][186] or very full-shafted boots known as baggy boots or Cossack boots,[187][188][189][33] usually knee-high but in a range of heights from ankle to thigh,[190][191][192] with the fullness intended to bunch up in horizontal wrinkles at the ankle for what was referred to as a "crushed" look.[193] Heels, often stacked during this period,[194] could be any height from flat to high, the shape ranging from wedges to blocks to more tapered, but never stilettos.[195][196] Makeup and hairstyles tended to be natural-looking,[197][198][199] though smoky blush was common.[200] Hair combs and flowers tucked into the hair were widespread,[201][202] but headwear was minimal, consisting mostly of the occasional squishy beret or knit cap worn during winter[203][204][205][206] and a brief vogue for tilted straw boaters in early 1978.[207]
- Though the thin fabrics,[208][209] sliding-off-the-body volume, spaghetti straps, occasional straplessness,[210] and slits/slashes in skirts and tops could reveal the body to some extent,[211] the voluminous shapes and multiple layers of the Big Look resulted in some calling it shapeless, droopy, and rumpled.[212][213][214][215][216] Others pointed out the impracticality of flyaway capes and shawls[217][218][219] and considered the extensive fabric required for these styles extravagant.[220][221] Nonetheless, its comfort and ease did suit women's lives[222][223][224][225] and its rejection of man-focused coquetry reflected the powerful feminist influence in society at the time[226][227][228] and resulted in the look dominating high fashion for several years[229][230] and also influencing popular tastes, as it seemed an outgrowth of the moves toward natural fibers[231][232] and comfort that were already widespread in society.[233][234][235]
Late 1970s (1977–1979)
[edit]Relaxed look
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Fashion_in_1979.jpg/220px-Fashion_in_1979.jpg)
- In 1977, mass-market fashion became more baggy as the Big Look that had been dominant in high fashion since 1974 filtered down to the public. This caused much controversy, as women with trim figures bemoaned not being able to flaunt them while heavier women complained the looser clothes made them look even larger. To make up for this, it became fashionable to show more skin. This resulted in shirts being unbuttoned, sleeves being rolled up, and tops being strapless, transparent, and lacy. Shiny satin and gold colors were also used to make up for the lack of tighter clothing. By 1977, pants were only flared slightly and sometimes not flared at all.[16]
- Women's fashions in the late 1970s included cowl-neck shirts and sweaters, pantsuits, leisure suits, tracksuits,[13] sundresses worn with tight T-shirts,[12] strapless tops, lower-cut shirts, cardigans,[16] velour shirts, tunics, robes, crop tops, tube tops, embroidered vests and jeans, knee-length skirts,[17] loose satin pants,[13] designer jeans,[236] culottes, daisy dukes, and tennis shorts.[16] This continued into the 1980s.
- Accessories included scarves, gold jewelry, flowers, ankle boots, 1940s style hats (often tilted), skinny and wide belts, boas, braceleted gloves, spike-heeled sandals, mules, ankle-strapped shoes, waist cinchers, and obi wraps. Color had almost completely faded from fashion in the late 1970s, with earthy tones like browns, light blues, tans, grays, whites, and blacks making a comeback.[13][16]
- The frenzy for boots had cooled down by the late 1970s, but they remained popular, especially in the winter. They became less flamboyant by that point in time, and they mostly came in black, brown, or burgundy. The most popular boots were either knee-high or reached the mid-calf, and were made in leather, suede, urethane, or rubber. The toes were rounded, and zippers were on the side. The heels were usually only 2–4 inches, and the heels were sometimes even flat. Women continued to wear wedge heels and ankle boots, as well as knee-high boots with thick kitten heels.[28]
- In Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, many liberal women wore short skirts,[237][238] flower printed hippie dresses, flared trousers,[239] and went out in public without the hijab. This changed following the military dictatorship in Pakistan, the mujahideen government in Afghanistan,[a] and Iranian revolution of 1979, when traditional conservative attire including the abaya, jilbab and niqab made a comeback.[240][241][242]
One-piece swimsuits
[edit]- In 1977, American actress Farrah Fawcett popularized the one-piece swimsuit which in turn launched the trend for the maillot. This was, when it resurged in the 1970s, a sexy, tight swimsuit, with deep neckline and high-cut legs, worn by young women and girls in lieu of the bikini, although it did not entirely replace the latter. This continued into the 1980s.
The pantsuit
[edit]- By the late 1970s the pantsuit had become acceptable business wear for executive women. This was due to the success of Yves Saint Laurent's "Le smoking" tuxedo with silk lapels designed to allow any ash falling from cigarettes to slide off, keeping the jacket clean.[243] Business Insider pointed out that wearing the pantsuit was more of a political statement than a fashion one. "So, dressing in a YSL trouser suit declared the wearer was irreverent, daring, and on the cutting edge of fashion, whilst suggesting their alignment with burgeoning feminist politics – le smoking effectively demanded: 'If men can wear this, why can't I?'" With the increase of women entering the workface, they were in search for a new symbol that proved they were as serious and powerful as the men they shared elevators with. The only solution to convince male-dominated workspaces was to copy their tailored suits. The jacket could be either short and shapely or long and lean.
- Movies like Annie Hall fought gender ideals by portraying a woman who wore men's clothing on the daily basis. This movie took a big inspiration from the decade and because of its success, continues to influence fashion. Skirts, when worn, were often knee-length and could possibly have a front or side slit that put a subtle emphasis on the legs. To offset the more traditionally masculine look of "business suit style", women like Margot Kidder in Superman experimented with hats, high heels, ruffles that peaked out from the jacket and large jewelry to keep a confident, yet feminine, look intact.[244]
Designer jeans
[edit]- In 1978, the first designer jeans were introduced[245][246] and immediately[247] became popular,[248][249] designers like Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Fiorucci advertising their name[250] on the back of the fashionable cigarette-leg, usually dark blue denim jean of the time.[251][252] In the US in 1978, they were often worn with hems rolled up to or just above the ankle to show off the popular Candie's slides on the feet.[253]
"Baggies" (baggy jeans)
[edit]- From 1979 to 1981, a popular style was jeans with a high-ish waist and full cut through the hips and thighs that tapered to a narrow but not tight hem hitting at the ankle or just above, called "baggies."[254][255][256] They were paired in the fall with rustic-looking sweaters with shoulders fashionably widened via single, top-of-the-sleeve tucks or pleats called "dimples" by their creator Perry Ellis,[257] and the shoes worn with them were often high-vamped pumps with low cone heels inspired by Maud Frizon,[258] jazz oxfords,[259] or flat, lace-up ankle boots.
Shoulder pads
[edit]- Styles became curvier for fall of 1978, with shoulder pads,[260] tighter skirts, and narrower waistlines.[261][262][263] The silhouette that resulted was an inverted triangle.[264][265][266] This change did not arise from women's demands, nor from what women on the street were wearing, the way miniskirts,[267][268][269][270] jeans,[271][272] pants,[273][274][275] hippie clothing,[276][277] office blazers,[278] and more comfortable undergarments[279][280][281] had in the 1960s and earlier '70s.[282][283][284] Though decades later it would be claimed that the big shoulders of this period were part of an attempt by women to assert a "power" look as they worked their way up career ladders, big-shoulder looks did not come about because women were wanting to look more powerful for the boardroom; women already had appropriate but comfortable blazers for that.[285] Big-shoulder looks didn't come from women on the street at all. The hugely shoulder-padded look came solely from designers,[286][287] who united in showing the look in Fall 1978,[288] a few presenting shoulders literally three feet wide,[289][290][291] and there was strong resistance.[292][293][294] Since the clothes were less comfortable and more restrictive than the clothes of the '70s[295][296] and resembled too much the man-focused styles of the 1940s and '50s,[297][298][299] this shoulder-padded look was initially a hard sell to the public,[300][301][302][303] but some designers, notably Perry Ellis,[304] Norma Kamali,[305] Calvin Klein,[306] and Giorgio Armani,[307] made it more appealing by keeping it comfortably wearable and just adding reasonably-proportioned shoulder pads to slightly slimmed-down versions of the easy clothes women had been wearing during the decade,[308] and this approach was positively received by the general public.[309][310][311][312] So many designers continued to present really huge shoulders into the eighties, however,[313][314] that women were left with little option but to conform to it, which they did,[315] so much so that big shoulder pads became common in and characteristic of the 1980s,[316] seen on everyone from political leaders to actors in TV shows like Dynasty to your coworkers and family. At the end of the seventies, though, in 1978 and '79, much of the public still considered it strange,[317][318][319] though they had gotten the message that it was to be the new look.[320][321]
- Footwear worn with these styles initially, in 1978, continued the very bare, high-heeled sandal that had been popular throughout the mid-seventies, now with a slightly higher heel[322] and in more dressed-up materials and colors like black and metallics. These often had ankle straps and the heel fell straight down in the back rather than being underslung. In 1979, the higher-vamped, vaguely 1950s-looking pump that would characterize the eighties would appear, often in bright colors and marked by the underslung cone heels introduced by Maud Frizon.[323] Open-toed pumps were a particular focus in 1979.[324] After dominating fashion since the early 1960s, knee-high boots were no longer in with designers,[325] replaced by boots that rose no higher than mid-calf and usually didn't rise above the ankle, resembling the demi-boots of the 1950s and barely distinguishable from the new high-vamp pumps.[326][327]
- Another accessory trend that arrived with this new-old look was a determined attempt by designers to revive the wearing of dressy hats and gloves.[328][329] For fall 1978, designers showed a plethora of mostly small forties- and fifties-looking hats, particularly small, tilted pillboxes, often with veils,[330] and the fashion press claimed that there was an increase in hat sales.[331][332] Though hats and gloves of this type were only rarely seen among the public in 1978 and '79, mainly as an occasional accessory with a disco outfit, these revived hat and glove styles, like big shoulder pads, would continue to be shown during the following decade[333][334] and would be taken up by people for whom hat- and glove-wearing was customary, particularly royalty.
Men
[edit]Early 1970s (1970–1972)
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Reza_Pahlavi_Crown_Prince_of_Iran_1973.jpg/220px-Reza_Pahlavi_Crown_Prince_of_Iran_1973.jpg)
Peacock revolution
[edit]- With well-paid jobs and booming businesses, young men in the UK and America explored beyond the conventional social standards of dress. In the early 1970s, satin shirts in black, and grey were popular, and often featured lace ruffles on the cuffs and neckline. Due to the colorful nature of menswear, the time period was described as the Peacock Revolution, and male trendsetters were called "Dandies", "Dudes" or "Peacocks".[335] Typical casual wear for this time included Nehru jackets, ethnic inspired tunics, turtlenecks, candy striped blazers,[336] winklepicker boots with Cuban heels, and hip-hugging elephant bell-bottoms.[337] Accessories like color-matching nylon zippers and bright braided belts were common and also fitted in with the Peacock style.[338] Suits were available in bright colors and unorthodox styles from 1970 to 1976, including shawl collars, three pieces with peak lapels, and double breasted suits made from corduroy, paisley brocade, wool blends with wide pinstripes, or crushed velvet in burgundy, teal, black, bottle green, and peacock blue. A rise of 4.4 percent in suit sales was reported by Forbes magazine. Stylish continental suits by designers Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin were welcomed by young men while classic suits were loved by first-timers.[339]
Bright colors
[edit]- For the first time in decades, there was a significant shortage of raw materials and fabrics, including synthetics like vinyl and nylon. As a result, everyday designers kept things simple.[13] The early 1970s were a continuation of late 1960s hippie fashion. For men this particularly meant bell bottom jeans, tie dye shirts, and military surplus clothing.[14] Other early 1970s clothes for men included tweed sports jackets, khaki chinos, chunky sweaters in cream, dark green, beige and sky blue, storm coats, tartan jackets, peacoats, flannel shirts, pleated pants, baseball jackets,[13] corduroy pants, crocheted waistcoats, striped pullover sweaters and sweater vests, tassels, belted cardigans,[340] and hip-huggers.[38]
- The most popular accessories of the early 1970s for men were homemade, with necklaces, headbands, and bracelets being made from all-natural materials such as wood, hemp, flowers, leather, shells, stones, and Indian beads.[13] Unisex hippie accessories included headbands, floppy hats, and flowing scarves.[14] Men's footwear in the early 1970s included flip-flops, oxfords, Birkenstocks,[18] platform shoes,[341] earth shoes,[19] and cowboy boots.[340]
Eastern fashion
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/President_Richard_Nixon_and_Mao_Zedong.jpg/220px-President_Richard_Nixon_and_Mao_Zedong.jpg)
- Due to the ongoing Cultural Revolution in Mainland China, Western style clothing was suppressed and both sexes wore grey Mao suits until the early 1980s.[342] The suit, unchanged since the 1940s, typically had four external pockets, five buttons, and a turn-down collar.[343] In contrast to the Chinese mainland, many people in Taiwan and Hong Kong abandoned the Zhongshan suit during the early 1970s due to its association with Communism, leftists, and anti-Westerners.[344]
- In the UK, France,[345] India[346] and Australia,[347] green, blue or beige safari jackets similar to the Mao suit became popular among liberal men due to their association with socialist values, travel to exotic locations, 1930s Hollywood, and Roger Moore's portrayal of James Bond and Simon Templar.[348] These were also worn in place of the business suit in decolonised African countries, including South Africa, Rhodesia, and Mobutu's Zaire where it was known as an Abacost[349] and paired with a leopardskin fez resembling an Astrakhan cap.[350]
Mid 1970s (1973–1976)
[edit]Glam rock
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Wizzard_-_TopPop_1974_3.png/220px-Wizzard_-_TopPop_1974_3.png)
- By 1973, androgynous glam rock fashion had gone mainstream for young British[351] people of both sexes. These included embroidered Western shirts, velvet sports coats, Royal Stewart tartan as worn by the Bay City Rollers, red or blue shawl collar tuxedo jackets, frilly shirts, high necked nehru jackets, synthetic fabrics like satin, wide kipper ties, black or tan leather jackets, silk scarfs or ascots, shawl collar sweaters, satin shirts with oversized collars, drainpipe trousers as worn by Mud, and platform shoes of the type favored by Slade, Kiss, Alvin Stardust, Gary Glitter, David Bowie, and Sweet.[352][353] Unisex men's and women's outfits with few differences often came together in matching sets, and popular colors included cream, burgundy, brown, and orange.[13]
Informal attire
[edit]- Fashion in the mid-1970s was generally informal and laid back for men in America. Most men simply wore jeans, sweaters, and T-shirts, which by then were being made with more elaborate designs. Men continued to wear flannel, and the leisure suit became increasingly popular from 1975 onwards, often worn with gold medallions and oxford shoes. Vintage clothing, khaki chinos, workmen's clothes, sweatshirts, leather coats, and all-denim outfits were also desired among young men.[13] Other trends include printed shirts, zip-up cardigans, western shirts marketed to capitalise on the nostalgia for 1950s fashion, Birkenstocks,[18] mood rings,[37] and raincoats.[340] Many of the printed shirts worn from circa 1972 to 1975 were in a silky nylon with a slightly glossy finish called Qiana,[354] made in button-front styles with medium-wide collars and in a variety of prints – photographic prints, artwork prints, etc.[355] Decades later, these Qiana shirts would be referred to as "disco shirts," but they were not called that at the time, as they were worn almost everywhere. They accompanied both casual styles like jeans and corduroys and dressier slacks and leisure suits, usually tieless and with the top couple of buttons left open.
- Around 1975, American suits started to resemble the slimmer European suit. This new model, named the quasi-European suit, featured padded shoulders, higher arm holes, a smaller waist, open patch pockets, and a small flare to the pants and jacket.[13] In 1976, it became fashionable for men to wear velvet tuxedo jackets with more casual pants to formal events, and vests came back into vogue. It was this year that men's pants started to feature smaller flares or no flares at all.[13] This continued into the 1980s.
- In Brezhnev's Russia, used Western clothing, especially sheepskin coats and flared trousers, became readily available due to the détente.[356] Previously, jeans had to be imported on the black market.[357] Politburo members continued to wear the black, grey or brown suits and fur lined overcoats of the 1960s, with grey Astrakhan caps.[358]
The high-fashion Soft Look
[edit]- The Big Look/Soft Look that was high fashion in womenswear from 1973 to 1978 also extended to menswear,[359][360][361][362][363] spearheaded by Giorgio Armani in 1976, who followed womenswear's lead and eliminated the lining and padding from his men's jackets, suits, and trousers, cutting them in natural fibers with enough ease that sleeves and even trouser hems could be easily rolled or pushed up and collars could be turned up.[364] Collars, lapels, and ties were narrow,[365][366] the tie, when worn, often not pulled up high but knotted low to allow for an easy, open neck.[367] Trousers were straight-legged, sometimes even tapered, and often with soft pleats.[368][369] Band-collared shirts were often worn with the look. This style remained dominant in high-fashion menswear through 1978[370][371] and then menswear again followed womenswear's lead and adopted the new big-shoulder looks for 1979. The Soft Look's pushed-up jacket sleeves and turned-up collars, though, would continue into the 1980s in bigger-shouldered, more colorful form.
Late 1970s (1977–1979)
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Fotothek_df_n-15_0000413_Disko.jpg/220px-Fotothek_df_n-15_0000413_Disko.jpg)
Sportswear
[edit]- By the late 1970s, most men and women were wearing sports clothing as everyday apparel. This was primarily based on tracksuits, jumpsuits, velour or terry cloth shirts (often striped and low-cut),[13] sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts, puffer vests,[340] flare jeans,[13] straight-leg jeans, and collared shirts, both long sleeve and short sleeve. Around this time it also became fashionable for men to leave their shirts untucked.[340] This continued into the 1980s. During the late '70s, long and popped collars became a staple part of men's fashion.
- Late 1970s accessories included low-top sneakers, tennis headbands,[340] puka shell necklaces, and wristbands.
Disco style
[edit]- From 1977 to 1979, menswear became affected by the disco style. Men began to wear three-piece suits (which became available in a variety of colours including powder blue, beige, white as worn by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, brown polyester, and shiny silver sharkskin) which were characterized by wide lapels, wide-legged or flared trousers, and high-rise waistcoats (US vests).[372] Influenced by the popularity of aviator sunglasses in disco, many wore glasses in the shape of aviators but with clear prescription lenses.[373] Neckties became wider and bolder, and shirt collars became long and pointed.[374]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/1979-1980-Prom-03.jpg/220px-1979-1980-Prom-03.jpg)
Big shoulders
[edit]- Starting with a few designers in 1978[375][376] and becoming the main trend in 1979, high-fashion menswear designers at the end of the seventies adopted the big shoulder pads that had debuted in womenswear in 1978,[377] showing exaggeratedly padded shoulders that tapered to low closures[378][379] at narrow, often ventless hips[380][381] in jackets[382] and suits, along with trousers that were straight-legged or tapered to narrow ankles. Jackets were also sometimes presented short and boxy like spencers or bellhop jackets.[383] Unlike in womenswear, the exaggerated shoulders didn't appear in shirts but only in jackets and coats, with avant-garde designers like Thierry Mugler also presenting an occasional retro-futuristic (like something from 1950s sci-fi), outer space-looking jumpsuit with big shoulders, often marked with trapunto stitching, a style seen only on the most avant-garde. Lapels and ties for these new jacket styles were initially mostly narrow, said to help emphasize the increased shoulder width,[384] but the most influential menswear designer of the time, Giorgio Armani, relatively quickly widened his lapels and ties – not as wide as in the early seventies, though, more like the 1940s.[385][386] As the 1970s became the 1980s, both narrow and wider 1940s-width lapels and ties could be seen simultaneously. In 1979, though, these big-shouldered styles were just starting to be seen and wouldn't yet be common except among the avant-garde.
Youth fashion
[edit]Mods
[edit]- During the early 1970s, the Northern soul and suedehead subcultures emerged in response to the psychedelic rock, Bohemian and hippie influences on the mainstream peacock mod subculture. Seeking a return to the music and fashions of the mid and late 1960s, members of these British subcultures wore Ben Sherman shirts, slim fit pants, tank top sweaters, vintage striped boating blazers, basket weave brogue shoes, black leather driving gloves, pork pie hats, Irish walking hats, and loose fitting Oxford bags for dancing.[387] Secondhand mod clothing was also worn by many early garage punk and protopunk bands from the mid-1970s onwards, especially the Flamin Groovies and Television due to its cheapness and wide availability. The release of the cult film Quadrophenia in 1978 sparked a large scale Mod revival among a younger generation of Lambretta and Vespa scooter enthusiasts influenced by punk rock and new wave music.[388]
Teddy boys
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Walsall_1974_Shakin_Stevens_and_the_Sunsets.jpg/220px-Walsall_1974_Shakin_Stevens_and_the_Sunsets.jpg)
- Due to a resurgence in nostalgia for the 1950s, the Teddy boy subculture made a comeback in the UK during the early 1970s. A similar rockabilly subculture known as Raggare underwent a revival in Sweden and Germany at the same time. Brothel creepers, drainpipe trousers, bolo ties and drape jackets were popular, typically with contrasting velvet collars and cuffs.[389] Influenced by glam rock bands like Showaddywaddy, the Teds of the 1970s wore bright colors like electric blue, leopardskin or brocade waistcoats, and styled their hair with hair spray rather than brylcreem.[390] In the late 1970s the Teds became the arch enemies of the punk subculture and Mod revivalists.
Hippies
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Killing_floor_dagenham_roundhouse_4.jpg/220px-Killing_floor_dagenham_roundhouse_4.jpg)
- One of the most ubiquitous subcultures of the early and mid 1970s were the hippies. Typically middle class youths from Britain, America and New Zealand, these practitioners of free love favored a unisex look with long hair, tie dye and flower power motifs, Bob Dylan caps, kurtas, hemp waistcoats, baja jackets, bell bottoms, sandals, and maxi skirts for the girls.[391] Due to the United States' active involvement in the Vietnam War from 1954 to 1975, American teenagers wanted to make an antiwar counterculture statement through the way they dressed. Old military uniforms and washed off navy bell-bottoms were commonly purchased from secondhand stores, and then embellished with floral embroideries and brightly colored peace symbol patches at home.[392] In reaction to the conservative ivy league fashions favored by their parents, American hippies of both sexes rejected designer brands in favor of a unisex style, often making use of corduroy, hemp, and vintage clothing from charity shops.[393] Although glam rock had largely supplanted the hippie movement in urban areas during the mid to late 70s, offshoots such as the New Age travellers, Freak scene, Nambassa housetruckers[394] and surfers continued until the 1990s.
Heavy metal
[edit]- During the early and mid 1970s members of the hard rock and heavy metal subculture favored typical hippie fashions like earth tones, tie dye T-shirts, and flared trousers of the type worn on stage by Jethro Tull or Led Zeppelin. This changed later in the decade, when many fans of Judas Priest, AC/DC and Meat Loaf began imitating the clothing of greasers, outlaw bikers, punk rockers and leathermen due to the association of such fashions with toughness.[395] Typical heavy metal fashions in the UK, US and Australia included faded jeans, leather battle jackets, combat boots, studded belts, black leather jackets[396] like the Schott Perfecto, and iron crosses frequently pilfered from their father's war souvenirs. Beards, moustaches and shoulder length hair were popular among men, while female metal fans sometimes imitated the brightly dyed, teased and backcombed punk hair of the late 1970s.
Black power
[edit]- Urban African American youths frequently imitated the paramilitary uniforms of the Fruit of Islam, anti-colonialist African insurgents, and early 1970s black power groups like the Black Panthers.[397][398] The Panthers' French counterparts called themselves the Del Vikings and Black Dragons, listened to rockabilly and punk rock, and fought against neonazi skinheads during the late 70s and early 80s.[399]
- Typical clothing included black leather jackets, vests, black driving gloves,[400] leather peaked caps embellished with chains and metal studs, African folk costume like the fez or dashiki, traditional African colors like black, red, yellow or green, Ancient Egyptian jewelry such as the Ankh, gold chains, and railroad stripe pants for women.[401] Due to the poverty in the ghetto, black children often wore secondhand clothing that was too big or too small, inspiring the baggy pants worn as hip-hop fashion during the 1980s and 1990s. In the UK, US and Jamaica Afro hair[402] and dreadlocks became popular from 1972 to 1976 among Motown, soul music and reggae fans, as a rejection of the straightened hairstyles associated with white culture.[403]
Cholos
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/LA_teens.jpg/220px-LA_teens.jpg)
- Following the recession of 1973, the zoot suited pachuco look declined due to its association with comedic Blaxploitation pimps.[404] Instead, working class Mexican youths began dressing in a more casual style inspired by the clothing of prison gangs, left wing counterculture groups like the Brown berets,[405] the antiwar movement,[406] and the 1960s greaser subculture. White T-shirts, winklepickers, double denim "Texan tuxedos," ringer Tees, plaid shirts, Aviators, black wool tuques, brown berets,[407] green military surplus field jackets, sheepskin coats, Castro hats, untucked white shirts,[408] and khaki Dickies pants were commonly worn by these cholos and chicanos, together with slicked-back pompadour hairstyles and large sideburns.
Punks
[edit]- Punk rock was a musical genre that greatly influenced fashion in the late 1970s. A great deal of punk fashion from the 1970s was based on the designs of Vivienne Westwood and her partner Malcolm McLaren, McLaren opened a stall at the back of vintage American clothing store, which taken over 430 King's Road and called it 'Let it Rock'. By 1974, 430 had renamed the store, which became famous as 'SEX'. McLaren described SEX as 'a haven phenomenon known as punk rock.'[409] Punk emerged in London, and spread into the United States. A complex amalgam of various stylistic influences, Punk had its roots in the streets of London and the music scene of New York.[409] Street punk fashion generally consisted of ripped clothes, black turtlenecks, drainpipe jeans, tight leather pants, leather jackets (often embellished with chains, spikes, studs, and paint), jackets and shirts with taboo images or messages, dog collars, safety pins, kilts, and Doc Martens.[410] A tamer, less threatening version of the Punk style called "New Wave", which featured jagged hems on clothing and more elaborate embroidery went mainstream in the early 1980s.[411]
1970s beauty trends
[edit]Women's hairstyles
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Jeanne_Griffin_1974.jpg/150px-Jeanne_Griffin_1974.jpg)
Throughout much of the decade, women and teenage girls wore their hair long, with a centre or side parting, which was a style carried over from the late 1960s. Other hairstyles of the early to mid-1970s included the wavy "gypsy" cut, the layered shag, and the "flicked" style, popularly referred to as "wings", in which the hair was flicked into resembling small wings at the temples. This look was popularised by the stars of the television series Charlie's Angels. Blonde-streaked or "frosted" hair was also popular. In 1977, punk singer Debbie Harry of Blondie sparked a new trend with her shoulder-length, dyed platinum blonde hair worn with a long fringe (bangs).
In the 1970s, making one of the popular hairstyles for a woman didn't take a lot of time. These hairstyles, including Afro hairstyle, Shaggy Hairdo and Feathered hair (then known as "Farrah Fawcett hairstyle") were said to be perfect when you're on-the-go and would still keep your expressive style in-check.[412] For black people in the United States and elsewhere, the afro was worn by both sexes throughout the decade. As the Afro entered the mainstream, Afro-enhancing products and Afro wigs emerged in the African-American beauty industry.[413] These wigs were created and advertised as a bolder look that could conveniently be removed and put on for a night out.[413] For Black women, it became a staple in disco, with disco divas like Diana Ross and Gloria Gaynor adopting it in the 1970s. Afros were also occasionally sported by Whites, especially Jewish Americans[414] as an alternative to the uniform long, straight hair which was a fashion mainstay until the arrival of punk and the "disco look" when hair became shorter and centre partings were no longer the mode.
The most iconic women's hairstyle of the 1970s is arguably the Farrah Fawcett hairstyle. Popularized in 1976, the hairstyle was heavily imitated by many American women and girls. It incorporated waves, curls, and layers. The style mostly worn with bangs, but could also be worn with a side part. To make it even more stylish, women and girls would frost their hair with blonde streaks.[415]
Men's hairstyles
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Steve_McQueen_crop.jpg/150px-Steve_McQueen_crop.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/1976-George-Best.jpg/150px-1976-George-Best.jpg)
Continuing on from the 1960s, the ducktail and Pompadour hairstyle (then known as the "Elvis Presley hairstyle") were popular among young Italian-American and Mexican-American men in big cities like New York. Large quantities of grease or brylcreem was normally used to keep the hair in place. The early and mid 1970s generally featured longer hair on men, as way of rebelling against the social norms of years past.[416] Sideburns were also worn around the same time. Some of the most popular hairstyles for men include "Long and Luscious" hairstyle, mod haircut, and the "buzzcut" hairstyle popularised by action heroes like Steve McQueen. In the late 1970s, men went for the chop, ranging from crew cuts, to buzz cuts, to a shag. This was mainly done for an athletic look, and sideburns and facial hair went out of style.
Makeup and cosmetics
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Camille_Keaton_Luft.jpg/150px-Camille_Keaton_Luft.jpg)
Cosmetics in the 1970s reflected the contradictory roles ascribed for the modern woman.[417] For the first time since 1900, make-up was chosen situationally, rather than in response to monolithic trends.[417] The era's two primary visions were the daytime "natural look" presented by American designers and Cosmopolitan magazine, and the evening aesthetic of sexualized glamour presented by European designers and fashion photographers.[417] In the periphery, punk and glam were also influential. The struggling cosmetics industry attempted to make a comeback, using new marketing and manufacturing practices.
Image gallery
[edit]Images representing the fashion trends of the 1970s.
- The early 1970s' fashions were a continuation of the hippie look from the late 1960s.
- Woman in miniskirt, 1970
- Swedish model Efva Attling in a "midi" dress, Kings Road, London, 1971.
- Siouxsie Sioux of the English punk group Siouxsie and the Banshees.
- David Bowie in the early 1970s.
- American First Lady Pat Nixon wears a shirt with the wide collar that was popular until the final years of the decade.
- Girl in 1973 with a "flicked" hairstyle.
- Los Angeles high school students, 1973. The tousled, blond surfer hair was popular for young men in southern California.
- Singer Billy Preston in 1974 wearing an Afro hairstyle.
- American casual attire, 1974.
- British girls in 1975 in flared jeans
- British singer Rod Stewart, 1976.
- English girl in the mid-1970s wearing a wide-sleeved shirt, belted at the waist.
- Two punks from the late 1970s
- Debbie Harry of Blondie in 1977.
- Susana Giménez wearing hotpants, 1977
- Silk scarves were popular fashion accessories for women in the 1970s.
- Singer Barry Manilow wears his hair longish in the soft, layered style favoured by men in the 1970s.
- Punk pioneer Lene Lovich in 1979, with her trademark long plaited hair.
- Alan Bennett in 1973, wearing a wide necktie
- Frisbee player Ken Westerfield wearing draw string bell bottoms in the 1970s
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Which took over Afghanistan in 1992, not by the end of the 70s
- ^ "1970's Revival – Fashion blog". Oxfam GB. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "Troubled Times: 1961–79". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- ^ Evans, Ell N. (24 August 1975). "The Emperor's Fall Clothes". The New York Times: 213. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
[J]eans have invaded ballet, theater and gallery openings with such assertion that everyone else feels overdressed.
- ^ Marie Claire (31 December 2014). "Diane von Furstenberg's Style History In Dresses". Marie Claire UK. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Vintage Fashion Guild : Label Resource : Von Furstenberg, Diane". vintagefashionguild.org. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Wrap superstar: Designer Diane von Fürstenberg tells her story". The Independent on Sunday. London. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Leora Tanenbaum (14 July 2015). "Because of Slut-Shaming, the Wrap Dress Still Matters". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 August 1976). "Fashion: Paris Report". The New York Times. p. 179. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
In the late 1960's, [Saint Laurent] watched the student riots in Paris and came up with the pants suit, which everyone is still wearing.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (16 September 1968). "Saint Laurent Has a New Name for Madison Avenue – Rive Gauche". The New York Times: 54. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
During the student upheavals in Paris in May [1968], [Saint Laurent] saw the girls and boys behind the barricades dressed...in pants...'They looked beautiful...,' he said...'Fashion is not only couture....Events are more important.'...[In] his last Paris couture collection, shown in July,...[p]ants outfits overshadowed more conventional attire.
- ^ Embree, Alice (2021). "Raising Our Voices: 1973-1979". Voice Lessons. Austin, TX, USA: Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-9997318-6-4.
In 1970, the women's movement began to take dress down an increasingly informal path. T-shirts, blue jeans, cutoffs, hiking boots, hair flowing freely...Women disposed of bras and freed their breasts under T-shirts or blue work shirts....Relaxed informality settled into the mainstream. In the '70s, political statements moved from buttons to...T-shirts.
- ^ Heathcote, Phyllis W. (1971). "Fashion and Dress". Britannica Book of the Year 1971: Events of 1970. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 324. ISBN 0-85229-158-2.
...[T]he influence of the hippie movement could not be ruled out. The exotic prints..., the jacquard and patchwork effects, the general look of casual softness with swathed heads and flowing draperies, peasant, gypsy, and 'granny' looks,...bright wool ponchos..., the vogue for fantastic...jewelry, the long hair – all could be traced to the hippie...
- ^ a b "Paperpast Yearbook". Paperpast.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Fashion in the 1970s". Retrieved 1 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d "HIPPIES". Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Gaucho Pants". Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "1970s Fashion for Women & Girls". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "1970s Dresses & Skirts: Styles, Trends & Pictures". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Birkenstocks". Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Earth Shoes". Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ Buckley, Cheryl (1 October 2007). Designing Modern Britain. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-322-2.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn Zahony. "Fashion". The 1973 World Book Year Book: A Review of the Events of 1972. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 339. ISBN 0-7166-0-473-6.
Clogs, wedgies, cork-soled platforms, and chunky, high heels continued to alarm podiatrists.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn Zahony (1974). "Fashion". The 1974 World Book Year Book: A Review of the Events of 1973. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 319. ISBN 0-7166-0474-4.
Unmonumental accessories were the norm: golden chains, gold-button earrings, rhinestone clips...
- ^ "70s fashion icons". Glamour. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1972". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 325. ISBN 0-14-004955-X.
Shoes are preposterously high and vivid, the thick platform adding inches to already tall heels. Saint Laurent's rope-soled wedge espadrilles in primary colours lace up...and...there are...corksoled sandals.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1973). "Fashion and Dress". 1973 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1972. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 295. ISBN 0-85229-282-1.
...[C]lumsy wartime clogs, in shades of green, red, yellow, blue, or pink, were popular with the young crowd.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1973). "Fashion and Dress". 1973 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1972. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. pp. 295–296. ISBN 0-85229-282-1.
...jeans rolled up to uncover multicoloured striped socks and...bright clogs.
- ^ Dullea, Georgia (19 December 1973). "The Youngsters Love Outrageous Socks: 'Why Have Drab Feet?'". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
[T]hey parade through the halls of Pleasantville (N. Y.) High School in what look more like gloves than socks. Toe Socks, the girls call them. For $3 a pair they get 10 different colored toes. 'Everybody around here loves them,' says Maria, regarding her rainbow of toes through Dr. Scholl's sandals and confiding that toe socks take getting used to...Mostly they're wearing them under their jeans...Nina Borie, a 17‐year‐old senior there, has swapped those cable knits that mother bought for socks striped in orange, yellow and green.
- ^ a b c "1970s Boots for Women: Styles, Trends & Pictures". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1973". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 329. ISBN 0-14-004955-X.
There is an out-of-uniform uniform for students and school-leavers: floppy-brimmed hat, long straight hair, full-sleeved shirt or smock, and cotton skirt to the ground.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (21 April 1974). "Clothes for Fall: Mostly Casual". The New York Times: 54. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
A good portion of the styles are knitted. There are plenty of versions of the standard international daytime uniform: the sweater‐jacket over a flared skirt.
- ^ Elkins, Ann (1969). "Fashion". The Americana Annual, 1976: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1975. Grolier Incorporated. p. 247. ISBN 0-7172-0207-0.
The jeans craze continued to mushroom at an unbelievable pace....Denim...was prewashed, brushed, streaked, bleached, studded, and embroidered. Knits or wovens were dyed or printed to simulate denim. Jean stitching and styling on...skirts made them best-sellers. Blazers and shirt jackets, tenty jumpers, and chemises were made in denim...
- ^ Elkins, Ann (1969). "Fashion". The Americana Annual, 1976: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1975. Grolier Incorporated. p. 247. ISBN 0-7172-0207-0.
The new jean, labeled the 'cigarette,' was narrow of leg and designed to be rolled up to mid-calf over boots.
- ^ a b Klemesrud, Judy (17 February 1976). "In Pioneer-Style Boots, the Klutzy Look is Chic". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
...[Knee-high] Frye boots are the 'hot boots' this season...They were wide and loose around the ankles...
- ^ "From the Sands of Morocco to the Sidewalks of New York". The New York Times: 56. 3 December 1975. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
You'll find Mademoiselle and Glamour readers wearing jeans tucked into their Frye boots and Vogue and Harper's Bazaar readers wearing their pants with the more expensive Charles Jourdan boots.
- ^ Crenshaw, Mary Ann (30 June 1974). "Fashion". The New York Times: 34. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
Classic Spanish espadrille is two-toned brown and orange canvas....A covered wedge makes an embroidered denim espadrille into a shoe....Sling‐back espadrille in navy canvas has open toe, platform sole....An acid green espadrille is set on a high, high sole, has leather ties.
- ^ Jones, Stacy V. (12 July 1975). "Laboratory Method is Utilized to Test Tires". The New York Times: 31. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
Famolare, Inc., is manufacturing 150,000 pairs a month of its Get There shoes. The shoe has a sole trademarked Wave,...a positive shock‐absorbing heel that propels the walker and creates a fluidity of rolling motion. The wavy bottoms have attracted considerable attention in the shoe trade....The sole...has four waves, one under the heel, another under the toe, and two in between.
- ^ a b "Mood Rings". Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ a b c "Hip Huggers". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ Peacock, John (2010). 20th-century fashion: the complete sourcebook. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-500-20402-3.
- ^ Pendergast, Tom and Sarah (2004). Fashion, Costume and Culture. MI, USA: Thomson Gale. p. 933. ISBN 0-7876-5422-1.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1968-1975". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 305. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Designers and public alike grew tired of...classics and the 'big look' was introduced in the mid-seventies – loose, baggy, layered capes, smocks, tent dresses, leg-warmers and balaclavas – combined with the ethnic look.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 March 1975). "Will It Be Full Dresses or Narrow – or Back to Living in Jeans?". The New York Times: 23. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
[In 1973], the big look was unleashed by Kenzo Takada,...and it soon took the French capital by storm. Within months the avant-garde was turning up in loose dresses and big coats. A year later, Karl Lagerfeld refined it and gave it stature in his collection for Chloe. By last fall [1974], the streets of Paris and other cities in Europe with pretensions to fashion were dominated by loose dresses, big capes and flowing skirts. The voluminous look had arrived.
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 December 1974). "American RTW: The Long, Soft Spring of '75". Fashion International. III (3). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 1.
'Soft' best describes the look, soft fabrics, soft silhouettes, soft sleeves, soft details, 'soft' colors.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (25 August 1974). "The Big Look". The New York Times: 285. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
[S]tanding in the wings for fall is one of those momentous changes. It involves swashbuckling capes, blouses that blouse instead of cling, swirling skirts, voluminous coats, all wrapped up in acres of scarves.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (1 January 1976). "70's Fashion: Sportswear at the Summit". The New York Times: 36. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Paris started the 'big look'—voluminous coats, tent dresses, smock tops. Longer skirts went along with it....By the fall of 1974, long skirts, boots and capes were established as the uniform of the chic...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (1 January 1978). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Fashion punch words from 1977 that carry into spring and summer 1978: softness, easy, loose, light....[I]t means loose fitting clothes in lightweight, unlined natural fabrics.
- ^ Curtis, Charlotte (1 January 1971). "The Midi Laid an Egg in 1970, but It Did Hatch Other Fashions". The New York Times: 33. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...the already popular gypsy‐ethnic look.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (22 January 1969). "Italian Couture Short on Ideas, Long on Effects". The New York Times: 34. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
The gypsy look...means a full, colorful skirt or a flounced one....[T]he gypsy idea is under way everywhere...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (13 July 1970). "Madame Butterfly Look Flutters Through Rome Fashion Shows". The New York Times: 34. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
...[H]ippie girls have taken to long printed peasant skirts.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (3 April 1974). "At Paris Shows, the Fabric is Flowing". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
[T]he dresses are so voluminous. The yardage is immense. They're also quite long, baring not much more than the ankles. That's the length most of the clothes are around here....[A]ll inner construction, and practically all seams, have been eliminated. That means no linings, no interfacing, not even any turned‐under hems—the fabric has simply been cut off at the bottom. As a result, the clothes can be piled on top of each other, layer upon layer, without making the wearer look like a moving mountain. A cape, two coats and a dress worn ensemble is not unusual. Instead of cutting up fabrics into little pieces and sewing them torturously together, designers seem to be throwing them against the body and letting them flow.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (31 March 1974). "Fashion is Quiet Now and Some Designers Say That's Just Fine". The New York Times: 56. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
'Young people don't care about seams,' [Calvin] Klein said. 'I stopped caring myself. I keep paring things down more and more. Clothes are less constructed today. That's what makes them more natural'.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 November 1977). "Plunging into a Billowy Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
John Anthony insured the light weight of his clothes by developing two machines that eliminate hems, bindings, plackets and even linings.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 February 1976). "Fashion's Fresh Approach: Free-Flowing, Elegant and Gay". The New York Times: 32. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[T]he new clothes seem natural, as if they weren't designed at all, but just happened. The best of them just flow, moving effortlessly over the body, anchored gently by drawstrings or elasticized smocking.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (4 April 1973). "Kenzo Displays His Imagination With a Fun-Filled Show in Paris". The New York Times: 38. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
The models wore big, bulky sweaters over full dirndl skirts in gray flannel, tent dresses and tent coats and pleated dresses with embroidered white petticoats worn under them....[H]emlines ranged from below the knee to above the ankle...These long skirts have a certain kick to them. They're very full, even the flannel ones.
- ^ Salmans, Sandra (25 August 1974). "Seventh Avenue". The New York Times: 96. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
...[T]he Big Look...was pioneered in Paris a year ago [1973] by Kenzo Takada...with absurdly large skirts and coats....[T]he look features long skirts, dropped shoulders, dolman sleeves and large armholes, blouson jackets, blowing capes, and loose dresses–all laid on with layers of fabric.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1974". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 337. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Kenzo anticipated a major change this winter by creating a full, circular skirt, easily caught by the wind...The replacement of the short, kicky skirt by the longer, fuller style was the most important change in the silhouette...The new coat and cape shapes were also looser, fuller and longer – the hemline was anywhere from 3 inches below the knee to the ankle. This voluminous, unconstructed style was christened the 'Big Look'.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (3 April 1974). "At Paris Shows, the Fabric is Flowing". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
The difference with Lagerfeld's things is that all inner construction, and practically all seams, have been eliminated. That means no linings, no interfacing, not even any turned‐under hems—the fabric has simply been cut off at the bottom.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (29 March 1977). "Paris Looks: Casanova to Puss 'n' Boots". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
It was Lagerfeld who first took the shaping and the linings out of clothes...He also removed hemlines entirely to make clothes lighter and more easily layered....'[Y]ou cannot go back to lined clothing, because...clothes today must be light and loose'.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1968-1975". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 300. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
...Fendi...employed Karl Lagerfeld to design their fur range and he changed the whole silhouette of modern furs....Lagerfeld insisted that the underside of the pelts be stripped down to the very thinnest layer needed to support the pile, and by softening and treating the underside, made it unnecessary to line the garment.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 May 1974). "For Day or Night, Pants are a Way of Life". The New York Times: 28. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
The winds of change are rustling through the workrooms of Seventh Avenue, blowing away the skinny, skimpy, body‐clinging clothes of the past ten years. In their place are voluminous tops, widely flaring skirts, longer hemlines.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn. "Fashion". The 1978 World Book Year Book: Events of 1977. World Book-Childcraft International, Inc. p. 322. ISBN 0-7166-0478-7.
...Geoffrey Beene was hailed as the father of the Soft Look....Years ago, he perfected an effortless flow of fabric over the figure so that shoulders took the shape of the body, waistlines were formed by a cord, and hemlines fell where they fell.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (27 June 1974). "Coty Awards Go To Halston and Beene". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
None of [Beene's coats] are lined and all inner construction has been removed....'[I]n spite of their new bulk, they actually weigh less....It's the first direction of the seventies, I believe,' he said.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn Zahony (1997). "Fashion". The 1975 World Book Year Book: Events of 1974. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 328. ISBN 0-7166-0475-2.
...Yves Saint Laurent with his beltless Naïve Chemise gave the [Big Look] the stamp of haute couture.
- ^ Peake, Andy (2018). "The New Ease in Fashion". Made for Walking. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Fashion Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-7643-5499-1.
...[I]n 1974,...Saint Laurent created a Russian-themed collection....Saint Laurent's collection featured full skirts that fell below the knees, thick sweaters, capes, quilted gold jackets, velvet and satin knickerbockers, long fur coats and matching fur hats, and a new, and very distinctive, style of knee-length fashion boot...loose-fitting...
- ^ Freund, Andreas (8 August 1976). "The Empire of Saint Laurent". The New York Times. p. 87. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
The noise about Saint Laurent's big silhouette and folkloric look served to enhance his reputation...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 April 1977). "Designers Softly Changing the Way Women Will Dress". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
An enormous change is taking place in the clothes now being introduced...Not nearly so visible as shifting, by a yard or so, the length of a dress or switching a good proportion of the female population from skirts into pants, the new trend nevertheless has a tremendous influence on the shape of clothes....The significant element is softness, expressed in the character of the fabrics employed and the lack of stiffness in the construction....[I]t is permeating the majority of the collections.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn Zahony (1997). "Fashion". The 1975 World Book Year Book: Events of 1974. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 328. ISBN 0-7166-0475-2.
In the United States, Calvin Klein was cheered for his wearable, toned-down, Americanized versions [of the Big Look].
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (28 August 1977). "Feminism's Effect on Fashion". The New York Times: 225. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
A year ago [1976], Klein, who has the ability to sense what women want before they know it, designed a fall collection that...had...a lot of longer, fuller skirts and looser tops. Everything was softer, less tailored.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 November 1977). "Spring Fashions: A Little Something for Everybody". The New York Times: 65. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
One of the big changes in [Mary McFadden's] current collection is a loosening of the rather strict, austere McFadden silhouette. That means there are more bloused bodices, somewhat fuller skirts and even various layering effects.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 August 1976). "Fashion: Paris Report". The New York Times: 179. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Hubert de Givenchy loosened up a bit, turning out a peasant style or two.
- ^ Duka, John (2 July 1978). "Fashion Profile". The New York Times: SM6. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
Last year [1977]..., Ellis was one of the major interpreters of the 'Slouch Look,' his own name for such designs as loose‐fitting, voluminous tops with raglan sleeves draped offhandedly over tapered pants cut too long so that they bunched at the ankles. He followed this with gutsy, oversized, bulky knit sweaters that hung down to mid‐thigh.
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (12 November 1978). "Why the Big Change Now". The New York Times: SM226. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
Perry Ellis...turned out some of the most extreme of the layered, piled-on 'big' looks...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1975". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 339. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
'Much too big is the right size,' as Kenzo put it. He produced larger-than-life, loose, casual clothes – smocks, tent dresses and huge striped dungarees.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (9 May 1974). "The Closet May Seem Too Little This Fall". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Voluminous. Massive. Wide. Flowing. These are the words to describe the new clothes that are emerging...Voluminous capes. Wide coats and jackets. Big, flowing skirts.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
Everything is very big – jackets, dresses, skirts, blousons, vests, sweaters, tunic, coats...Big dresses are selling, so are all the blousons.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (27 October 1977). "Sunshine from Paris: Billows and Blousing". The New York Times: 69. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
Forget about clothes that fit snugly. They simply aren't a part of today's scene.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (28 March 1977). "The Long and Short (Fat and Thin) of Paris Fashions". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
One rule for all the very full clothing is that the fabric must be done in the lightest weight possible.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn. "Fashion". The 1978 World Book Year Book: Events of 1977. World Book-Childcraft International, Inc. p. 322. ISBN 0-7166-0478-7.
Soft did not mean limp matte jerseys or clingy knits, but...natural fibers...In winter, chenille, challis, chamois, cashmere, and fur blends...In summer,...handkerchief linen, fishnet, burlap, muslin, ramie, eyelet cotton, and both raw and refined silk.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 November 1977). "Spring Fashions: A Little Something for Everyone". The New York Times: 65. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
...[Perry Ellis] uses linen, hopsacking and even hemp for his loose jackets, full skirts and big shirts...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
Many of the clothes are cotton, in bantam weights so that they are as un-bulky in all their layers, as cool for hot weather, [and] as see-through and sexy as big and blousy clothes can possibly be.
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Handkerchief linen is...a favored fabric...[D]esigners are using muslin, ramie, cotton, burlap, eyelet and silk, both raw and refined—all in natural colors or the whitest of whites.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (19 June 1977). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
No one in New York is wasting energy ironing clothes this summer. The look is rumpled, worn fresh from the washer and dryer by both men and women.
- ^ Larkin, Kathy. "Fashion". 1976 Collier's Year Book Covering the Year 1975. Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 247.
...prewrinkled cotton, prewashed denim, and gauzy and muslin looks in billowing big dresses...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 November 1974). "Issey Miyake". Fashion International. III (2). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 2.
Issey Miyake...goes 'natural' for 1975, in colors inspired by sand, sky and earth...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (13 November 1977). "Comings and Goings at Studio 54". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The best prints are on the fragile side,...like Calvin Klein's rosebud prints, the tiny stripes at Cathy Hardwick and Geoffrey Beene's geometric pin-dots and plaids.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 August 1976). "A Parisian Solution for Summer '76". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
In addition to solid color cottons, tiny flower prints are popular...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 May 1974). "Paris RTW Predicts a Long, Layered Winter". Fashion International. II (8). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 1.
Never have so many layers of clothing marched down so many runways!
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
Everything is lightweight, unconstructed and layered. Starting with the shortest garment, the levels of layering at France Andrevie, for example, build up like this: a vest over a jacket over a tunic over a big skirt over a pair of pants. Wear it all or any combination of parts.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 June 1977). "New Designers Add Perspective to Fall Fashions". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
Over [a] T‐shirt, [Perry Ellis] will place a cotton shirt, a hooded khaki sweater, and a quilted cotton coat...He likes sleeves rolled up and feels that two pairs of socks, one baggy, give the proper contrast to the flouncy [underskirts].
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 April 1977). "Preview What's Coming in Fashion". The New York Times: SM39. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Voluminous is the word for the prevailing shapes, applying to coats, capes and the dominant smock dress. The fullness is gathered in by drawstrings and if you don't happen to have one handy, you can tie a belt or a piece of string around your waist and pull up your dress a bit so it blouses.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 July 1976). "On the Sidewalks of New York, a New Silhouette for Pants". The New York Times: 33. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
All you need to keep in step with fashion these days is a bit of string. A pair of shoelaces will do. Or a length of wool yarn, the kind used to tie packages or ponytails....You twist your string around the pants just above the anklebone, pull the fabric out a bit so it blouses, and you have it—the new puffy look.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 October 1976). "Paris Collections: Everything Seems to Tie in Nicely". The New York Times: 69. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
Missoni...uses a series of drawstrings to change the shape of her clothes, sometimes dramatically. Necklines open or close, sleeves are drawn up or left to flutter, halters turn into one‐shoulder designs.
- ^ Cunningham, Bill (1 March 1989). "Designers of the World, Unite!". Details. VII (9). New York, NY: Details Publishing Corp.: 201. ISSN 0740-4921.
Beene used an actual laundry bag as the prototype for his 1976 collections, tying it at the waist or above the breast as a loose strapless dress.
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
There's also a lot of wrapping and tying. Some clothes look like nothing more than a scarf that's been wrapped around the body...Sundresses often have matching scarves as big as shawls.
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[T]he new shirt...fits loosely and looks freshest when worn over, rather than tucked into, a full skirt and belted with rope.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
It's a bad year for the button makers and the zippers manufacturers since many things pull over the head or wrap loosely around the body.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 October 1977). "A Vested Interest". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[W]omen are into buying and wearing shawls as fast as they can be found...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1974". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 336. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Capes or shawls were shown in all the fashion capitals, often with Cossack or toggle styling.
- ^ Nemy, Enid (22 September 1975). "Shawls: A Most Important Accessory for Fall". The New York Times: 38. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[F]ashion's most important accessory this fall—the shawl....In addition to shawls, there's a resurgence of scarves and ponchos ...Whether it be shawl, scarf or poncho..., the news is in the size. It must be big; the closer it gets to a blanket, the more effective it becomes in the fashion picture....[T]he shawls...will add a...layer to the ubiquitous layered look.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (29 March 1977). "At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern". The New York Times: 41. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
Coats are not the kind of fashion one hears much about these days...A poncho or a blanket is usually considered sufficient coverage for those who shiver in the show.
- ^ "Fall Signals, A Fashion Essay by Avedon". Vogue. USA: 78. 1 July 1977.
For coat, read: big poncho, big cape, big shawl, serape, djellabah...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (3 September 1978). "Uniform of the Day: Class Dress". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
[Deeda Blair's winter 1977] 'uniform' was an Yves Saint Laurent costume of a cashmere skirt, wool blouse, cape and shawl,...which she always wore with dark red boots.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 October 1977). "A Vested Interest". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
The new [vests] are huge and man-sized, unlined and totally shapeless....Like the vest, the big jacket is shapeless, and often unlined so it hangs very loose. The big vest is often worn under these jackets with an oversized shirt.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (1 November 1977). "Paris Fashion in the Fall: Big is Best". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Jackets are never neat and trim, but oversized to give softness and a relaxed look with sleeves pushed up, the collar turned up, and a muffler often tied around the neck.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1977". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 359. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Perry Ellis presented big, slouchy, unlined tweed jackets, worn with the sleeves rolled up, over brushed-cotton dirndl skirts.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1976". Vogue History of 10th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 353. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Miyake...presented a series of nomad's tunics and hooded dresses, as did Basile.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 March 1977). "Saint Laurent: Alive and Well". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
The new [cape] is a steal from the Tunisian shepherds with a tasseled hood.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1975". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 339. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
...[C]owlnecks completed the loose look.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (19 April 1977). "Seventh Avenue Softens Up". The New York Times: 77. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
Dirndl skirts in corduroy or herringbone tweed, velour sweatshirts, cowlneck sweaters and culottes are among [designer Liz Claiborne's] list of clothes...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 June 1974). "American Fall RTW: The Extreme vs. The Salable". Fashion International. II (9). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications Inc.: 2.
...Bishop sleeves...hang loose and open or are gathered into cuffs....Raglans...unmounted sleeves...dolmans.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1978). "Fashion and Dress". 1978 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1977. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 382. ISBN 0-85229-342-9.
...romantic tops with drawstring necklines and billowing sleeves caught in at the wrist...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 April 1977). "Born Again Knits are New for Fall '77". Fashion International. V (7). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 2.
Sweaters are B-I-G, in both silhouette and sales expectations...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 November 1977). "Plunging into a Billowy Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...textured knit sweaters always very loose with sleeves pushed up or rolled up and very casual.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1978). "Fashion and Dress". 1978 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1977. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 382. ISBN 0-85229-342-9.
The basic trend in Paris, London, and New York was the bloused overjacket or blouson.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (1 November 1977). "Paris Fashion in the Fall: Big is Best". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Big blousons show up in leather as well as knits and wool...
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn. "Fashion". The 1978 World Book Year Book: Events of 1977. World Book-Childcraft International, Inc. p. 322. ISBN 0-7166-0478-7.
...{T]he...essential outline was the blouson drawstring top over a full dirndl skirt...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 August 1976). "Fashion: Paris Report". The New York Times: 179. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[Yves Saint Laurent] showed billowing peasant blouses...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (9 March 1977). "Camisole: Summer's Uniform". The New York Times: 58. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
The flouncy off‐the‐shoulder top and the strapless tube are running strong...[T]he off-the‐shoulder peasant blouse tends to...flop around...
- ^ Russell, Mary (5 March 1978). "What They're Wearing in Paris, Milan, Tokyo". The New York Times: AS11. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
...[B]ig, soft shirts and blouses in see‐through textures worn with a falling‐off looseness.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1979). "Fashion and Dress". 1979 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1978. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 378. ISBN 0-85229-362-3.
...jeans were paired...with soft, full-sleeved silk blouses with plunging necklines.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (9 March 1977). "Camisole: Summer's Uniform?". The New York Times: 58. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
[T]he camisole promises to explode as one of the most ubiquitous fashions when the weather warms.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1975). "Fashion and Dress". 1975 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1974. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 300. ISBN 0-85229-303-8.
...[I]n the fall [of 1974] the dress finally reentered the scene. With volume at the height of fashion, it looked very different....often like an overdress or a smock, cut with deep kimono armholes and hardly any seams...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1975". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 339. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Kenzo...produced...smocks, tent dresses and huge striped dungarees...The loose smock dress was also found at Rykiel, Muir, Saint Laurent, Burrows and Calvin Klein.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (7 August 1975). "Reporter's Notebook: In Paris, Beating the Heat and the Pavement". The New York Times: 53. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[I]t was not unusual to see a woman in a long, loose, smock‐like dress maneuvering on a bicycle or a motor bike...
- ^ "The Big Bag Dress". The New York Times: 35–37. 31 July 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
Everybody is talking about the 'new' fall dress....It's as big, as blousy, as shapeless as a gunnysack, and it's worn as loose as a bubble, or caught somewhere with a belt....The big dress bloused up into a blouson bubble top. With a shawl thrown over one shoulder it's an excellent example of the new big look.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (16 November 1978). "The Spring Uniform". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[T]he warm-weather uniform was a big tent dress with minimum underpinnings...
- ^ Evans, Eli N. (24 August 1975). "The Emperor's Fall Clothes". The New York Times: 213. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
[T]he tent dress...surely ranks as the most democratic garment out of Paris in decades.
- ^ Klemesrud, Judy (27 August 1975). "The Dress Called the 'Droop': A Success Story Despite It All". The New York Times: 29. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
On a recent sunny day on Fifth Avenue, the droops [tent dresses] were out in droves, completely concealing even the shapeliest woman's protrusions and inversions.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 August 1976). "A Parisian Solution for Summer '76". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[T]he women of Paris are swinging along the streets in the most comfortable, cool easy fashion anyone can remember. It's a billowing sunback dress, made out of any kind of cotton fabric ...It requires little or no undergarments, it could double for a maternity dress...The prototype had a taut band at the bustline, thereby eliminating the need for a bra, and was loose everywhere else.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (12 October 1976). "Fashion, Straight from the Shoulder". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Geoffrey Beene introduced the strapless mode in sundresses a few seasons back and was...pleased with its effortless look...He points out that many women have become accustomed to going without bras, thus obviating the need for torturous undergarments....'What's marvelous about the new strapless dresses is you tie yourself into them the way you tie a scarf—it's the freest way of dressing,' [Grace Mirabella] explained. 'Once you get into them, you never think about them again'...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1974". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 337. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
[T]he hemline was anywhere from 3 inches below the knee to the ankle.
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 May 1974). "Paris RTW Predicts a Long, Layered Winter". Fashion International. II (8). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 1.
Lengths – in a word, down – 60 percent below knee, 25 percent midcalf, 15 percent just above ankle.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1978). "Fashion and Dress". 1978 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1977. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 383. ISBN 0-85229-342-9.
Some of the blousons were so inflated that they turned into mini-tunics, needing only matching socks over tights to complete the outfit.
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 April 1977). "European Fashion Fair: The Soft Touch". Fashion International. V (7). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications Inc.: 1.
Big, bulky blouson sweaters...long enough to wear as tunic or mini.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 November 1976). "Paris Report". The New York Times: 237. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
[The mini']s most dramatic form is the voluminous smock that Kenzo devised, always belted at the hips. But other designers showed shirts as dresses...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (29 March 1977). "At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern". The New York Times: 41. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Lagerfeld...made the question of skirt length irrelevant. He showed them all, from very short to very long....What is very apparent about the dresses is their fullness....They're smocklike affairs...If they're short, you can see the boot tops. The boots come up over the knee...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 March 1977). "Paris: Free-Flowing Excitement and Short Skirts". The New York Times: 26. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
...[S]hort skirts...also turned up in the...collections. They usually take the form of bulky sweaters, tunics over tights, ribbed stockings, boots, leggings...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (29 March 1977). "At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
Skirts are big and roomy, but then they are also split so that legs show.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (1 August 1976). "Paris Glorified the Peasant, Yes, But That's Not All". The New York Times: 52. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
...[T]he world will be swirling in dirndl skirts...
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[T]he skirt of the year is the dirndl. It ranges from moderately full to quite full, it's calf‐length or a bit longer, and it's balanced by fullness at the top.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 October 1974). "Enthusiasm in Paris Over State of Fashion". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
Chloé...is big on dirndl skirts...
- ^ Tolbert, Kathryn (18 August 1974). "Fashion is Big in Japan – If It's French, British or American". The New York Times: 44. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[M]id‐calf peasant‐style dresses are the choices of college students and working girls...
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma. "Fashion and Dress". 1978 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1977. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. pp. 382–383. ISBN 0-85229-342-9.
...the favorite – the gypsy skirt. As three-tiered, gathered petticoat skirts undulated along city sidewalks, the streets seemed to be alive with gypsies...The London streets had their share of gypsy skirts, often in hand-blocked Indian cottons...
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma. "Fashion and Dress". 1979 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1978. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 378. ISBN 0-85229-362-3.
Transparent cotton voile was preferred for huge skirts with petticoat tiers and lingerie tucks.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (4 April 1973). "Kenzo Displays His Imagination With a Fun-Filled Show in Paris". The New York Times: 38. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
[Kenzo's] dresses with embroidered white petticoats worn under them.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 November 1977). "Spring Fashions: A Little Something for Everyone". The New York Times: 65. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
There's usually an underskirt in a blending natural tone, worn with the full skirt.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (21 November 1976). "Fashion Designers: Names You Should Know". The New York Times: 68. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Skirts in one or the other pattern are piled on top of each other, as many as three at a time...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (7 April 1976). "Saint Laurent Was Hailed and Adored; For Kenzo, Tumult and Frenzy". The New York Times: 47. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
[Yves Saint Laurent's] skirts are hiked up to show petticoats.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 May 1974). "For Day or Night, Pants are a Way of Life". The New York Times: 28. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
Geoffrey Beene's distinctive pants with pleats at the waist and full, but not flared, legs, introduced a while back, were so well received they've been developed in everything from flannel to crepe for fall.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (19 April 1977). "Seventh Avenue Softens Up". The New York Times: 77. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
[Liz Claiborne] makes her culottes shorter than her dirndl skirts, stopping just below the knee so the hem meets the boot top.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 July 1976). "On the Sidewalks of New York, a New Silhouette for Pants". The New York Times: 33. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 May 1974). "For Day or Night, Pants are a Way of Life". The New York Times: 28. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
Daytime pants tend to be straighter and trimmer than they have been to balance the bigger tops...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
Pants are around in every possible length as long as they are not man-tailored but rather soft. They are always baggy at the top, tapered to the ankle.
- ^ Elkins, Ann M. "Fashion". The Americana Annual 1978: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1977. Grolier Incorporated. p. 204. ISBN 0-7172-0419-7.
The...new pants silhouette was...pants that were narrowed through the leg, pegged at the ankle, and cut long to buckle and drape or 'slouch' over boots or...shoes.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 June 1977). "New Designers Add Perspective to Fall Fashions". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
[Perry Ellis's] clothes have a totally relaxed look, exemplified by the tapered pants which he cuts too long so they bunch up over the ankles.
- ^ "From the Sands of Morocco to the Sidewalks of New York". The New York Times: 56. 3 December 1975. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
[M]annequins trooped out wearing Valentino's ballooning harem pants in striped silk, Issey Miyake's jumpsuit with wide-as‐a‐tent pants caught in at the ankle,...and Marc Bohan's parachute pants....Oscar de la Renta came up with a much‐admired spring collection of gauzy, striped and Moroccan‐looking harem pants...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 November 1976). "Paris Report". The New York Times: 237. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[T]rousers...are...longer, billowing Zouave pants. Then there's another category of pants that wraps and ties like the Indian dhoti or diapers.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
Among the assortment in pants styles are the dhotis and sarouls (Moroccan draped pants), both of which look a bit like droopy diapers as they wrap between the legs, harem pants, and bloomers of all sorts.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (26 November 1977). "The Loose Look is Easing into Spring". The New York Times: 36. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[C]omfort is indeed the keynote to clothes today. It is the reason for the loose fit, the lack of construction, the elimination of hemlines, the concentration on gossamer‐weight fabrics.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (13 January 1978). "Fashion: A Look at the Simple Truth". The New York Times: B4. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
With a generation of office workers and executives going to work in T-shirts and blue jeans, formality in fashion was becoming a thing of the past....[I]t is possible for a woman to go anywhere, including black‐tie dinners, in a shirt and pants....Simplicity is the rule, and there's no need for a woman to clutter her closets with a lot of clothes...It is part of the simplification of life that comes under the heading of modernity. So is the fact that most clothes are soft and unstructured as well as interchangeable.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (1 January 1976). "70's Fashion: Sportswear at the Summit". The New York Times: 36. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
[T]he 1970's will be marked by clothes divided into many easy pieces that can be added to or subtracted from, according to the weather, personal preferences and the feeling of the moment.... Construction will continue to be simplified so that clothes become increasingly less bulky and more flowing. The style of the 1970's is low on artifice, high on a natural look. Casual is the operative word.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
...[I]f sleeves are too long, you push them up on jackets, blouses, shirts, dresses – whatever. (Even if they fit perfectly, you push them up.)
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[T]he newest‐looking jackets are nothing more than oversized shirts worn open and with the sleeves rolled up. Those rolled‐up sleeves are important on all kinds of blouses and shirts...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 June 1977). "New Designers Add Perspective to Fall Fashions". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
[Perry Ellis] likes sleeves rolled up...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (11 December 1977). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
There was remarkably little jewelry shown, except...the bangle bracelets at several designers and the ethnic necklaces at Yves Saint Laurent. At Geoffrey Beene and elsewhere, jewelry was replaced by silk flowers strung on a long silk cord.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 May 1977). "Full Bloom". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Suddenly it seems right to leave your jewelry in the drawer and start wearing flowers. Flowers on the lapel update last year's blazer. Flowers in the hair, around the neck, at the wrist or the ankle are appropriate with the new softer clothes...
- ^ "Fall Signals, A Fashion Essay by Avedon". Vogue. USA: 78. 1 July 1977.
...a necklace of silver threads with a stone hung on it, or chunks of glazed terra-cotta slipped through a macramé cord...
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn. "Fashion". The 1978 World Book Year Book: Events of 1977. World Book-Childcraft International, Inc. p. 323. ISBN 0-7166-0478-7.
...braided woolly yarns hung with chunks of minerals...
- ^ Nemy, Enid (5 January 1977). "Discoveries". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
[S]tickpins are big this season...
- ^ Barmash, Isadore (20 December 1977). "Sales in Most Areas Up by 10% to 15%". The New York Times: 61. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
What was selling well? 'Stickpins with the antique look,' replied C. Hal Silver, chairman of Kaufmann's, one of Pittsburgh's largest stores.
- ^ "Fall Signals, A Fashion Essay by Avedon". Vogue. USA: 78. 1 July 1977.
...a belt that's a length of patterned knitting to wrap and wrap and knot at the waist, or a long rope of yarn twisted with bronze metallic...
- ^ "Fashion Things for Spring". The New York Times: SM12. 15 January 1978. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The new spring accessories are as soft...as the clothes they accompany: long leather belts that can be wrapped around and across the body in unconventional ways...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 April 1977). "Preview What's Coming in Fashion". The New York Times: SM39. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
...[L]egs are invariably clad in heavy ribbed tights, leg warmers and boots.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (9 October 1977). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Everything else is layered for warmth this fall: Why not legs?...Legs get a foothold against the cold with layers that start with pantyhose, add legwarmers...and finish with knee socks or anklets.
- ^ Crenshaw, Mary Ann (2 November 1975). "Fashion: Lesser Boots". The New York Times: 273. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The look of a shorter boot, topped (often) by thick, ribbed stockings—and sometimes even knee socks over those—gives an entirely new proportion...
- ^ Crenshaw, Mary Ann (12 October 1975). "Fashion". The New York Times: 279. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Fashion's leg warmers come in wonderful patterns, in solid colors for more subdued warmth, and can be worn thigh‐high over tight pants (by the very young) or pushed low over boots or shoes. Some of the best leg warmers are hand‐knit and ethnic‐patterned.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 May 1977). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
One signature of the Paris fashion trendies that has started to show up in New York is wearing socks with sandals and espadrilles.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (19 June 1977). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...sandals, both flat and high heels worn with anklets...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 June 1977). "New Designers Add Perspective to Fall Fashions". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
[Perry Ellis]...feels that two pairs of socks, one baggy, give the proper contrast to the flouncy [underskirts].
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (16 November 1978). "The Spring Uniform". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[T]he warm-weather uniform was a big tent dress with...flat or high-heeled scandals.
- ^ "Fashion Things for Spring". The New York Times: SM12. 15 January 1978. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...bare, tiny‐strapped sandals with delicate ties at the ankles...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (22 February 1977). "What's Afoot in Shoes for Next Winter?". The New York Times: 26. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[H]eels are almost inevitably paired with naked strap arrangements...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 August 1976). "U.S. Shoe Companies are Getting a Foot Back in the Door". The New York Times: 38. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Diane Von Furstenberg's shoes for Golo are mostly open sandals, high‐heeled or flat...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (7 August 1975). "Reporter's Notebook: In Paris, Beating the Heat and the Pavement". The New York Times: 53. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[E]very second woman was wearing shoes with...laces around the ankle. Many were a kind of espadrille...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 July 1976). "On the Sidewalks of New York, a New Silhouette for Pants". The New York Times: 33. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Christine Herskowitz, heading toward Central Park with a group of friends, simply tied the laces of her espadrilles around the legs of her pants [to achieve]...the puffed pants look.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 August 1976). "A Parisian Solution for Summer '76". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
...[T]he cotton sundress prevails on the Left and Right Banks in Paris this summer....[S]houlder bags and espadrilles are the usual accompaniment.
- ^ Livingston, Kathryn Zahony (1997). "Fashion". The 1975 World Book Year Book: Events of 1974. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. p. 328. ISBN 0-7166-0475-2.
...high-heeled, baggily crushed boots were essential to the Big Look.
- ^ Donehoo, Patricia A. (1975). "Fashion". The Americana Annual 1975: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1974. Grolier Incorporated. p. 248. ISBN 0-7172-0206-2.
Boots became the important foot fashion in 1974, possibly because they paired off so well with the voluminous capes and skirts....The new riding-type boots with their wider outlines and soft crushed ankles provided just the right note.
- ^ Peake, Andy (2018). "The New Ease in Fashion". Made for Walking. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Fashion Press. pp. 113–115. ISBN 978-0-7643-5499-1.
Saint Laurent's [1974 Russian-themed] collection featured...a new, and very distinctive, style of knee-length fashion boot....[T]he new boot was loose-fitting, touching the leg rather than clinging to it, and falling in extravagant folds as the soft leather crushed around the ankle....[T]he new boots quickly became known as 'Cossack boots'...In 1975, the New York Times was referring to the style as the 'Boot of the Year.'...[T]his was by far the most common style of fashion boot from the mid-1970s...'Baggy boots' is how the U.K. fashion press and mail-order catalogs were referring to them in 1974 and 1975...
- ^ "Great New Fall Boots". Harper's Bazaar. 1 July 1977.
Boots go everywhere, and to all lengths, from ankle to thigh. ... 'The length of boots is based on the proportion of the clothes they are to be worn with ...' – Yves Saint Laurent. Over-the-knee tan suede-and-calf boot ... [w]ith leather thongs to tie high or low, tight or loose ... [b]y Yves Saint Laurent. ... Mid-calf luggage boot in calf leather ... [b]y Yves Saint Laurent...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 April 1977). "Preview What's Coming in Fashion". The New York Times: SM39. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
...[L]egs are invariably clad in heavy ribbed tights, leg warmers and boots. Over‐the‐knee and calf‐high are the newest heights for boots, but they do not exclude anything in between.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (29 March 1977). "At Lagerfeld's Paris Show, the 18th Century Goes Modern". The New York Times: 41. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
The legs are clad in ribbed tights and over‐the‐knee boots...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (23 October 1974). "Enthusiasm in Paris Over State of Fashion". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Every French woman has apparently spent $100 for her high‐heeled, modishly crushed boots, the knee‐high tops of which are concealed by her flaring calf‐length skirt. All this is sheltered, as often as not, by a voluminous coat, cape or coat with a capelet top.
- ^ Peake, Andy (2018). "The New Ease in Fashion". Made for Walking. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Fashion Group. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-7643-5499-1.
...[T]he new boot featured stacked heels in material like wood.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 July 1973). "Couture Scorecard: Good is Quite Good". The New York Times: 28. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
...[T]he heels aren't the spindly, needle‐like variety that caught in subway grates. They're thick enough to look sturdy.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (22 February 1977). "What's Afoot in Shoes for Next Winter?". The New York Times: 26. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
David Evins, the doyen of shoe designers, is proud of his newest heel, which he terms 'perfectly balanced.' It looks more stiletto‐like than it actually is, due to its shape, which is almost straight at the back.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (13 November 1977). "Comings and Goings at Studio 54". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Makeup on the runway...remains very natural looking.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (21 September 1978). "Saint Laurent: On the Scent of a New 'Seduction'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
[During the looseness of the Big Look, Saint Laurent] says,...'[W]omen...didn't bother with cosmetics'.
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (28 August 1977). "Feminism's Effect on Fashion". The New York Times: 225. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
The current fashion is to let nature take its course and to let the hair hang, or kink, the way it wants.
- ^ Taylor, Angela (15 April 1974). "The Make-up Experts, Each With Tricks to Reveal". The New York Times: 37. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
The shop's favorite rouge for everyone is a tawny brown one...
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[C]lothes call for shining, natural‐looking hair. adorned, if at all, with fragile flowers or...combs.
- ^ "Fashion Things for Spring". The New York Times: SM12. 15 January 1978. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...a couple of wooden combs in loosely tied hair....
- ^ "The Year". The New York Times: 236. 28 July 1974. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Berets won almost unanimous approval with fashion designers for fall...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (7 July 1974). "Formal to Casual: Accessories, Too, Follow the Trend". The New York Times: 38. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
The most popular...is the beret....Hair fluffs out around the edges or is completely concealed within, as in the second most popular hat: the knitted cap.
- ^ Donehoo, Patricia A. (1975). "Fashion". The Americana Annual 1975: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1974. Grolier Incorporated. p. 248. ISBN 0-7172-0206-2.
The St. Laurent rolled-brim knit cap was so sought-after that it was copied at every price.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (1 November 1977). "Paris Fashions in the Fall: Big is Best". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
Hats, pulled down to the eyebrows..., are...knit caps with tiny rolled edges.
- ^ "Summer Skimmer: The Old Straw Hat". The New York Times: C10. 31 May 1978. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
...[T]he straws in the spring breeze indicate that this summer's hot hat is the old favorite that goes by the name of skimmer, boater or sailor.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 November 1977). "Plunging into a Billowy Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
What is on view here is an assortment of loose, uncomplicated, sexy clothes in the lightest-weight cottons, silks and wools, all very see-throughable and clearly meant to be seen-through to the little or no underwear underneath.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (26 November 1977). "The Loose Look is Easing into Spring". The New York Times: 36. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Because the fabrics are thin and supple, the clothes are indeed sexy, though it's not the blatant sort of sexiness that comes from tight skirts...
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma (1979). "Fashion and Dress". 1979 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1978. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 378. ISBN 0-85229-362-3.
Free-moving, soft, blousy, strapless tops were gathered by a cord at breast level...
- ^ "The New Romanticism". The New York Times: 246. 6 March 1977. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
Skin is revealed by rolled-up sleeves, shirts left unbuttoned, blouses that slide off the shoulder, see‐through fish nets and sundresses.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (24 October 1977). "Thinking Big for Spring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
It is a good year for the fat and the pregnant, since no clothes are ever too full, yet a better year for the skinny, since everything, unless well cut in light fabrics – tends to make you look as huge as Versailles even when you are not.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 March 1975). "Will It Be Full Dresses or Narrow – or Back to Living in Jeans?". The New York Times: 23. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
On the other hand, there are complaints from women, especially those on the dumpy side, who find big clothes too hard to handle or too overwhelming and worry that they make them look pregnant or at any rate conceal their figure. Men are inclined to agree, particularly on the last point.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 August 1976). "A Parisian Solution for Summer '76". The New York Times: 50. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
For many American visitors, the look hardly represented French chic at its highest. The cottons had a tendency to get rumpled. The dresses frequently looked tired. 'I don't care what you call it, it looks like a house dress,' a buyer for a New York store insisted.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (21 September 1978). "Saint Laurent: On the Scent of a New 'Seduction'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
'For a long time,...,' [Saint Laurent] says, 'There was an exaggerated looseness to clothes, and women looked like "parachutes." They lost control of their movements. They began to be too easy and relaxed'.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (13 April 1979). "French Ready-to-Wear: The Ever-Changing Message". The New York Times: A12. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
...[F]ashion followers...adopted the loose, unconstructed look and their clothes flowed all over their chairs...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 May 1974). "Paris RTW Predicts a Long, Layered Winter". Fashion International. II (8). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 2.
Capes: everywhere!...If capes succeed, what happens to shoulder bags?
- ^ Hyde, Nina (6 April 1981). "Costumes from Classics". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[C]apes...pose...problems....Carrying a purse when wearing a cape isn't an easy maneuver, and heaven forbid you should have to carry a bundle home from the Safeway.
- ^ Dullea, Georgia (9 October 1977). "Suited Up to Storm the Boardroom". The New York Times: 82. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[S]hawls get all tangled up in briefcases...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1976-1986". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 342. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
In France the Secretary for the Condition of Women...criticized the Big Look as a waste of material...
- ^ Finley, Ruth, ed. (1 May 1974). "Paris RTW Predicts a Long, Layered Winter". Fashion International. II (8). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications, Inc.: 1.
...[W]ho, in an era of fiber and fabric shortages, plus rising costs, will want to pay for the yards and yards of material needed in these garments?
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 March 1975). "Will It Be Full Dresses or Narrow – or Back to Living in Jeans?". The New York Times: 23. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
What women have found appealing is the freedom of the full shapes, which offer no restraint on wide strides and easy movements.
- ^ Klemesrud, Judy (27 August 1975). "The Dress Called the 'Droop': A Success Story Despite It All". The New York Times: 29. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
'Utility—that's the best thing about these dresses,' said Charyn Simpson, a 22‐year‐old fashion designer who was wearing a blue denim tent dress,...'You can do gardening in them, or sit on the floor at a concert in them.'
- ^ Mount, jr., Roy (1 January 1979). "Fashion". The New York Times: 18. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
In the 1970's...[s]portswear emerged as the dominant theme, implying a relaxed fit and considerable versatility, since most clothes were made in interchangeable parts....For a number of years, it offered a serviceable way of dressing, geared to active women's lives, adjusting to vagaries of climate, adapting easily to travel requirements. As the sportswear onslaught continued, clothes lost their linings and interfacings, becoming softer, looser, less structured. Almost everything became as comfortable to wear as a sweater.
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (27 November 1977). "Fashion". The New York Times: 243. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
What the new fashion is saying is Take a whole new look at yourself. Celebrate your body and do away with anything that stiffly confines it.
- ^ "The New Fuller Figure". The New York Times: 113. 7 December 1986. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
In the 1970's, great numbers of women said, in effect, 'to hell with fashion,' and hid in flat or baggy, loose clothing.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1976-1986". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 342. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Since the silhouette was entirely figure-concealing, some heralded these comfortable clothes as a triumph of feminist dressing.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (3 April 1974). "At Paris Shows, the Fabric is Flowing". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
...[Karl Lagerfeld's] new clothes vaguely recall the way suffragettes dressed in pre-World War I days but that's because the dresses are so voluminous. The yardage is immense.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1976-1986". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 342. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
...[B]y 1976 the Big Look – large, layered, peasant-inspired dressing – dominated Vogue...
- ^ Larkin, Kathy (1979). "Fashion". 1979 Collier's Yearbook Covering the Year 1978. Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. pp. 249–251.
[1978] began with women submerged under layers of soft shapeless clothing (unlined, unconstructed jackets, loose shirts and vests, and skirts spreading wide...)....The well-dressed woman started the year wearing soft, billowy, layered styles...
- ^ Cunningham, Bill (1 March 1987). "The Collections Spring Forward". Details. V (8). New York, NY: Details Publishing Corp.: 102. ISSN 0740-4921.
...[T]he test tube fiber revolution that exploded after World War II...was largely abandoned during the revival of natural fiber in the Seventies.
- ^ Elkins, Ann (1969). "Fashion". The Americana Annual, 1976: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1975. Grolier Incorporated. p. 248. ISBN 0-7172-0207-0.
Energy problems and ecological concerns made synthetics costlier and production undependable. Thus, the fabric emphasis switched to natural fibers....[N]atural materials of all types were used, not only in clothing, but in accessories.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 November 1977). "Spring Fashions: A Little Something for Everybody". The New York Times: 65. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
In just one year, Perry Ellis has won a considerable reputation as a designer of casual clothes for the woman who, 10 years ago, might have lived in a commune. Today, she's grown up, but she prefers natural fibers, natural colors and clothes that look meant to be lived in.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (10 March 1978). "Perry Ellis's Slouch Look, With Room to Think". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
'It's a far cry from the tailored, stiff clothes that used to push the body. Now we need some room to move around in life, room to think. These clothes give you room to think,' [Perry Ellis] says.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 January 1972). "Her Wrap Dresses Resemble Kimonos". The New York Times: 16. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
'I used to use a lot of construction, but I can't do that anymore – people want to feel free,' [designer Hiroko] explained...
- ^ "Designer Jeans". Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ "This is how Iranian women dressed in the 1970s before the Iranian Revolution". Thevintagenews.com. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "Afghanistan Style in The '20s Through '70s: Photographs Show A Lost, Fashionable Time". HuffPost. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- ^ Paracha, Nadeem F. (4 December 2015). "Pakistan's contrary years (1971–1977): A cultural history of the Bhutto era". Dawn. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "16 Images of Pakistan's Swinging 1970s – SHUGHAL". Shughal.com. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "Take a look at these amazing photos of Iran before the revolution". Business Insider UK. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 December 1978). "The Top of the (Bottom) Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
[S]tatus jeans, with a designer label prominent on the rear pocket, are strictly an invention of 1978. And a hot sales ticket as well.
- ^ McEvoy, Marian (28 May 1978). "Fashion". The New York Times: SM13. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
Today, jeans are going through yet another evolution. Influential designers are putting their stamp on them. Such well‐known names as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan of Anne Klein, Charlotte Ford and Gloria Vanderbilt have turned their respective attentions to these most durable and enduring of garments....This summer, there are...jeans with big designer labels on the waistbands...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 December 1978). "The Top of the (Bottom) Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
'It's the label cachet and the chance for customers to get a designer label at a fairly reasonable price,' says Kal Ruttenstein, fashion director of Bloomingdale's. Ruttenstein isn't sure precisely when the jeans 'took off,' but he figures it was right after he returned from seeing the new collections in Paris in November. 'And it all happened so fast we didn't know what hit us,' he says. He's convinced that status jeans will be around for a while, but wouldn't hazard a guess as to how long.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 December 1978). "The Top of the (Bottom) Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
[Calvin Klein's jeans] started selling fast the minute they hit the stores, and are now being turned out at the rate of 50,000 pairs per week....The company expects to push out 100,000 per week....[D]esigner jeans are such big business that Bloomingdale's has created a department called "Pure Jeanius," and similar departments have opened in stores across the country.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 April 1979). "Gussying Up for Fall". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
Calvin Klein...is...selling jeans at the rate of $100 million (wholesale) a year, producing 100,000 pairs a week.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 December 1978). "The Top of the (Bottom) Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
They boast labels including Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Geoffrey Beene, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel, Maurice Sasson, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin, with Scott Barrie, Thierry Mugler, Stephen Burrows, Bill Blass and many more still to come.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (16 September 1979). "Jeans: Skinny is Out, Baggy In". The New York Times: 74. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
[T]he idea was to get jeans as skinny as stove‐pipes or cigarettes.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (30 December 1978). "The Top of the (Bottom) Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
...good fit, narrow leg...[Designer] Maurice Sasson...has taken his jeans to the very narrow 12-inch width, 'just wide enough to fit over the boot,' he says.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (8 October 1978). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
[T]he hottest single seller to step out in a long time is the Candie, a cha-cha heel on a plastic sole held in place only by a wide leather vamp. Shoe Scene has sold 3,200 pairs in two stores; the maker, El Greco, has sold 2 million pairs in three months....[Girls] wear them with their jeans...They are sexy and...they are comfortable. Because of the molded sole the heel isn't as high as it looks.
- ^ Elkins, Ann M. "Fashion". The Americana Annual 1980: An Encyclopedia of the Events of 1979. Grolier Incorporated. p. 218. ISBN 0-7172-0211-9.
Another new trouser making its appearance...was the 'baggie,' which featured fullish pleating below a wide waistband tapering to a narrow pegged leg.
- ^ Hendelson, Marion. "Fashion". Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events of 1979. New York, USA: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc. p. 167. ISBN 0-8343-0034-6.
...[Y]oung women were attracted to a new silhouette – wide pants tapering to the ankle. Often called 'baggy' jeans, the new pants were less restricting than the more familiar skin-tight version.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (16 September 1979). "Jeans: Skinny is Out, Baggy In". The New York Times: 74. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
The new watchword for jeans is 'baggy.'...[B]aggy jeans are fun to wear at the moment.
- ^ Duka, John (3 January 1982). "Designing an Empire". The New York Times: 20. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
[Perry Ellis's] dimple-sleeve jackets, baby cable-knit sweaters and cropped pants...have been copied by many of the smart manufacturers...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (12 December 1979). "Maud Frizon, the Designer Behind the Colorful Cone Heels". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
[L]ower cone heels [are]...happening now because of the inventive shoe shapes of Maud Frizon.
, - ^ Hendelson, Marion (1981). "Fashion". Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Yearbook 1981: Events of 1980. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc. p. 172. ISBN 0834300362.
By late spring [1980], the jazz shoe, a flat-heeled laced shoe, was introduced and well accepted.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 March 1978). "Milan: Wide Shoulders, Bulky Jackets, Leathers". The New York Times: C6. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
The biggest change is not in the length of skirts but in the breadth of shoulders. Many jackets and coats, as well as some tunics to be worn under them, are not only widened but padded.
- ^ Larkin, Kathy. "Fashion". 1979 Collier's Yearbook Covering the Year 1978. Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. pp. 249–252.
In women's fashion, 1978 was a year of great change. It began