70's Clothes

For whatever reason, 70's clothes have gained in popularity of late. Perhaps it is a longing for what seems to be a wilder, more carefree time that has people wanting to wear and buy vintage clothes. People might be wearing 70's clothing as a way to escape the complications of every day life when all you hear about is the terrible economy.


1970's clothes were a diverse mix as the decade progressed. The 1970's started with the sloppy hippie look and then moved on after the decade's mid point to a much different look with disco clothing. Disco clothing was of course very shimmery and daring. While anyone could get away with the sloppy seventies fashion (you just dressed like you were bumming around the house), not everyone could pull off disco fashion. Form fitting clothes made of unforgiving fabrics that would show every bulge really put the emphasis on the superficial. Women went to outrageous lengths to get Farrah Fawcett hair as if that would make the men stare at them the same way they stared at "the bathing suit poster."

I do not really know what has fueled the retro clothing surge. My guess would be that people hit a point of wanting something "different" in their lives. Dressing in hippie clothes is different. Slipping into a disco costume is different. The extent that people today will go about their normal routines in 70's clothing is not entirely clear. In the late 1970's the disco look actually made its way into the business world. A look back at the business styles of the day, particularly for women will show that what was acceptable then, might not quite fly today. Seventies clothing for professional women was often designed to make them look like they were ready to hit the dance floor at the drop of a hat. I don't think most professional women today could live with that. That isn't to say that a business woman of the 1970's was any less professional. It is more that the culture was more accepting (or at least use to seeing) of the disco fashions that were popular among so many.

There is also a false belief that everyone in the 1970's wore clothing that made them look like they were either ready to head back to Woodstock or dance the night away. Any veteran of 70s fashion would probably tell you that you could go back to the 70's era wearing jeans and a t-shirt with no danger of standing out. In the same way, the retro clothing we as a culture often think of as 60's clothes or 80's clothes don't entirely define an entire generation of people, it should not be thought that everyone woke up and dressed in a stereotypical 70's costume.

It sometimes seems, when looking back at retro clothing that the book ends of a decade's start and finish are often quite different. It should always be remembered that every person was still able to "do their own thing" however. There are many men who probably made it through the entire decade of the 70's without ever putting a silk shirt across their shoulders. Likewise, some women went for and kept "short and sassy" and never went for Farrah's feathered hair. There will always be those who follow the fashion trends more closely than the rest of the people. There will also always be people who completely ignore fashion sense and, instead, aim entirely for comfort. Some people will rebel and do the opposite of whatever is popular at the moment. It always will come down to the individual and what they can live with. I suppose my point is that there is no one set example of 70's clothes.