70s Look Book

By lola Bennett

How fashion was influenced by

the 70s...

The seventies was a time of self growth and progression.

Health and fitness was the craze so everyone was working out
and getting obsessed with workout wear. The hippies ideology
of the 60s (peace, love and freedom) was replaced with
personal gain and personal interest. Punks were piercing
themselves and unknowingly started the Revolution of piercings
being accepted for future Generations. Glam was spreading
glitter everywhere, as well as tolerance and acceptance for
sexuality and gender, with its androgynous look and music.
Platform shoes were worn by everyone, even men when it came
to the dance floor. People went to the Disco to feel sophisticated
and modern and to be modern was to be accepting, so everyone
was tolerated. Denim in the seventies went from workwear to
high fashion and worn by everyone. This created the long-lasting
trend of using denim not just for jeans but other garments as
well. The seventies was all about escaping reality, living in a
fantasy and escaping from the everyday norm. They did this
through fashion and showed off their clothes by going to
concerts, parties and night clubs. People wanted to grow and to
change what was happening around them and they realized the
only way to change is to accept and move forward together. Civil
rights wasnt having its finest hour yet, but it was beginning to
change among everyday people.

70s Glam

The most popular form of glam consisted of platform shoes,

padded shoulders, flared pants and synthetic fabrics. New York Dolls,
Alice Cooper, T Rex and David Bowie were the most Glam musicians
of the 70s. These musicians would try to out stage each other by being
more outrageous every time adding even more glitter and feathers to
every stage performance. Platform shoes got higher, flares got wider
and suede was the staple fabric of Glam. Sequins were a necessity.
Make up was unisex with eyeliner and glitter eyeshadow in a range of
sparkly different colors. Glam was not for the everyday person and was
bound to the stage performances. Glam was tacky, shocking and
extreme but it was a way to escape everyday life and societies norms
and to lead a life based more on fantasy than reality. Glam also known
as glitter rock a genre of music that was extremely popular between
1972 to 1975. The music used unusual dream sounding lyrics and the
sound reflected heavily on the style of clothing. Platform soled heels,
huge hairstyles and extreme make up or a unisex look for the average
glam rock . Clothes were usually a solid color with sequins and glitter.
Tight fitting leather and satin trousers were very popular for this look.
As the hippie movement came to an end what many called the
teenage transvestite revolution began. Glam music had lyrics about
taboo subjects like sexual orientation and gender. This reflected on the
fashion that was androgynous. Bowie was considered the leader of
glam rock he himself who had a bending sexual orientation and unisex
look. Basically the meaning of glam rock in the end was to break down
gender barriers and sexual orientation barriers and create tolerance for
the LGBTQ community.

Athletic 70s Fashion.

The fitness and health craze of the 70s led to the need for
more fashionable workout wear. Track suits and sneakers were worn
outside of the gym and headbands and legwarmers became popular
with aerobic sports and everyday wear. Betsey Johnson showed
bodysuits, leotards and hotpants in a whole new light, making them
popular for the everyday girl wanting to get into shape and still look
stylish. In an effort to show off their bodies they worked so hard on
people started wearing tighter fitting clothing. Clothes were made out
of more terry cloth and velcro textiles to hug closer to the body for freer
movement. The difference between everyday clothing and sportswear
was beginning to disappear. Athletic clothes for more upper-class
people who could afford it would buy sportswear in silks, satins and
expensive spandex for a more disco look. Body image being one of the
biggest trends in the 1970s sports and athletic wear became very
popular and an essential to everyone's closet.

Disco Fashion...

Disco was a way to bring back expensive Glamour and escape from
day to day mundaness. Sequins, glitter and skintight everything was
necessary to get attention on a crowded dance floor. Inexpensive
cheap sequin clothing and flashy plastic accessories were very popular
at the disco and were in print colors and patterns to get the attention
and envy of others. You could dress to the 9s in bodysuits and puffy
dresses or dress down in sneakers and a button-down T-shirt witch also
totally acceptable. Designers like Roy Holster took this opportunity to
make extravagant dancewear and created the halter neck dress and
jumpsuits made out of jersey, chiffon and ultrasuede. The futuristic look
of the 70s consisted of a lot of body glitter and silver and gold sequins.
Platform heels were the official shoe to wear on the dance floor for both
sexes, like many other fashion groups in the 70s. The music
technology of the 70s was groundbreaking, vocals in songs were the
main focus of 70s music and there was a lot of bass throughout the 70
s instrumental disco music. Disco was officially born you could say
when a nightclub called The Loft in New York City was opened in 1970
on Valentine's Day. The mood and the atmosphere of the place created
the long-lasting trend of disco throughout the 70s.

More on disco..

The main demographic for disco was white heterosexual urban and
suburban middle class. Babies growing up from the 60s were the first
generation of disco and they wanted to have their own way of fun,
different from the free loving hippies. Their element that separated them
from the rest of society was their sophistication and their forward
moving political views. The second-generation of disco was suburban,
middle class, blue-collar workers. This was their way to escape
everyday life by dressing up and paying to enter a futuristic world with
new sounding instrumental music that took their mind of day to day life.
The third-generation had been around for quite a long time but was
becoming more popular in the 70s. The third generation of disco was
made up of minorities such as gays, Latinos and African-Americans. All
found support and tolerance at the disco. Subcultures came together
through the core element of sophistication. People wanted to move
away from bigotry because it was seen as unsophisticated. The 70s
was all about personal gain, it was also about the practice of tolerance.
Disco was a way to be modern futuristic and was a way to escape
modern everyday life like many other 70s fashion groups. But like Glam
it also was the beginning of acceptance.

Punk Fashion...

Teens in Britain in the 70s faced the harsh reality of

unemployment and the feeling of lost hope and no future. Their music
didn't reach out to them and they felt they didn't have a voice. Glam
rockers and teenyboppers had no real connection to real life, making
them unrelatable to these lost rebellious teens. Designers like Vivienne
Westwood and bands like the Sex Pistols helped them find a voice
through rock 'n' roll and the punk lifestyle. Punks kept their hair dyed in
bright colors and wore it in long spikes kept up by many different
hairspray products or in shaggy short choppy hairstyles. Self piercing
and body morphing in general was a very popular among the punks.
The aggressive punk lifestyle reached angry American teens also but
wasn't as popular as it wasn in Britain. Punks wore shocking clothing
choices to show their disgust about society and social constructs.
Safety pins through ears and many other body parts was a common
punk style. The idea of good taste went out of the door and uniforms
like suits and schoolgirl uniforms were distorted with rips, slashes and
worn with heavy black makeup and mocking hairstyles. Their main
interests included anarchy, spitting and sweaty headbanging dancing.
Punk itself started in the early 70s and was closely connected to the
new forming genre of punk music.

More on Punk Fashion...

This look was worn mostly by youth with limited cash and who
were outcasts. Punks bought their clothes from thrift stores and
reconstructed them in a shocking way to draw attention to themselves.
Torn fabrics, frayed edges and defaced prints had never been seen
before and came as a shock to the general population that people
would wear such deformed garments. Jeans were ripped to show
many layers of tights worn with popular punk shoes called Doc
Martens, also worn by skinheads. Things like safety pins, chains,
padlocks and razor blade's were used as detailing on clothing and in
jewelry. Now mainstream details, these items once symbolized
rebellion, giving a hard sharp edge to the punk look. Piercing for punks
branched out from earlobes, to cheeks, eyebrows, noses and lips.
These piercings and tattoos were meant to once again deliberately
shock and offend people. This style was so unisex even men started
self piercing. This look was very unusual to the public and had never
been seen before. What followed this was mainstream nose piercings
popping up with goth teens in the 80s and then the 90s eyebrow
piercings, bellybutton piercings and tongue piercings. Punks were the
start of mainstream acceptance for body piercings and edgy clothing.

The New Romantics...

The name New Romantics was invented in the 80s by the

media but the movement itself started in the 70s. They had punk
routes but they more were invested in clothing, drama and
clubbing than anything else (unlike the punks who had their
focus on anarchy). A style of theirs was military inspired outfits
and caps and 40s inspired pillbox hat both making a comeback.
New Romantics that could afford to would dress in pirate, fairy
tale and prince charming inspired outfits, with elaborate themes
and detailing. In future bands like Adam and the Ants or Duran
Duran inherited this look. Many took inspiration from the
theatrical or historical aspects of fashion to create this fantasy
almost storybook look. The name comes from the romantic
styled frilled shirts, floppy haircuts, velvet detailing and the
futuristic aspects of their style. Details and styles of the new
Romantics included high heels, big ruffles and makeup for both
sexes. Make up was a big part of this style and included
powdered faces and bright red lips which were the most popular.
Many other 70s fashion cults they were going for more futuristic
Fantasy look and trying to escape reality also. This look was
short-lived and was bound to nightclubs, parties, stage
performances and concerts.

Eastern Influences In 70
s fashion.

The Middle East was constantly in the headlines in the

seventies, with the war and rise of oil prices. New discoveries of
ancient Egyptian artifacts brought a new craze of Egyptian inspired
styles. Eastern fashion was not the main focus of the seventies but it
did play into the popular themes: fantasy, glamour, escapism, nostalgia
and the quest of novelty. Traditions for the Middle East turned into
fashion for the West. The Gypsy look was just as popular and
consisted of floor length skirts, low necklines, colorful scarfs and
sashes. Designers like Yves Saint Laurent looked to Russia for
inspiration like baggy trousers, combat boots, full flowing dresses and
fur hats. This included braiding, embroidery and Brocade. Textiles like
linen were very popular for this style, for more free movement. This
was a consistent style throughout the seventies and gave it its distinct
look.

The 70s denim craze

With so many different styles of jeans picking one became a

sort of uniform. Frayed and flared jeans were the most popular style of
the era and could be dressed up or down. Denim wasn't just for jeans it
was made into vests, short jackets and full length coats, all of which
became very popular. Outfits like turned up jeans and sweaters,
denim overalls and lace-up boots were worn by women and men.
Jean embellishments were personalised to individual style. Hippies
embroidered and patched their jeans, while Punks ripped, pinned and
slashed theirs. Glam rockers had sequins on theirs and Disco addicts
had them skin tight with high heels and colorful socks. Jeans were also
worn casually ( by adults,parents and professionals), usually worn with
button-down shirts, sweaters and loafers. All ages, all Sexes, all styles
wore it.Coming in different styles besides jeans, denim was worn by
everyone and personalized to everyone's individual taste. Denim was a
common ground for Fashion in the seventies.

70s shoes, Hair, Makeup

and accessories....

A lot of the accessories were very heavily influenced by Eastern

culture and styles such as headscarves, with elaborate prints and big
jewelry with Arabian and gypsy influences. Floppy sun hats and wide
brim hats were worn in colors like white, black and brown and were a
good accessory to a long summer dress. Suede and leather belts with
tassels were very popular and could be worn at the waist or the hips.
The iconic Circle sunglasses of the seventies come in different color
tinted lenses and thin delicate looking structures. The makeup of the
seventies varies but a very general style was heavy black eye makeup
on the top and bottom lined, with a lots of mascara on both eyelash
sets. Lipstick wasn't really worn and bright eye shadow was very in.
Hairstyles again varied with different fashion groups but popular ones
were short and shaggy hair, a more toned-down beehive look like from
the sixties or Straight hair with bangs like Annie Hall. Throughout this
lookbook I've been mentioning platform shoes because they are so
important to the seventies look. Everyone besides the punks mainly
wore them from day-to-day life or to dress up. They come in many
styles like plain stiletto heels, clogs, go-go boots styled or sandals.
They were androgynous when it came to the dance floor but the dayto-day life they were usually worn by women.

Extra Notes on Common

Popular 70s universal
trends.

Fabrics/Textiles
-Spandex
-warm color schemes
-Flowy fabric
-floral and paisley prints
-Jersey
-linen
- Ethnic prints -satin
-Suede
-Denim
Silhouettes/Clothing
-Skin tight clothing
-free flowing skirts
-button down denim skirts
-jeans
-Bell bottoms and flared pants
-turtlenecks
-Wide brim hats
-fringe tassels
-peasant blouses
-pant suits
-jump suit
-athletic wear
-plat form shoes

Forward thinking
Trends of the 70s...

Work wear for women: Women entered the workplace like

never before and acquired daywear like pant suits, fitted vests and
white collared shirts. These clothes had a masculine edge about them
to show they meant business.

The Maxi is the new Mini: The very popular miniskirt of the
60s is replaced in the 70s by the long ankle length maxi skirt. The
maxi is worn in many different styles, the most popular were to wear
this look either straight down or in a long flowy circle skirt style. This
skirt came in a variety of prints and was most popularly worn in warm
tones like browns, burgundies and deep greens.

Earth Tones:Unlike the Psychedelic 60s and the glitter fest of

Glam the day today color scheme for the seventies was very earthy.
Gold ,sunflower yellow , sand hues, antique reds and denim blues are
just a few of the popular color schemes of the 70s. Putting these tones
in ethnic designs and eye-catching patterns was recommended to
make a statement with these muted colors. This toned-down color
scheme gave more of a serious edge to 70s fashion.

Tye-dye and other Diys:Tie-dye was still

very much popular

style as it was in the sixties. Other emerging DIYs like knitting ,
crocheting and upcycling clothing were becoming equally as popular.
Tie-dye was no longer seen as lazy and trashy but as a socially
acceptable garment.

People and designers of

the 70s...

Designers
-Zadra Rhodes -Chloel
-Laura Ashley
-Yves Saint Laurent
-Kenzo
-Kansai Yamamoto
-Vivienne Westwood -Ossie Clark
-Jean Moir
-Malcolm Mclaren
Bands/Musicians
-Bowie
-T Rex
-New York Dolls -Alice Cooper
-Sex Pistols
Models/Icons
-Candy Darling
-Elizabeth Taylor

-Bianca Jagger

The End!