70s or morning after hangover

Every century, every period of time has own features. When people judge the country’s recent history, they will notice an arc in popular culture from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s. While 50s are considered to be the time where youth culture developed and the 1960s are viewed as the time where this nascent culture flexed its muscle, 70s was a much more complicated time. If 60s were a party, 70s can be considered the morning after hangover.

A messy period that saw a number of different fashion styles. The 60s broke down the barriers, the 70s vent nuts. Beads for belts, long hair for everyone, afros for blacks, long sideburns for wanabe hippies, sandals platform shoes ( with large, thick heels ), frilly collars, leather, paisley shirts.

In the early part of the decade, 70s fashion was a continuation of the popular hippy look of 60s fashion. However, this early 70s fashion made a few tweaks in the popular hippie fashion. Moving away from the baggy jeans look, early 70s fashion popularized hip hugging jeans that still retained bell-bottoms. The spacier elements of 60s hippy fashion would become less popular, although the hippy look retained its early style and its fascination with exotic fashion items such as clothes made from Indian fabrics.

However, on the higher end of early 70s fashion was the development of romantic fashions that proved to be extremely popular. These new designs created by designers like Yves St Laurent, Ossie Clark, and Zandra Rhodes who helped change 70s fashion. As the 1970s continued, people began to dress in more flashier styles that showed off their bodies. The mini skirt would shorten to the midi-skirt. On the other spectrum, platform shoes became particularly popular. This new emphasis on design and hedonism. So these two facts take root in the emergence of disco fashion in the late 70s.

Disco fashion has been popularized in movies such as the John Travolta hit, Saturday Night Fever. Although much of disco fashion and later 70s fashion are considered tacky, they are slowly returning to popularity as people view these styles as being more fun than embarrassing. Disco was memobable for its hot pants look and Spandex tops. Shiny clinging Lycra stretch disco pants in hot strident shiny colours with stretch sequin bandeau tops were often adaptations of professional modern dance wear. Gold lame, leopard skin and stretch halter jumpsuits and white clothes that glowed in Ultra Violet lights capture the 70s Disco fashion perfectly.

The punk fashion style developed as an angry response to the carefree attitude of disco fashion. Punk fashion was not overly wide spread during the 1970s. However, in future decades, punk fashion would be extremely influential and its influences can be seen in emo fashion and current fashion.

This decade is remembered for its messiness and so i tis difficult to define 70s fashion. From its early hippy look to its later angry punk look, 70s fashion was a time of rapid development of new styles. An underrated era in terms of style, 70s fashion is being appreciated more and more with each passing year!

arizonka