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Fashions of a

DecadeThe1970s

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The 1970s_4C 9/27/06 6:43 PM Page 3

Jacqueline Herald

Fashions of aDecade

The

1970s

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ContentsIntroduction 6

1 Tough Guys 28

2 Nostalgia 32

3 Black is Beautiful 36

4 Glamour 40

5 Dressed to Clash 44

6 Trash Culture 48

7 Disco Kings and Queens 52

8 The Rebirth of Style 56

Chronology 60

Glossary 62

Further Reading 63

Acknowledgments 63

Index 64

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The 70sIt was writer Tom Wolfe who dubbed the seventies the “Me Decade.” Theproblem was, lots of “Me’s” were fighting for a piece of the action. Politicallyextremist and fundamentalist groups committed acts of terrorism. In terms ofdress, fashion magazines declared, “Anything goes.” No rules applied any more.

Nostalgia and an interest in traditional cultures of the developing worldwere elements that ran through the decade, from radical chic to punk. Retrostyles were promoted by films like The Great Gatsby (1974), in which Mia Farrowand Robert Redford wore twenties-style clothes, and the American TV showHappy Days, based on the popular film American Graffiti, which centered onfifties teenagers.

.Grease, one of several fifties nostalgiamovies. John Travolta’s greased forelock ofhair is authentic enough, although the largeshirt collar and cut of his draped jacket andstovepipe pants are unmistakably seventies.

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7The “Me Decade”Hard as fashion tried to promote them, elements of past styles were no escapefrom the very real social, political, and environmental upheavals of the present.The energy crisis; increasing unemployment and world recession; the civil rights,gay liberation, and women’s movements; growing concern over the future of theenvironment, focusing on ecology and antinuclear strategies; demands forpolitical recognition and independence; terrorism, bombing, and hijacking; thearrival of the computer microchip—all these elements were reflected in the waypeople dressed.

The world seemed smaller. The Concorde, the first supersonic airplane,took to the skies. Charter lines sprang up, offering cheap transatlantic travel, andAmerican fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Colonel Sanders’s KentuckyFried Chicken spread across Europe.

Watergate and the Fall ofPresident NixonOn June 17, 1972, five men were arrestedafter attempting to remove buggingdevices from the headquarters of theDemocratic National Committee in theWatergate building in Washington, DC.The incident was later traced to theoffices of US President Richard Nixon andled to a scandal that reverberated forseveral years. In May 1974 impeachmenthearings against Nixon were opened;millions of Americans tuned in to the livebroadcasts of the Senate Watergatehearings, which surpassed the soapoperas and baseball games in popularity.In August Nixon resigned—the first USpresident to do so before the end of hiselected term—and vice-president GeraldFord took over at the White House.Although Nixon was granted a completepardon for any federal crimes, many ofhis top aides were sent to prison.

cOn June 28, 1970, the anniversary of riotsthat followed a police raid on a gay bar inNew York City, the Gay Liberation Frontorganized a march from Greenwich Villageto Central Park. Since then, gay pridemarches have become annual events incities around the world and have taken on afestive, Mardi Gras-like character, ofteninvolving floats, dancers, drag queens, andloud music.

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8You Are What You WearThe idea of dress as a system of signs, indicating the lifestyle and aspirations ofthe wearer, was taken very seriously in the 1970s. The discipline is known assemiotics. Writings by French semiologist Roland Barthes became requiredreading in many art colleges that prioritized theory over practice. In a 1976essay entitled “Lumbar Thought,” Italian academic and novelist Umberto Ecowrote wittily about the relationship between the internal experience and externalappearance of wearing blue jeans.

American psychologists discussed the social and political implications ofpower dressing. Topical magazines discussed the language of status symbols,designers, and clothes. Peter York’s caustic columns in the British magazineHarpers & Queen defined immediately identifiable social “types” like the SloaneRangers, London’s nearest equivalent to American preppies.

Environmental ConcernsIn 1970, BBC TV’s Doomwatch seriesattracted a huge audience, coveringenvironmental problems like the smogover New York City and Tokyo. Thisopened up an international debate onpollution, with concern voiced over leadpoisoning from exhaust fumes and thethreat to the ozone layer. In 1976, inSeveso, Italy, a cloud of dioxin wasaccidentally leaked from a fertilizerfactory, a disaster which left peoplewondering about its long-term effectson local inhabitants’ health.

In 1970, Americans celebratedthe first Earth Day and many joinedincreasingly active environmentalgroups. However, they were workingagainst ever-increasing problems. Acidrain began to kill trees and pollutelakes in the United States and Canada.Many urban areas, especially LosAngeles, suffered from extremely poorair quality, and water pollution closedbeaches on the Great Lakes.

.The Sloane Ranger, in her neat, almosttraditional clothes, could be seen anywherearound the Chelsea district of London.

cIn March 1978, the supertanker AmocoCadiz ran aground and split in two off thecoast of Brittany, spilling 220,000 tons ofcrude oil into the English Channel. It was theworst oil spill in marine history, threateningwildlife along seventy miles of coastline.

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9The Vietnam WarThe decade opened with a surge ofdemonstrations against the VietnamWar, in which America had been activelyinvolved since 1964. In May 1970, USforces invaded neutral Cambodia. Thatmonth, tension ran high at Ohio’s KentState University when National Guardtroops fired on protesting students, fourof whom were shot dead. FollowingAmerica’s devastating bombingcampaign against the Vietcong(Communist) forces and NorthVietnamese civilians in 1972, a cease-fire between the United States andNorth Vietnam was signed in early 1973.American civilians and troops werewithdrawn, and prisoners of warreturned home to a tumultuouswelcome. In January of 1973 the highlycontroversial military draft ended in theUnited States. But the war was not over.In April 1975 a North Vietnamese attackon the South led speedily to the fall ofSaigon and while US helicoptersairlifted out US civilians and as manyVietnamese as they could carry,Communist forces completed theirtakeover of the country. The filmM*A*S*H—a black comedy set in Koreabut obviously referring to Vietnam—satirized war and the society thatinstigated it. In 1977 US PresidentJimmy Carter pardoned most of anestimated 10,000 draft evaders, manyof whom had fled to Canada.

mThis sleek and elegant couple are wearingfashions by Christian Dior. They representthe conservative face of respectability at atime of threatening change.

cRon Kovic, one of the most outspokenanti-war activists, addresses the crowd at aVietnam vets demonstration in 1972. Kovic’sstory was the basis of the film Born on theFourth of July.

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10The Women’s MovementBy the late sixties, “minority” groups—blacks or gay people and women—werebecoming more visible and audible in the political arena.The publication of feminist texts gatheredmomentum during the seventies.They often discussed theposition of women in society,focusing on the roles of mother,wife, and lover. GermaineGreer’s The Female Eunuch,published in 1971, challengedtraditional perceptions of femininity.

Magazines of the period did notjust treat women as fashion consumersbut took into account new values andlifestyles, including careers. The Japanesepublication An An, launched in March 1970,covered Western fashion and included featureson food, travel, and American ideals of women’sindependence. The British and US editions ofCosmopolitan offered frank advice on sex, howto take the initiative in meeting men, as wellas information on makeup, and the body.

Radical feminists, however, werereluctant to discuss fashion and werereadily stereotyped. “Conference anddemonstration dress” included T-shirtswith slogans, baggy jeans, practical carryallbags, and buttons in place of jewelry. Hairwas worn long or short, but either way, itrequired (and got) minimal maintenance.Shoes were flat and square toed. Radicalwomen did not shave their underarms orlegs or wear bras. You didn’t need to followhigh fashion to make an impression.

Even so, fashion and fashionphotography went on. But feminist magazineslike the British Spare Rib began to questionwho the photographs were for. Men dominatedthe advertising and photography professions,yet images of women in fashionable dress orpromoting a product were mainly looked at byother women. Shopping was mostly done bywomen, whether for themselves, their spouses,or their children.

mAustralian feministGermaine Greer burstonto the literary scene in1971. Although members

of the older generationwere frequently outraged by

her deliberately provocativestatements, they could not dismiss

her as an unattractive activist.

b Both Laura Ashley’sVictorian-style country lookand Ralph Lauren’s Prairiecollection had rufflesaround the hem and wereoften worn with akerchief around thehead or neck andlaced, mid-calf-length“granny” boots.

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An idea taken from the gayliberation movement was thatstereotyped differences between maleand female could be broken down bycross-dressing. This was taken up bywomen who wanted to make animpression in a man’s world.Discarding skirts and high heels infavor of heavy boots and jeans wasone way of downplaying the traditionalimages of femininity, which werethought to be male-imposedstandards.

Women’s executive dressborrowed elements from the suits oftheir male colleagues, like men’s suitfabrics in subdued colors. For the firsttime in history, women’s pantsuitswere accepted as stylish city wear. By1978, padded shoulders and tailoredcoats were popular, both reflecting theradical feminism of the early seventiesand anticipating the power dressing ofthe yuppie eighties.

11This high-fashion outfit fromLouis Feraud’s summer 1971collection was probably notcreated to appeal to womenthemselves.

mCosmopolitan was a breath of fresh airfor many young women, tackling all thedifficult subjects they felt they couldn’traise with their mothers.

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The Teenage GazeYouth subcultures—their racial identities, styles of dress and behavior, andpatterns of consumption, especially in the area of music—were studied by thenew wave of sociologists. Interviews and surveys revealed that teenagers,searching for a constant against which to measure themselves, paid anincredible amount of attention to detail when observing the clothing of theirpeers. American novelist Alison Lurie, with her own acute eye for detail, noted in1976 that according to junior high school lore, “freaks always wear Lees,greasers wear Wranglers, and everyone else wears Levi’s.”

Skinheads, one type of subculture, grew out of a British group of the latesixties known as mods, a working-class reaction against middle-class hippies.Skinheads were first called all kinds of names: peanuts, skulls, boiled eggs,cropheads. The mods’ hair had been cropped to less than half an inch, but theskinhead crop was the most severe haircut you could get. Skinheads looked neatyet aggressive. They stomped around in tight, short pants (permanent press orbleached Levi’s), crombies (three-quarter-length wool coats), suspenders, plainor striped Ben Sherman shirts with button-down collars, and big, highly polished

b Janet Reger satin underwear representedthe top end of the market. However, this isthe sort of suggestive photography thatfeminists seriously questioned.

m Although the use of cork in platformsoles made them lighter to wear and theankle strap held the shoe in place, shoeslike this were not the best of gear for bikingor scooter riding.

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work boots (Doc Martens) that, for a true skinhead, had to have eight eyelets.Skinhead girls wore a “feather” haircut, cropped on top with wispy tufts framingthe face and neck. “Suedeheads” were identifiable by their grown-out crops,sometimes sideburns, and short coats or workmen’s jackets.

Economy DrivesIn the early 1970s, the numbers of unemployed and of full-time students rose inthe West. By 1975, the world was in recession: unemployment figures had been

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Terrorism StrikesPolitical protest turned violent, resulting in the hijacking of airplanes and bombingcampaigns. The seventies opened with Black September—four successive hijackingsby breakaway Palestinian groups—and 1972 saw Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland;the massacre of innocent Israelis by Palestinian guerrillas at the Munich OlympicGames; and a car-bombing campaign by the young revolutionary Baader-Meinhoforganization in West Germany. Many of these struggles went on throughout thedecade: 1979 ended with 90 people held hostage at the American embassy in Iran bymilitary followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

mTerrorism hit the Paris runways in winter1978–79 with Daniel Hechter’s IRA tweedlook—black beret, leather jacket, man’sshirt with button-down collar, and narrowblack tie. The roll-down ankle socks wornover stockings were a young woman’sfashion inspired by roller-skating gear. Herethey are worn with heavy, crepe-soled,tongued brogues.

cIt was often hard to tell the differencebetween boys and girls in the skinheadworld: many of the clothes wereinterchangeable.

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14rising steadily, along with inflation, fora number of years, and demand formanufactured goods had decreased.The energy crisis of 1973–74 put extrapressure on the manufacturingindustry to reduce overhead. By theend of the decade, the number ofpeople employed in fashion-relatedindustries dropped in the West,matched by a dramatic fall in tradeunion membership. However, thenumber of homeworkers wasincreasing, especially among theimmigrant population. At the sametime, recession meant that industrywas reluctant to invest in fast-changing technology—it was farcheaper to use labor from thedeveloping world.

Consequently, the globalbalance shifted as multinationalcorporations financed from the Westmanufactured more products in theFar East, taking full advantage of thefree trade zones. These areas werecentered on ports into which rawmaterials or component parts could beimported, then assembled and re-exported without paying duties andwithout complying with trade unionagreements or industrial legislation.Many women and children wereexploited, especially in the clothingand textile industries.

The long-term political andcultural implications wereconsiderable. For the past century, the industrialized West had been treated asthe model for developing countries. Now, in its place, Japan entered thevanguard of microtechnology and industrial organization—and prospered.

More Dash Than CashAs job prospects dwindled, a network of street markets developed for the sale ofsecondhand clothes. New clothes were made from old. Old and new were worntogether, often in unexpected combinations of color, pattern, and texture or ofmen’s and women’s clothing. Cheap Chic, a guide to “hundreds of money-saving

mThe drum majorette look. Charlie’s AngelFarrah Fawcett is the picture of Americanhealth with her long blonde hair, broadsmile, and perfect teeth.

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hints to create your own great look,”was a big seller. Its authors declared,“Fashion as a dictatorship of the eliteis dead.”

New aesthetics emerged. Somewere achieved with the help ofproducts from the kitchen or bathroomcabinet. People dyed their own T-shirts, sometimes batiking or tie-dyeing them for a late hippie look.Punk girls dyed their grandfathers’long johns black, starting a fashion forleggings that would develop into thehigh-fashion Lycra versions of the1980s. Boys customized their hair gelsto hold the spikes in place. For theperfect “hedgehog,” Tony James ofthe band Generation X used acombination of lemon juice, spit, andorange juice, admitting, “I used towalk round smelling like a carton ofKia-Ora [orange drink].”

Small Is BeautifulIn unison with the earth’s atmosphere,the debates about ecology andappropriate and alternativetechnologies were heating up. Ecologybecame a political bandwagon: partieslike the German Greens andenvironmental lobby groups likeFriends of the Earth and Greenpeacewere established. The Greening ofAmerica (1970), by Yale University lawprofessor Charles Reich, predicted

that US society would change permanently for the better because Americanyouth would attach greater importance to conserving the beauty of theirenvironment than to social status and financial success. In 1973, the book SmallIs Beautiful by prophet of intermediate technology E. F. Schumacher waspublished and supported by lecture tours and a promotional campaign.

Concern was also growing about the world’s endangered animals.Georgina Howell wrote in a 1975 issue of British Vogue: “No woman with hereyes open would walk about now in the skins of a rare animal and be the butt ofraised eyebrows and uncomplimentary remarks.”

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mThe glamorous Shirley Bassey, worldwidecabaret star and voice of the James Bondtheme songs, clearly had no concerns aboutthe anti-fur lobby. Here she is wearing a furhat and coat and crocodile skin pants.

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16Take Care of YourselfMomentous breakthroughs were taking place in science and medicine. Theseventies boasted the first test-tube baby and advances in ultrasound and inorgan transplants. At the same time, interest in alternative medicine wasgrowing; a group of American doctors visited China in 1971 to studyacupuncture. Diet and exercise gained an even more prominent place in healthcare.

Energy CrisisThe Arab oil embargo that followed theYom Kippur war of 1973 led to anincrease in the price of oil. In the UnitedStates long lines formed at gasstations—if there was any gas at all, formany stations ran out. In Britain theworld energy crisis was compounded by ashortage of coal stocks, due to anovertime ban by miners; as a result,industry was restricted to three days’ perweek electricity supply. Suddenly thepower to drive machinery and heat water,as well as to fuel cars and planes,seemed more precious. Oil-basedproducts like synthetic yarns and certaintypes of plastics increased in price. Foreconomic reasons—the environmentaladvantages were only coincidental—themanufacturing and auto industriesstarted to investigate energy-savingtechnologies. Research into solar, wind,and geothermal power was stepped up,though unfortunately much of thisinitiative was abandoned as soon as theoil embargo ended.

b Jogging became an obsession. For someit was an excuse to bare all, while others,like the woman behind, preferred to coverup in sweat-pants.

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As a result of the cholesterol debate, new low-fat spreads appeared in thesupermarket. Magazines and bookstores were flooded with literature on dietingand food. More people were becoming vegetarians. The fashionable districts ofmany cities now included health food stores and restaurants and an occasionaljuice bar.

Sales of sportswear and exercise bikes boomed. As many more amateursbegan running marathons, James F. Fixx’s The Complete Book of Runningbecame a best seller. Health and “natural” good looks were turning into bigbusiness. Health clubs were on the increase, offering swimming pools, saunas,yoga and exercise classes, massage, and steam rooms.

Slimming down, by whatever agonizing means, was widespread in theseventies. A woman with the ideal slender figure had no problem burning herbra. At the beginning of the decade, natural was a key word in cosmeticsadvertising. Estée Lauder launched a line called “Little Nothings.” To turn blueeyes green or brown eyes bluer, the latest optical fashion of 1972 was a pair oftinted contact lenses.

Craft RevivalThe seventies saw a revitalized interest in crafts like jewelry, ceramics, knitting,embroidery, and screen printing on textiles. National and federal councils wereset up to promote the crafts, especially the one-of-a-kind items designed andmade by art school graduates. New magazines and craft galleries promoted thefine-art approach to the fiber arts. They offered an alternative to mass-producedgoods, yet at the same time, many craftspeople hoped that their designs wouldbe put into mass production, thus closing the gap between design and industry.

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Black RootsIn 1970, the African American tennisplayer Arthur Ashe was refused a visa toplay in the South African championships.The politics of race not only entered thesports arena, but TV and cinema, too.Roots, the TV version of Alex Haley’s bookin which the author traced his ancestry toWest Africa in the early days of the slavetrade, was a US sensation in 1977. Theprogram boosted African Americans’sense of cultural identity and inspiredmany to visit or settle in Africa. Moviesmade specifically for black audiences,such as Melvin Van Peebles’ SweetSweetback’s Baadasssss Song and theShaft films, offered important images forAfrican American 1970s culture.

mThea Porter’s interpretation of exotic Eastern dress, with short bolero jacket and full skirtwith paisley motif. These silk-and-silver clothes were in a class above the casual hippie’sIndian block prints and embroidered gauze.

mEd Asner and Levar Burton starred inRoots, one of the seminal TV programs ofthe seventies.

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The fashion for handmade clothes and individualistic decoration alsoembraced the imported traditional and tourist crafts of developing nations of theworld, contributing to the ethnic look of the early seventies.

The Art MarketPartly due to the alliance between Pop Art and advertising, thanks to AndyWarhol’s Factory, the art market became increasingly associated with thepromotion of products. Some of the most avant-garde ideas were to be found inadvertising photography and were concerned less about what the product lookedlike than about the attitude with which it was worn or used.

mThe ethnic collections of museums likeLondon’s Victoria and Albert were searchedfor items like this rare gold necklace, whichwas used as a model for “new” designs.

mIn the London men’s boutique Hung On You, colorful silk caftans are offset by the strikinglypatterned rugs imported from Central Asia.

c Stripes were everywhere in the mid-seventies, usually going in differentdirections. Here oversized scarves andknitted hats with a home-knit look are wornwith striped socks and strapped wedgesandals.

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20Some new art forms entered the galleries from the street. Graffiti was

sprayed or splattered on the sides of subway cars or on walls in the poorersections of large cities. In New York City, Fab Five Freddy—named after thenumber 5 subway trains on which he lived and “worked”—became themedium’s star performer. Freddy was also a prophet of 1980s hip-hop, rap, andbreak dancing.

On the West Coast, rock posters were celebrated in a show held at theSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1976. Artists like David Hockney, AllenJones, Patrick Hughes, and Elizabeth Frink became involved in T-shirt design,while Italian knitwear manufacturer Missoni invited painters into the studios togive a new impetus to fashion.

“Art School,” a song about individualism and rebelliousness, wasperformed by the band The Jam in 1977. None of The Jam had actually been toart school, but many rock musicians had. David Byrne, lead singer of TalkingHeads, formed in 1975, had studied at the Rhode Island School of Design inProvidence. No wonder that the visual arts and performance were directly linkedand that some rock music of the period was influenced by movements in thefine arts.

The Music BusinessNew sounds and musical forms were often a reaction against the conventions ofromantic, melodic lyrics. The soul music of performers like J. B. Sly certainlywas. Some music made a deliberate but artificial attempt to project the voice of“the people.” In this way, soccer fans’ songs were built into the backgroundchorus of British hit songs by Slade and Gary Glitter. Punk singers like JohnnyRotten of the Sex Pistols developed an explicitly working-class voice by usinglower-class accents and being deliberately inarticulate. Through the seventies,British bands were drawing inspiration from West Indian ska and reggae music.And new developments in audio technology, notably synthesizers and taperecorders, also contributed to the variety.

mNobody does stripes like Missoni. Thecompany, run by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni,was making a name for itself for itsimaginative use of distinctively patternedknit fabrics.

b Isaac Hayes and The Emotions—theglamorous face of soul. Sometimes, blackwomen played down their color,straightened their hair, and tinted it withhenna. On the whole, the range ofcosmetics specifically for black skins wasstill limited.

cJimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, seen here insoft, clinging satin. The huge flares, cut longand wide around the hem to accommodateplatform shoes, made hips and thighs lookextra slim. Hand-painted flowers like theseadorned ties, scarves, and vests.

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The rock media were beginning to discuss music in the broader context ofstyle. One of the most influential figures in this area was Tom Wolfe, who wrotefor America’s Rolling Stone magazine, and following his example, Britishjournalists began arguing for more space in the established weeklies, MelodyMaker and New Musical Express. New magazines appeared, some promotingthe popular side of the music business while others, known as “fanzines,”covered the underground scene.

By the mid-1970s worldwide music sales grossed well over $4 billionannually—more than the film industry or sports. In Solid Gold, a study of theAmerican rock industry, R. Serge Denisoff divided the audience into threegroups: young, predominantly female, bubble-gum pop fans (who bought singlesand posters to hang on their bedroom walls); older “punk rockers” (rock asaggressive background music for rituals of dancing, dating, and getting stonedon weekends); and collegians (“folk-art-rock” concertgoers and LP listeners, whoenjoyed good lyrics).

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mABBA was one of the most astoundingsuccess stories of the seventies musicscene, achieving worldwide fame overnightas a result of winning the Eurovision SongContest in 1974 with “Waterloo.” Althoughtheir stage outfits fell into the glam-rockcategory, their general image waswholesome and had universal appeal.

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Teenyboppers enjoyed the Osmonds, David Cassidy, and the tartan-cladBay City Rollers; sales of their records boomed. The Jackson Five, in whichMichael Jackson got his start, was the seventies’ biggest-selling group on theMotown label.

Success depended on image as well as performance. The phenomenalinternational success of the Swedish group ABBA was as much due to thesingers’ image as to the new quality of their sound.

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New TechnologyIn 1970 the first microprocessor waspatented by Intel, and the first cheappocket calculators were retailed in theUnited States. Experiments with tele-shopping began, and people pondered thedramatic changes of lifestyle that theseadvances might bring. Wouldsupermarkets and fashion boutiques soonbecome institutions of the past? Auto-focus cameras and microchip-programmed washing machines were thenew “necessities.” Matt black digitalwatches were novel—expensive at first,but thanks to British inventor CliveSinclair they came down in price, and bythe end of the decade Japanese versionswere flooding the mass market. In 1979Sony launched the Walkman. Themicroprocessor brought information toone’s fingertips, but it was the leather-bound Filofax personal filing system thatbrought it into style.

cThe Jackson Five in the mid-seventies,with lead singer Michael, seen here centerfront. They have afro hairstyles, and theirmedley of shirts are homemade fromwomen’s dress prints, lampshade fringing,and striped furnishing fabric.

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24Fashion Rules Okay?Although it was generally agreed thatdesign added spice to life, real hautecouture was increasingly beingdismissed as anachronistic—”adegenerate institution propped up bya sycophantic press,” declaredfashion writer Kennedy Fraser in1975. To survive, established fashionhouses like Christian Dior and YvesSaint Laurent were designing moreand more ready-to-wear collectionsand catering to the more casual andpractical moods of the moment.

Vogue announced: “There areno rules in the fashion game now.” Inthe early 1970s, the magazinefeatured a vegetable gardener wearinga beret, a scarf, wrinkled woolly tights,and a loose knitted mohair coat andcommented, “The clothes aren’tsmart, but they’re much in fashion.”

Nostalgia played a major rolethroughout the decade. Walking intothe Biba store in London was likestepping back in time. In the dim ArtDeco- and Art Nouveau-style lighting,between Edwardian lampshadesdripping with fringes and huge pottedplants reflected in the metallic sheenof the Deco wallpaper and mirrors,you could sink into a plum-coloredsofa and wait for a friend. Meanwhile,you watched passersby try on featherboas and bias-cut scarves, pullingdown cloche hats well below theeyebrows until nothing showed but adark, plum-colored mouth.

The boutique culture of thesixties continued reasonablysuccessfully, although influentialshops like Biba did not last thedecade. However, department storeswere beginning to fill up with littleindividual shops, each devoted to an

m A classic example of exotic style in fashion and furnishings. This model can barely bedistinguished from the sea of leopard skins from which she is emerging.

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individual designer. Henri Bendel of New York was one of the first stores to dothis in 1970, opening outlets for Thea Porter and Sonia Rykiel clothes.

The revolution in men’s fashion retailing took the big stores by storm.Men’s boutiques in these big stores sold the latest lines and fabrics. Those thatsold internationally found that preferences in menswear varied from one branchto another. Navy velvet men’s suits sold very well in Paris, perhaps, but not inLondon; Frenchmen preferred one center-back vent in the jacket, while theBritish liked two. Just as haute couture for women was almost a thing of thepast, so traditional custom-made tailoring was under threat. Some tailorslaunched ready-to-wear collections abroad, particularly in Japan.

Tightening the purse strings was necessary for most people in response tothe energy crisis and recession. Dedicated followers of fashion with less money

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Human RightsAs the struggle for human rightspervaded the world, the message of thepolitically oppressed was expressed in avariety of ways. In 1970 AlexanderSolzhenitsyn’s novels addressing thestruggles of humans in a representativepolitical system won him the Nobel Prizefor literature. The next year, two films re-evaluating the relations betweenAmerican Indians and whites werereleased: Little Big Man and Soldier Blue.In 1977 Steve Biko, a black trade unionleader and a founder of the BlackConsciousness Movement, was founddead in a South African police cell. Hisdeath provoked major internationalconcern and criticism of the SouthAfrican regime.

cMenswear by Pierre Cardin, 1973–74.Functional elements of sports clothing, likezippers and knee patches, were exaggeratedto make bold fashion statements. The black-and-white houndstooth check mightpreviously have been made into a jacket ortrousers but was never before worn like this.

.Denzel Washington as Steve Biko andKevin Kline as journalist Donald Woods in the1987 film Cry Freedom.

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to spend were buying more imported clothing, while others opted out andstepped into jeans. The rare breed who had cash chose to flaunt it in the luxuryof Parisian couture, proving that they were immune to financial crises. This lefthomegrown designers and manufacturers in a vacuum.

Up-and-coming designers began to pave new ways forward. Clovis Ruffin(Ruffinwear) clothes appealed “to the sort of people who are not frightened ofpulling things over their hairdos.” He used the new generation of silky syntheticjersey fabrics in subtle plain colors to produce simply constructed, zipperlessdresses that could be dressed down or up with plastic or diamonds. Alsoexploring the aesthetics of new manufacturing technology, Stephen Burrows wasthe first designer of note to use zigzag machine stitching in an obvious way, asstructure and decoration.

b A pink evening dress by Clovis Ruffin displays all the simpleelegance for which he was noted.

mLilies add a fin de siècle elegance to thisArt Nouveau-style flowered pantsuit forevening wear.

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Jubilee YearOn June 7, 1977, Silver Jubilee street parties all over Britain celebrated twenty-fiveyears of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. It was no coincidence that, in the same year, theshop Sex—owned by purveyors of punk Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren—was renamed Seditionaries, indicating Westwood’s belief that people must be seducedinto revolt. As an anti-Establishment gesture, they produced the “God Save theQueen” T-shirt, featuring Jamie Reid graphics in which a portrait of the Queen wasdefaced. It was promptly banned. Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee, released in the sameyear, was another chance to shock, mixing images of conservatism, like a pastel-colored twin sweater set such as the queen might wear, with black leather and rubber.

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mVivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren,arch-priests of punk. Westwood is wearingone of her own leather creations.

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Tough GuysGet StonedA sixties leftover, long hair for men still represented a counterculture image.While the Establishment might no longer have been shocked by the disheveledhippie style, with its suggestion of poverty and irresponsibility, it didn’t quite trustlonghairs either. “Treat this man with respect, he may have just sold a millionrecords,” read the framed poster of a downbeat hippie, hanging in the lobby ofthe Continental Hyatt House hotel on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

In the United States, the Grateful Dead were the best living monuments tohippie style. Rich European hippies flew to Amsterdam to buy drugs and longleather coats, while London’s Kensington Market outfitted them with importedAfghan coats, Indian embroidered or printed blouses and gauzy skirts, andunisex velvet loons (pants that flared below the knee).

It was a body-conscious society. The Rolling Stones’ zipper-flyed StickyFingers album cover of 1971, designed by Andy Warhol, teased the group’s fansabout that. And if sex, drink, and drugs were on everybody’s mind, they were themaking and breaking of Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, who died of analcohol and drug overdose in 1971.

Morrison’s fashion of leather pants, however, lived on for some time and,as ever, leather jackets signified tough guys. They were worn by heavy metalheadbangers, whose heroes were hard rock groups like Motörhead, Status Quo,and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Denim, daubed with painted images and names of rockicons or encrusted with studs, was an alternative to leather.

mVariations on the denim theme: patchworkdenim shoulder bag, wraparound skirt wornwith tight crinkle-cotton shirt, and jeans(now cut for women) tucked into knee-lengthboots.

b The Grateful Dead, seen here in relativelyrestrained style. Throughout their longcareer, the group toured constantly,promoting a true hippie sense of communityamong their fans, who were known as“Deadheads.” In 1973 they played to anestimated 600,000 people at the SummerJam at Watkins Glen.

cWeekend hippies taking a country walk.His afghan coat with embroidery trim is oneof the defining garments of the seventies.Cheap versions, imported from various partsof Asia, were famous for smelling stronglywhen they got damp because the sheepskinhad not been cured properly.

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Radical DenimWhile denim was a kind of uniform, it could also be manipulated or embellishedto make a highly individual statement. Levi’s jackets were customized withembroidered stars and stripes and super-studded names and messages. Onejacket even had an ashtray built into the sleeve!

Traditional blue denim, dyed in indigo, was guaranteed to fade. Fadingsignified wear and tear and, by implication, hard work. New clothes made fromold denim passed as fashion and sold in boutiques at high prices. They includedskirts and flared pants made from jeans by opening up part of the original seamand inserting a triangular gusset.

Besides blue, new colors and finishes were introduced, mostly inspired bythe worn-out look. Brushed denim simulated the “velvet” feel of an old pair ofjeans, and colors tended to look drab and washed out: beige-pink, pale blue,and nondescript tan. Stonewashing—which means exactly what it says, puttingnew jeans into a pebble-filled washing machine—broke down the even color andstarchiness of new cloth. Alternatively, a new pair of jeans could be worn in abath of salty water until they felt skintight. Some dress-weight novelty denimswere woven with jaunty patterns of teddy bears, flowers, and checks.

Denim was even copied in other cloths. In 1972, designer Henry Lehrproduced leather suits dyed in denim blue that were much more expensive thanthe real thing. Gradually, a reaction against denim set in, with corduroybecoming a popular alternative for pants and blouson-style jackets.

And so, within the language of denim, were clear distinctions, both interms of how much was spent on any one outfit and in how you wore andtreated your jeans. Rich women walked up New York City’s stylish MadisonAvenue with their well-cut jeans neatly pressed, perhaps accessorized by a silkshirt and famous French label scarf, whereas young students might hang out inNew York’s Greenwich Village in faded and patched jeans topped with a T-shirtor Indian block-printed cotton blouse.

b Advertisement for Levi’s, the essentialsof culture. The image is borrowed from thefamous Creation scene painted byMichelangelo on the ceiling of the SistineChapel in Rome.

mBruce Springsteen’s appearance on thecover of his album Darkness on the Edge ofTown is a seventies update of the JamesDean look: white T-shirt, black leatherjacket, and blue jeans still symbolized theurban rebel.

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Lumberjacks and Cowboys Are All RightA number of stores began to specialize in western styles, selling cowboy bootsand other items. The fashion for tucking jeans into boots became part of theseventies’ “look.” The often intricate tooled patterns on rawhide belts were justthe kind of craft that the hippies of rural communes made and sold tosupplement their vegetable-growing economy.

The tough-guy image promoted by lumberjack and cowboy clothes wasconsciously adopted by the gay community on the West Coast. It waspopularized in the later 1970s, when The Village People, a disco squad, dressedup as macho men: cop, construction worker, biker, and cowboy. Versions of thislook have persisted as the corporate image of the gay fraternity: the handlebarmustache, plaid lumberjack shirt, tight blue jeans, field boots, and short, GI-stylecropped hair.

To writer Tom Wolfe, radical chic meant wearing secondhand “jeans of thepeople—hod carrier jeans—at the Army surplus at two pairs for twenty-ninecents.” The surplus store was also the place to go for camouflage and khakiarmy fatigues.

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.Members of the Village People parodyingthe most macho images: uniformed air forceofficers, bikers in black leather gear,cowboys and Indians, and constructionworkers.

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NostalgiaRetro ChicSecondhand clothes did not have to look sadand drab—they could also be glamorous. Theflashier side of thrift shopping was in SanFrancisco, where stores like Casey’s FadedWorld dressed up the glitzy transvestite and gayscene. Their style was epitomized in the earlyseventies by a group called the Cockettes. OnLondon’s King’s Road, you could walk out ofGranny Takes a Trip looking like a Beatle fromthe Sgt. Pepper album cover. The shop soldthe distinctive red uniforms of the ChelseaPensioners—retired army personnel living justdown the road at the Chelsea Hospital—andround gold-rimmed “granny glasses,” like thoseworn by John Lennon.

Rock Back the ClockNostalgia was big business. One majorinfluence on the seventies came from thefifties. Elvis, the king of rock, influenced thestyle and performance of musicians and singers and also captivated the publicat large. In 1974, Colin Irwin wrote in Melody Maker: “Retailers of soft goods lastyear sold more than $20,000,000 worth of Presley products. Chain, drug-, andnovelty stores now feature lipsticks in autographed cases bearing color namesfor such Presley hit tunes as Hound Dog Orange, Loving You Fuchsia, andHeartbreak Pink.”

Tradition for SaleFashions from the 1970s were based on the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.Hollywood produced period films conjuring up past styles that people rushed toemulate, particularly The Godfather and The Great Gatsby. Under the directionof Diana Vreeland, a former editor of Vogue, the Costume Institute at New York’sMetropolitan Museum of Art staged major exhibitions of costume history,beginning with a retrospective of the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Laura Ashley, Ralph Lauren, punk, and New Wave fashions all sharedelements of nostalgia, but clearly the motivations behind their use of the pastwere very different. Differences between authentic secondhand clothes and thecontemporary designs based on them were also obvious. Yves Saint Laurent andother Paris designers drew on classic lines from the 1930s and 1940s, usingtweeds, crepes, gabardines, and gauzier silks for formal daytime and romantic

mA publicity photo for London’s Bibaboutique. The subdued coloring resemblesan old sepia print and conveys anatmosphere of nostalgia that matches Biba’sblend of Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

cMia Farrow and Robert Redford in ascene from the double-Oscar-winning TheGreat Gatsby, one of the biggest movies of1974. Mia Farrow’s wardrobe of elegant silkand lace outfits, re-created with meticulousattention to detail by the costumedepartment, sparked off a romantic 1920srevival.

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b Yves Saint Laurent’s collections tookinspiration from the East, from Romania toMongolia. It was the traditional skills of theembroiderers he employed thatdistinguished the Paris haute coutureindustry from the ready-to-wear collections.

.Screen-printed fabric designs like theone on this culotte dress were often large inscale. Most outfits could be given an extratouch of style by a relatively cheap giltmetal belt in the form of disks or chainlinks.

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evening wear. However, they still had the superb cut and finish expected ofhaute couture.

In contrast, Laura Ashley made inexpensive printed cotton dresses basedon late Victorian and Edwardian styles, featuring ruffles around the neckline andhem, leg-of-mutton sleeves, touches of lace, tucks, buttons, and sashes. Thesedresses had a much less sophisticated and more rustic look, almost like dressesmade at home.

The American counterpart of Laura Ashley and Liberty print dresses wasRalph Lauren’s “Prairie” look of 1978. Based on the dresses described in Sears,Roebuck catalogs of the 1880s, a Prairie look dress was typically made of calicoor gingham with a ruffled hem, reminiscent of early American settlers’ clothing.Lauren’s version was worn with layered petticoats. Meanwhile, American preppieand Ivy League styles had become popular in Japan, where the boutiques ofTokyo’s Harajuku district sold reworked versions of traditional British andAmerican looks. Wedge shoes and open-toed sandals may have echoed thewartime styles of the 1940s, but they were freshly designed, and would turn intoplatform soles.

ExoticaThe traditional clothing of other cultures was another source of inspiration. Parisdesigner Hanae Mori, who opened a New York salon in the early 1970s, basedmany of her designs on the simple shapes and bold decoration of kimono, andcostumes for traditional Japanese Noh theater. Yves Saint Laurent designed aseries of Russian jackets fastened with frogging (loops). The hippies had led atrail not only to India and the East but also to North Africa, and the djellabah, aMoroccan-type hooded cloak, was the basis for some new coat shapes, whiledramatic Eastern clothes and textile hangings inspired the caftan.

Eastern European folk costume inspired the fashion for gauze smockswith embroidered yokes and full sleeves gathered at the wrists. Women worethese with triangular scarves covering their hair and knotted at the back of theneck, known as babushkas (“grandmothers” in Russian). Men wore red-and-white printed kerchiefs, known as bandannas, or genuine Indian block-printedsquares, casually knotted around the neck or around the head, like aswashbuckling Hollywood pirate.

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mThis woman has created her ownindividual style from a combination of ethnicand “granny” elements. She’s wearing aPeruvian poncho, knitted in natural creamand brown alpaca wool, as a skirt, and haspaired it with a homemade shawl, crochetedfrom odds and ends of colored yarn, andsoft leather cuffed ankle boots.

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Black is Beautiful“Afro” RootsThe afro hairstyle, symbolizingblack culture and “Africanness,”began as a countercultural statementand was then adoptedas fashion, with figures like AfricanAmerican rights campaigner Angela Davisas the style leaders.

In 1973, Naomi Sims, an AfricanAmerican model, changed her careerand began manufacturing wigsaimed specifically at black women.Each style was given an Africanname. Three years later, shepublished a book on blackbeauty, encouraging blackwomen to be themselves. “Youdo not necessarily have to weardaishikis to prove you are proudof being black,” she wrote,her message echoing thelyrics of JamesBrown’s late 1960shit: “Say it loud—I’mblack and I’mproud.” But afrowigs soonbecame a whitefashionaccessory.

Soul PrincesAlthough the radical chicof white Americans waspartly inspired by the BlackPanther look, the streetwiseAfrican American youth of theinner cities hardly aspired tolooking downbeat. In asociety where they wereclosed out of prestigious jobs and

mFunky chic flaunted by members ofGraham Central Station. Formed in SanFrancisco in late 1972 around an ex-member of Sly and the Family Stone, they

carried on that group’s attempts topromote the 1960s hippie dream of

universal love in a raciallyintegrated band.

b The afro hairstyle quicklybecame part of the whitefashion agenda. Men toonervous to have their hairpermed or whose hair

wouldn’t naturally taketo the style bought

wigs.

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restricted from buying or renting houses in better neighborhoods, cars andclothes became status symbols. For them, the style of stars like James Brown,Nancy Wilson, and Diana Ross, who had made the international charts andachieved great financial success, was the most influential. The James Brownlook had nothing to do with army fatigues and everything to do with ruffledshirts, black-belted leather pieces, and bell-bottom trousers.

Social commentator Tom Wolfe described the black "soul princes" of NewHaven, Connecticut, proudly strutting their stuff along Dixwell Avenue "wearingtheir two-tone patent Pyramids with the five-inch heels that swell out at thebottom to match the Pierre Chareau Art Deco plaid bell-bottom baggies theyhave on with the three-inch-deep elephant cuffs tapering upward toward the‘spray-can fit’ in the seat and the black hat with the four-inch turn-down brimand the six-inch pop-up crown with the golden chain-belt hatband". FromWolfe's description it is clear that young African Americans of the seventies wereas far ahead in the funky chic style game as their nineties cousins would be.

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mJames Brown, whose image was one ofthe most potent influences on fashionableblack American youth.

mThe cover of Funkadelic’s 1970 album,Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow.

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38Caribbean CultureIn the seventies, West Indian culturemade its presence felt in style andperformance in a number of ways. Onone hand, carnival was exuberant, butthe other face of black style was cool,lingering in the shadows—a stylecultivated in the 1960s from theAmerican “soul brother” image of aloose-limbed figure in tight-fitting gear,moving to the offbeat of jazz, ska, andrhythm and blues.

When it came to style, theRastafarian movement’s religious rootsbecame obscured in reggae music.Rastafarians are members of a WestIndian, particularly Jamaican, groupthat rejects Western culture andregards Haile Selassie, the emperor ofEthiopia overthrown by a military coupin 1974, as divine. As for style, Rastaswere recognized by their dreadlocks oflong hair, and the colors of theEthiopian flag: red, green and gold.These colors were deeply symbolicbecause the accession of HaileSelassie to the Abyssinian (Ethiopian)throne in 1930 foreshadowed the imminent downfall of white colonialism—andthe liberation of black peoples. Items of dress might be decorated in the threecolors: buttons, cardigans, shirts, sandals, tams (knitted or crocheted woolenhats), and walking sticks.

Northern SoulAmerican soul music exported to Europe and sold through specialist recordshops developed several distinctive, if obscure, cult followings. They turnedAmerican soul upside down and inside out, creating something quite un-American that opened a new chapter in the history of subcultures.

One of these was a short-lived cult called “northern soul,” centered onclubs in northern England like the Wigan Casino around 1972. It was a trulyunderground, secret activity, involving working-class kids in a life of all-nightdancing. The jerky rhythms of solo dance acts, pumped up by amphetamines—pills were very much part of the cult—broke into incredible back flips,handsprings, and midair whirls. These soul dancers had close-cropped hair,clinging vests, madly flapping wide trousers, and buttons with slogans like “Keepthe Faith.”

mBob Marley, one of the world’s greatestreggae musicians, wearing his trademarksymbols of Rastafarianism: dreadlocks anda knitted vest in the colors of the Ethiopianflag.

cDonna Summer, one of the mostromantic and glamorous African-Americansingers. Her string of dance-along hitsthroughout the seventies earned her thetitle “Queen of Disco.”

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GlamourGlam RockThe term glam rock refers to seventies rock performances that built pureglamour into the act. Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, David Bowie, Rod Stewart,Marc Bolan, and Elton John are the best-known “glam rockers.” Beneath thesparkling surface were undercurrents of sexual innuendo, ranging from theoutright campiness of the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1972) to theartful seduction of Roxy Music—a name derived from “Rock Sexy.”

As the more successful rock stars got richer and more glamorous, so theirfantasies built up into an ominous stage power. Making the dress and the actmore glamorous seemed to bridge the gap between rock and pop. Style carrieda high price and reaped generous rewards in the spin-offs from records.

Right at the beginning of the decade, Roxy Music’s album covers marriedwomen’s fashion with male rock performance. On the For Your Pleasure cover,model Amanda Lear offered a look-but-don’t-touch image, as if she had juststepped out of some high-society portrait. The man behind Roxy Music’s dressstyle was London designer Antony Price.

David BowieThe most successfully packaged glam rock star was David Bowie, who hit thecharts with a series of five LPs between 1971 and 1974. He was also known asZiggy Stardust, although that was only one of a rapidly shifting sequence ofpersonalities, looks, and stage sets. No sooner did fans copy the original Ziggy

b Glitter was great, whether it was on thebody or on the face. Here sequins have beensewn onto skin-hugging tops of transparentnet, but those not quite brave enough tobare all stuck sequined patches on the faceand applied glitter eye makeup.

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haircut than Bowie was onto his next incarnation, on the Aladdin Sane album of1973. By then there were plenty of Ziggy boys and girls standing at bus stopsand hanging around record stores, waiting for the next Bowie album, their hairdyed green or orange, their eyelids brushed with glitter.

The definitive Ziggy haircut made the hair stand on end like a little redrooster, with a puffball in front and razored into the nape of the neckbehind. The “Rooster” and the longer “Shag” version were copied by otherstars, including Gary Glitter and Rod Stewart.

Bowie’s disguise was a cover-up for his shyness. The look wascalculatedly androgynous and artificial. What he was doing was theexact opposite of what the feminists were aiming for. They were playingdown appearance, rejecting glamour, but Bowie and other starsflaunted it.

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cRod Stewart stalks the stage, his“rooster” haircut and fake leopard skinjacket worn with a tight black T-shirt andcasually knotted neckerchief.

.David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase.The slinky asymmetry of the body stockingand feather boa created a deliberatelyambiguous, androgynous image thatsomehow managed to be glamorous and not camp.

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42All That GlittersWhile some male rock stars also toyed with the androgynous look, othersfollowed the overt sexuality of heavy metal Led Zeppelin’s lead singer RobertPlant. But even the most macho of acts in the early seventies could not ignorethe power of glamour. Hobnail boots acquired high heels. Queen’s FreddyMercury had his stage wear designed by Zandra Rhodes. Slade deckedthemselves in satin, adjusting their image to the mood of the moment ratherthan actually initiating a style.

Female glam rockers like Suzi Quatro were just as theatrical, althoughthere was no hint of drag. Nona Hendryx of Labelle was one of the mostglamorous. Her image was created by two American designers, Larry LeGaspiand Norma Kamali. LeGaspi employed shock tactics, and was inspired by spacesuits. The Martian look was emphasized by details of padding and quilting,combined with slinky fabrics and a body-stocking fit. LeGaspi’s use of plumagehinted at the fantasy worlds of the Ziegfeld Follies and Busby Berkeley. Costumejewelry, designed by Richard Erker, completed the outfit.

mSuzi Quatro abandoned her usual tightleathers for this metallic silver-look outfit.Quatro was one of the very first women tobreak the mold and play hard, driving rockand roll.

b Nona Hendryx of Labelle, dressed insilvery white, inspired by astronauts’clothing. The body stocking, quilting, andpadding were elements of the fashioncollections of Norma Kamali and LarryLeGaspi, the two designers behind Labelle’sglamorous stage presence.

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Two other big-time female stage performers were American ChrissieHynde of the British group The Pretenders and American Pat Benatar. UnlikeLabelle, they modeled their costumes on those of male rock stars. Hynde puttogether unexpected combinations of hard and soft gear—ruffles with leather orlace gloves with a cut-down worn denim jacket. Her models were the foppishsixties group The Kinks and Robert Plant. Pat Benatar, on the other hand,combined disco-style spandex outfits and stiletto heels with macho metaphorsdrawn from heavy metal performances.

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mFreddie Mercury’s fabulous stage outfitsranged from Zandra Rhodes commissionslike this one to an antique Japanese kimono,a white satin jumpsuit, a leather basque, andspangled tights. Eyeliner and black nailpolish on his right hand completed a trulyglamorous image.

cDebbie Harry’s blend of streetwise styleand cool sexuality found expression in ahuge range of stage outfits from leather tohigh fashion.

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Dressed to ClashLike Hell!Possibly the most lasting image of the seventies has been punk. In 1976–77,punk got so much media attention that it has overshadowed the originalAmerican rock stage acts from which many elements of its style came. In early1975, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) adopted the short, spiky haircut thattypifies punk—he had seen it in aphoto of New York art band singerRichard Hell, who had invented thestyle in 1974. The New York Dolls andthe Ramones, wearing jeansdeliberately torn just below the knee,were very influential, as wereTelevision, who wore their hair short indirect contrast to the hippies.

Many groups went even furtherthan wild hairstyles with stageperformances that often causedcontroversy. Alice Cooper, for instance,worked simulated killings into hisperformances during 1972.

.John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten of the SexPistols) in a Ben Sherman shirt, stenciledwith lettering like an escaped convict’s. Thechains and studs applied to the deliberatelyripped and torn, safety-pinned jacket,Maltese cross, and swastika were keyelements in the punk look.

mNew York rock singer Richard Hell, whoseshort spiky hair—a prototype for the punklook—was adopted by John Lydon.

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But possibly the most individual act was that of The Tubes, from America’s WestCoast. In their stage show, the leader, Fee Waybill, wore metal-studded leatherand an executioner’s mask-helmet. His female assistant, Re Styles, was flungabout the stage, wearing a black leather headpiece, corset, and strappy high-heeled shoes.

By 1977, the Mohican hairstyle—or Mohawk, taken from the MohawkIndians—had become an identifying feature of punk youth. It was worn by TravisBickle, played by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver. TheMohawk looked downbeat, but in 1945, it had been a symbol of good luck wornby U.S. paratroopers. This overturning of contexts, giving new meaning to oldideas, was a vital aspect of fashion’s shock tactics.

cThe New York Dolls playing around withgender and trying a few shock tactics,wearing makeup, women’s blouses, andhigh-heeled, soft leather thigh boots.

.Punks hanging around London’s TrafalgarSquare in the mid-seventies. Despite punk’santi-fashion stance, what these young menare wearing represents an easilyrecognizable tribal uniform: carefully tornjeans, logo T-shirts, dyed Mohican hairstyles,and heavy leather boots.

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SeditionariesPunk may have begun in New York, but it was cleverly capitalized on in Londonby Malcolm McLaren and his partner, Vivienne Westwood. They sold “bondagetrousers,” with the legs strapped together behind the knees, at their World’s Endshop. Their clothes reflected the political argument that punk was somehowcountercultural and rooted in the working classes.

Although often described as knowingly anarchic, the punk style was moreoften a meaningless assemblage of dog collars, safety pins, zippers, chains,school blazers, leather skirts, and ripped and torn shirts. The look was widelyspread through album covers, posters, live performance of songs like The SexPistols’ “Anarchy in the UK,” and fanzines like Sniffin’ Glue.

Priestesses of PunkPunk is arguably one youth culture that involved women in a major way. Therewere a number of influential figures from the American rock scene—rock poetPatti Smith, for example, who wore layer upon layer of cardigans, men’s shirts,ties, and big jackets, all of different lengths. Another look of hers included aloose-fitting, frumpish dress worn with heavy, unlaced work boots. She modeledher look on the clothes and attitude of male rock heroes, especially KeithRichards of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix andon the French poet Rimbaud.

Another American, Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, created asensation early in her career through shock gimmicks in her stage act. Sheappeared in a New York nightclub wearing a white wedding dress and thenripped it off while belting out “Rip Her to Shreds.”

b Top punk band The Clash, neatened up tolook New Wave.

mPoly Styrene, of X-Ray Spex, subvertingthe conservatism of pastel-colored suits.The Lurex texture adds a hint of bad taste,while the headscarf is a defiant anti-glamour gesture. She flaunts the ultimatedesigner label: a charity store ticket pinnedto one lapel.

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Acts Lene Lovich and The Slits put outfits together from thrift shops,almost as if they were little girls playing dress-up, mixing tutus and Wellingtonboots and applying their makeup badly.

More sixties cast-offs, like skinny-rib sweaters and shift dresses andaggressively hard, shiny synthetic fabrics, were adopted by Fay Fife of theRezillos, Pauline of Penetration, and Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex. Ski pants orfishnet stockings completed some outfits. These band members asserted theirsexual freedom and poked fun at the radical feminists’ denouncement offashion, while the B-52s played on a fifties cocktail-drinking society with theirenormous wigs and secondhand glamour dresses.

Secondhand clothes, hair cut into weird shapes, and daring makeup werepart of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ image. Siouxsie Sioux’s hacked haircutbecame a key element of the “Goth” look, which is now considered typically

punk. In fact, it was more part of aNew Wave stage act—pure attentionseeking, with hints more of glamourthan of shock. By the late seventies,New-Wave styles in fashion andmusic—a neater, brighter, and morecommercial form of punk—enteredthe mainstream, taking over the hard-core black leather and plastic anarchiclook. Thus, punk came to be seen ashaving more to do with fashion thanwith the subculture that it issometimes made out to represent.

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.Siouxsie Sioux, dressed to kill. Her“gothic” makeup and hair were developedas a dramatic stage style, representing NewWave glamour rather than the radical,anarchic punk with which they are oftenmistakenly associated.

mPunk girls showed that the boys didn’t havethings all their own way on the streets. Thebiker jacket was as much a unisex essentialas the hairstyle, but was customized whereverpossible with studs and pins.

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Trash CultureCut Out the GarbageDesigners of new jewelry began turning away from precious metals andsemiprecious stones and instead experimented with cheap materials, like nylonfilament and acrylics. They were focusing on the design concept, new forms andmeanings, and a celebration of bright color.

There were several reasons for this “trash culture.” The latesttechnological breakthroughs in polymer science made available new kinds ofplastic, which were much easier to manipulate and more wearable than they hadbeen in the sixties. Built into them were new textures, weights, and color effects.A certain shock value could also be achieved by using cheap and cheerfulsubstances conventionally associated with bad taste and with low or popularculture. And then there was the economic argument. With the seventiesrecession, designers had little money to invest in expensive materials, andalthough the buying public was hungry for novelty, people had limited funds.Fashion, too, played a big part—synthetic jewelry was the obviousaccessory to artificial, Day-Glo haircolors.

By 1977, the spirit of nihilism, arejection of current beliefs, and theinfluence of kitsch as self-consciousbad taste had filtered through the artcolleges and into the fashion industry.Safety pins were used as jewelry.Brown parcel paper was cut out,varnished and manipulated into hairornaments, brooches, andsophisticated pocketbooks. Toolboxeswere used as handbags. Regularreaders of Cosmopolitan sent in for theCosmo clutch bag special offer—acheap handbag of garish plastic,looking like a folded copy of themagazine itself.

Pinball WizardryThe technicolor world of The Wizard ofOz came alive in the zany stage outfitsof Elton John. His all-in-one suits ofsatin or brightly knitted material weredecorated with cut-out stars and pom-

.These Parisian men’s jackets are printedwith Pop Art images, including the iconicAndy Warhol-style soup cans.

mThis green-and-red suede shoe withwraparound-tie ankle strap was designed byManolo Blahnik in 1971 and used by OssieClark to complement a dress in hiscollection that year.

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poms and worn with platform boots in a jigsaw of colors and shapes, sufficientlyoutrageous for walking down the “Yellow Brick Road.” Eyeballs rolling within theframes of his glasses, some of which were illuminated by miniature flashinglightbulbs, he was a singing, dancing, jumping pinball machine come to life!

Plastic jeans, padded satin jackets with crass images in embroidery orappliqué, and lime green Lurex twelve-inch platform shoes: these were all part ofthe fun of hideous seventies “style.” Many reacted with such revulsion thatmuch of the “trash culture” was chucked into the garbage can rather than keptfor museums of art and design.

But in addition to the garish, affordable end of this style, there weretoned-down versions, especially in footwear. Classics included Chelsea Cobblerplatform sandals decorated with bright-colored leather roses and Yves SaintLaurent rope-sole wedge espadrilles in primary colors, laced up the calf overtights of brightly clashing colors. The shoe designs of Manolo Blahnik and MaudFrizon showed how witty and innovative the unexpected mixture of materialscould be—highly original, yet very much the spirit of the seventies.

The Fiorucci PhenomenonElio Fiorucci was an Italian wizard who, by drawing on street culture,transformed the images of Pop Art and American graffiti into a highly successfulretail business. Fiorucci corduroy jeans presented a bright spectrum of color thatmade the earlier seventies brushed denim and Levi’s 501s look very drab.

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b Many seventies clothes were far fromflattering: here a knitted bodysuit withgrimacing face and quilted and appliqué hotpants suit.

m Elton John had a wardrobe of glitterbodysuits and colored eyeglasses to go withthem. This jacket, with spangled epaulets,was modeled on a circus ringmaster’stailcoat.

mFiorucci used striking images for itsadvertising campaigns in the 1970s. Hereskintight pants are worn by topless models.

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50b Bright colors and plastic finishesdistinguish these coveralls and parkasdesigned by Daniel Hechter for winter1978–79.

.Caroline Broadhead was a leading figureof the new generation of designer-craftspeople who used synthetic materialsto make affordable fashion accessories.

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Pockets were brashly zipped up with gold metal and decorated with printedplastic tags. Pink T-shirts printed with red, blue, and green and bright yellowstars or orange T-shirts printed with scarlet roses were fixed at the neck withwoven Lurex Fiorucci labels.

This transfer-printed and airbrushed style was also applied to highlyindividualistic painted clothing and accessories like belts and ties. T-shirtgraphics also carried messages in the language of popular culture or nonsensicalsplashes of sound-words picked out of comic-strip balloons, as in a late 1960sRoy Lichtenstein canvas or Richard Hamilton collage.

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mT-shirts featuring cartoons or defacedimages, like this Sex Pistols “God Save theQueen” T-shirt, were very popular, and notjust with punks.

cThis girl took her name, “Sue Catwoman,”from her hairstyle. Her jacket has adeliberately synthetic appearance and isdecorated with everyday trash objects.

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Disco Kings and QueensBody StockingsThe summer of 1970 was coined by the newspapers “the nudest ever.” But thetiny bikinis and swimsuits of that year were nothing compared with theexaggeratedly high legs of 1976 or minimal swimsuits like the “String,” the“Savage,” and the “Thong,” promoted by Los Angeles-based Rudi Gernreich,who was designing Lycra body wear for the French firm Lily.

The impression that the body had been spray-painted was created by thenew range of leotards, worn for working out in the gym, for playing ball on thebeach, or for disco dancing. One of the most innovative and successfulmanufacturers of leotards was Danskin, which marketed a collectionof coordinating body wear, leotards with contrasting tights andwraparound skirts.

For disco dance wear young women woreleotards with all kinds of decoration: shortfrilled skirts, cap sleeves, spots, stripes, andrhinestones. These were also worn forexercise and for ice skating. They weresometimes worn with leg warmers, afeature that began as warm-up wear forthe gym or in the dance studio andended up as a fashion statement.

Hot pants—extra-skimpy shorts—were big news in the early seventies.Fashion writer for the New YorkerKennedy Fraser noted: “Satin shorts arevulgar. Knitted shorts are nice, and crochetedshorts are delightful, but both are hard towear.” Hot pants of leather, suede, and velvetwere generally considered okay and had theadvantage of softening once worn in.

The new generation of designerswho created “fun” clothing for teenagersincluded Americans Bill Blass andGeoffrey Beene. Youthful optimism wasexpressed in color, for this was oneway to stand out from theestablished designers and the oldergeneration. Yellow shorts next topurple tights were worn withorange platforms. Whether thehemline was maxi or mini, women

.The obsession with exercise began in theseventies but would last throughout the nexttwo decades, bringing fashion and sportcloser than ever. Leotards, crop tops, hotpants, striped socks, and headbands wereall soon hitting the streets.

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of any age could indulge in a pair of colorful striped tights or over-the-kneesocks—preferably clashing with the feet, which might be in scarlet work boots,emerald green square-toed sandals, or fuschia ankle boots.

Jogging AlongAs jogging became a popular pastime, tracksuits arrived in a wide spectrum ofcolors. Coordinated headbands, frequently striped, were everywhere. Sportswearbegan to influence daytime clothing and party wear. In fact, the whole of fashionreflected the more informal lifestyle. This sense of ease was brilliantly expressed,under the Williwear label, by American designer Willi Smith.

As more and more sports stars turned professional, the business ofsportswear design faced increased commercial pressure. Status was endorsednot by a label with the designer’s name but by the sports star who promoted it. Awhole new heraldry of sneaker logos was established—the Nike wave, theConverse star, the Adidas triple stripe, and the Puma flying wedge.

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mJane Fonda’s lean routine brought funfitness into the living room. Everyone couldjoin in her fast-moving workout program,either on television or through one of themany videos on sale.

mHot pants were not welcomedeverywhere, as this young womandiscovered when she tried to enter theexclusive—and very traditional—RoyalEnclosure at Ascot races in her ultra-shortoutfit. She was politely turned away.

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b John Travolta, disco-dancing star of thefilm Saturday Night Fever and 1978’sGrease. Not many bought the white suit, buthair gel came back in fashion in a big waywhen the first movie came out in 1977.

mSportswear was beginning to enter thefashion world. In this photo by NormanParkinson, the model is wearing a leotardwith matching candlewick cotton jacket andcontrasting belt that draws attention to herslim waist.

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55Roller CoastingAround 1978, in hot pursuit of the skateboarding craze, roller skating and rollerdisco flashed onto the scene. Lycra and other stretchy, shiny fabrics wereespecially appropriate for these sports. Fashion designers were quick to latchonto this, producing a range of clothes to complement the skates. A typicalexample matched a pale pink satin vest (resembling a loose camisole), withboxer shorts and fuschia pink leather skating boots, worn with the obligatoryheadband.

Saturday Night FeverThe 1977 film Saturday Night Fever brought John Travolta into the limelight andput disco on the map. Travolta played dance-loving Brooklyn hardware storeassistant Tony Manero in a story based on “Another Saturday Night,” an articlewritten by rock and pop chronicler Nik Cohn for New York Magazine. In hisstory, 2001 Odyssey is “the only disco in all Bay Ridge [Brooklyn] that trulycounted.” To qualify to dance there, “an aspirant need only be Italian, betweenthe ages of eighteen and twenty-one, with a minimum stock of six floral shirts,four pairs of tight trousers, two pairs of Gucci-style loafers, two pairs of platforms,either a pendant or a ring, and one item in gold.”

The formula was magic. It spawned a spate of feverish discomania, spin-off T-shirts and posters, and Travolta’s next film, Grease.

. The roller-skating and skateboardingcrazes sparked new fashion trends. Clothingthat started off in the gym, then moved intothe disco, was now brought right onto thestreets of San Francisco.

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The Rebirth of StyleDesigner LabelsEarly in the decade, Pierre Cardin, in whom so much faith had rested during the1960s, was already being criticized for over-selling the franchise of his name.Other designers lost prestige by attaching their names to anything from suitcasesto sheets.

Halston was one of America’s first celebrity designers. Having outfittedJackie Kennedy with her famous pill-box hats and clothed celebrities like LaurenBacall, Liza Minnelli, and Bianca Jagger, in 1973, he signed a deal with NortonSimon, Inc., which purchased the right to use Halston’s name on any product.This led to the launch of Max Factor’s Halston scent.

The story was very different for newcomers to the designer label game. In1978, Hirsch, the Manhattan entrepreneur behind Hong Kong jeansmanufacturer Murjani, persuaded American socialite Gloria Vanderbilt to bephotographed wearing jeans that bore her signature on a back pocket. Theeffect was instantaneous: in the first year, Murjani’s sales multiplied six-fold.Women had grown tired of unisex, which made no allowances for curvy hips andconcave waistlines. Vanderbilt persuaded women of the virtues of those designsdubbed with her name: “You don’t have to lie on the floor to zip up my slacks,yet they are so constructed so they don’t gape at the back.”

In order to justify costing double or triple the price of regular jeans,designer jeans stood out from the rest of the crowd by the subtlest and leastpractical of details. Back pockets were omitted and quadruple seamsintroduced. But the greatest distinction was the designer’s name fixed to avisible label. Calvin Klein and Pierre Cardin joined the designer jeans rat race,and Italian manufacturers were quickto produce cheaper versions, aimed ata younger market.

Back to the ClassicsFollowing the 1973 oil crisis, men andwomen alike were economizing andinvesting in good-quality classics.Some of the famous ready-to-wearfigures like Jean Muir, Sonia Rykiel,Diane Von Furstenberg, and KarlLagerfeld of the Chloé boutique,succeeded in producing shapesinspired by classical drapery, whichwere simple and timeless, yetextremely difficult to imitate. Naturally,the distinction lay in the quality and

.A selection of coats by Bonnie Cashin,one of America’s most innovative designers.Some of her most famous lines were awrapover patchwork coat, and several werebased on the poncho, as seen here.

mPlaid has always been a favorite in thefashion world. This outfit combines work bythree of the major seventies talents. Britishdesigner Bill Gibb goes overboard with aplaid-and-check wool skirt worn with aprinted cotton shirt. The ethnic-modernknitted waistcoat is by knitwear designerKaffe Fassett, and the boots are by ChelseaCobbler.

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.Issey Miyake’s woolen cowboy look forwinter 1978–79 is a good example of seventiesexperimentation in textured knitting.

cCalvin Klein’s tomato red linen jacket,white silk crepe blouse, and soft leatherpants with elasticized waist and seams atthe knee, featured in Vogue in 1979.

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58fiber of the cloth, which justified the expense of even the simplest cut of topdesigner-made clothes.

By the mid-seventies, relative newcomers to the ready-to-wear scene—from America, Italy, and Japan, and, to a lesser extent, Britain, Germany, andScandinavia—challenged the status quo and Paris couture with a more relaxedattitude to cut and construction. Newcomers to Paris included Issey Miyake,Yohji Yamamoto, Kansai Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons,Joseph Ettegui, and Kenzo of Jungle Jap.

Unstructured EleganceIn 1974, the focus of contemporary design moved away from the formal view ofclothes—neat, stiffly structured suits and smart dresses with restaurant-lengthhemlines—toward a much softer “unconstructed” look. The concept involved thesimplest cuts, which, deceptively, looked as if no skillful cutting was required.The unstructured look came increasingly to depend on the built-in drape andhandle of jersey cloths, which could be made up quickly and economically butemulated the sophistication, body cling, and swirl of the pre-World War II biascut. These garments showed off the body and were easy to wear and live in, butthey also had style.

The mid-seventies pioneer of the unstructured jacket was Giorgio Armaniof Milan, who set up his own business as design consultant in 1975 and soonbegan manufacturing his own ready-to-wear label. Armani’s shoulders had ahard-edged, authoritative, executive width—no wonder he has often beendescribed as the champion of women’s power dressing, which began in theseventies. That apparently loose elegance, although in a more witty, relaxedform, was created by Ralph Lauren and modeled by Diane Keaton in the filmAnnie Hall (1977).

In fact, in the following decade, the wearing of a suit was to become thename of the game for all men and women determined to get ahead.

mDiane Keaton makes Ralph Laurenmenswear sexy for women in Woody Allen’scomedy Annie Hall. Lauren’s mix-and-matchcasuals were easy to wear and radiated OldWorld confidence.

b Giorgio Armani fits a jacket on one of hismale models at the 1979 Milan fashion show.

mNino Cerutti, founder of the familytailoring firm, wearing one of his own suits in 1972.

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mTwo outfits by Japanese designer KenzoTakada. Both feature dresses inmulticolored printed cotton, worn with (left)a broad sash and scarf and (right) redcotton pants. Both models wear ethnicwooden jewelry.

mClassic elegance from one of the masters of simplicity, Jean Muir. This flowing red dress isgiven a touch of modernity, however, by the unusual footwear.

b An elegant but practical line of the late 1970s by Karl Lagerfeld, who designed under theChloé label. An interest in pliable knitted textures, garments constructed from few pieces,and off-beat colors were typical of the decade.

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1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

ChronologyNewsUS invades Cambodia.National Guard kill four anti-war protesters at Kent State University, Ohio.US celebrates first Earth Day.Five planes hijacked by Palestinian Black September guerrillas.

First Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) agreement at Moscow summit.War between India and Pakistan.Nation of Bangladesh is created.Police storm Attica prison in NY State: 42 dead.

US President Richard Nixon visits Beijing, China.Berlin Wall opened to allow family visits.Leaders of Baader-Meinhof gang arrested in Germany.Murder of Israeli athletes by Black September terrorists at Munich Olympics.

Vietnam cease-fire; US troops withdrawn; military draft ends.Military coup in Chile.Yom Kippur Arab-Israeli war; Arab states raise oil prices and embargo oil to US.Israel and Egypt declare cease-fire; Middle East peace talks open in Geneva.

India explodes its first atom bomb.Civil war breaks out in Cyprus.British mainland bombings by IRA.US President Richard Nixon resigns.

Communists take over Cambodia and South Vietnam; last Americans leave as Saigon falls.Mozambique and Angola become independent.Emperor Haile Selassie dies.Civil war in Lebanon and Angola.

United States observes Bicentennial.Airline passengers hijacked at Entebbe, Uganda, by PFLP guerrillas.Riots in Soweto, South Africa.Mao Ze-dong dies.

Charter 77, human rights manifesto, published in Czechoslovakia.Steve Biko dies in police custody in South Africa.Hijacking of plane by Baader-Meinhof terrorists in Somalia.Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visits Israel.

Amoco Cadiz disaster results in massive oil slick in English Channel.Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat agree to Camp David Accords for Middle East peace.Diplomatic relations opened between US and People’s Republic of China.

Shah of Iran abdicates: Iran becomes Islamic Republic: US embassy seized and staff taken hostage.Vietnamese depose Pol Pot regime in Kampuchea (Cambodia).Margaret Thatcher becomes British prime minister.Russians invade Afghanistan.

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FashionsLaunch of W, a new paper for "the beautiful people.”Corduroy jeans and skin-tight, ribbed sweaters: leather beadedchokers and bracelets: striped sweatbands for sporty types,bandannas and Indian block-prints for hippies.

Hot pants galore, in satin and velvet, sometimes worn with maxi-length coats: cartridge belts for would-be cowboys and heavy-metalmusicians.

Widely flared bell bottom pants: 1920s and 1940s revival clothes atBiba in London: handpainted leather bags, silk shirts, appliqué:pants tucked into knee-length boots: colorful cropped sleevelesspullovers.

Glam shiny suits and make-up for men on stage: embroideredkaftans, Indian shirts and gauze smocks: simply cut dresses in newsynthetic jersey: boom in T-shirts printed with political andadvertising slogans.American Lauren Hutton becomes highest paid model in history.

"Granny" clothes and collarless "grandfather" shirts: suede "creeper"shoes with thick soles as part of the rock ’n’ roll revival.Designer knitwear boosts interest in hand-knitting and picturesweaters.

Cheap and radical chic: second-hand baseball jackets: armyfatigues in khaki camouflage: Fiorucci fun clothing: clingy dressesflaring just below the knee: fake furs gain popularity in face of anti-fur lobbying.Giorgio Armani sets up on his own as design consultant.

Exercise clothing and Lycra leotards.Punk Festival at London’s 100 Club.Expansion of clothing and textile manufacture in developingcountries.

Punk anarchy: safety pins, ripped and torn second-hand clothes,plastic, leather.Diane Keaton wears Ralph Lauren trouser suits for Woody Allenmovie Annie Hall.

Women’s executive fashion: tailored coats, "unconstructed" jacketsand padded shoulders.Punk style glamorized and tamed in new wave fashion.

More than 30 brands of designer label jeans are on the market."New Romantic" fantasy dressing takes hold.Sony Walkman introduced.

Events Isle of Wight festival "of music and love" opens in Britain: JimiHendrix’s last public appearance.Movie M*A*S*H*, starring Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould,premieres.First cheap pocket calculators retailed in US.

A Clockwork Orange, Love Story, and, onstage, Jesus ChristSuperstar.George Harrison promotes Bangladesh Benefit Concert in CentralPark.Britain’s currency converts to decimal system.Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, dies.

David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album.Rocky Horror Show hits the stage.US bans use of pesticide DDT.

American baseball star Roberto Clemente dies.Senate opens Watergate hearings.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn goes into exile in the West.Spoof western Blazing Saddles opens.North Sea oil begins to flow.

Blockbuster movie Jaws released.International Women’s Year proclaimed; Sex Discrimination Actintroduced in Britain.Bruce Springsteen’s first hit, “Born to Run,” released.

Race Relations Act introduced in Britain.Extremist right-wing National Front confrontation at Notting HillCarnival, London.Gases from spray cans reported to damage the ozone layer.

London-New York passenger service on Concorde jet begins.Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” banned by BBC.Elvis Presley dies.

World’s first test tube baby born."Winter of Discontent" grips Britain as unions strike for substantialwage settlements.Marathon running turns into big public events.

Sex Pistol Sid Vicious dies from drug overdose while awaiting trialfor alleged murder.Woody Allen’s movie Manhattan.

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62GlossaryArmani, Giorgio (b. 1935) Italian designer.Worked for menswear manufacturer NinoCerruti in 1960s. Set up own consultancyin 1975, working for several companies,including Emanuel Ungaro, beforeestablishing Armani fashion label.

Ashley, Laura (1925-85) British designerand manufacturer. Company, based inWales, produced Victorian and Edwardian-style dresses of printed cottons with acountry look. During 1970s, shops openedworldwide.

Beene, Geoffrey (1927-2004) Americandesigner. Trained in United States andParis. Began ready-to-wear in 1963; lessexpensive line called "Beene Bag."

Biba Mail order business set up in 1963by Barbara Hulanicki, which soondeveloped into London’s Biba boutique. In1973 took over Art Deco department storein London. Known for nostalgic, moodyclothes.

Blass, Bill (1922-2002) American designerof sportswear whose practical approach tofashion permeates his softer, moreluxurious evening garments.

Cardin, Pierre (b. 1922) French designer.Worked for Paquin, Schiaparelli and Diorbefore launching his first womenswearcollection in 1957, followed in 1963 byready-to-wear. During the 1970s Cardinexpanded the franchising of his name andbusiness.

Djellabah Moroccan hooded cloak withlong, wide sleeves, worn open at the neckand reaching to the knee.

Fiorucci, Elio (b. 1935) Italian designerand retailer. Established his own house inthe 1960s but best known in the 1970s forbright, fun clothing, including slimfit jeans,sold internationally at Fiorucci boutiques.

Gibb, Bill (b. 1943) British designer. Setup his own company in 1972, with retailbusiness from 1975. Best known forevening dresses in floaty and exotic fabrics,sometimes with appliqué or embroidery.

Halston (1932-1990) American millinerturned clothing designer. Dressed JackieKennedy from the 1960s and createdsimple ready-to-wear knitwear and elegantsportsclothes of jersey fabrics through

1970s. One of the first big Americannames to franchise his label.

Hechter, Daniel (b. 1938) Frenchdesigner. Known for rain-, duffle- andgreatcoats with a difference (e.g., made ofjersey), sporty blazers and divided skirts.

Johnson, Betsey (b. 1942) Americandesigner. Created extravagant disco wear inthe 1970s and opened her own sportswearbusiness in 1978.

Kamali, Norma (b. 1945) Americandesigner. Known for cheerleader skirts,glamorous bodysuits and easy, extra-lightcoats and suits, using industrial and activesports fabrics like parachute nylon andsweatshirting.

Kawakubo, Rei (b. 1942) Japanesedesigner behind Comme des Garçons,formed in 1969. Favors somber colors anddeliberately disheveled, draped clothes inreaction against traditional ideas offemininity.

Kenzo (b. 1940) Japanese designer, bornKenzo Takada. Freelance designer for LouisFeraud in 1960s Paris. In 1970 he openedhis own Jungle Jap shop. Known fordynamic layers and mixtures of patternsand bright colors, inspired by traditionaland folk dress.

Klein, Calvin (b. 1942) American designer.After working for New York manufacturersof coats and suits, set up his ownsportswear business in 1968. During the1970s, clothes became increasinglysophisticated; sleek lines and soft and crispfabrics of silk, linen and fine suede.

Lagerfeld, Karl (b. 1938) German born,but career based in Paris. Designedfreelance for Krizia, Charles Jourdan andFendi. Throughout the 1970s, particularlyassociated with Chloé ready-to-wearcollections.

Lauren, Ralph (b. 1939) Americandesigner. Worked for Brooks Brothers, thenBeau Brummel neckwear. In 1968,launched Polo line of menswear, and from1971 produced womenswear collections,including designer jeans and in 1978 the"Prairie" look.

Missoni Italian family-run companyfounded 1953. Raised profile of knitwear in1970s through boldly patterned longcardigans and sophisticated sweaters formen and women.

Miyake, Issey (b. 1935) Japanesedesigner. Studied fashion in Paris; workedfor Guy Laroche, Hubert de Givenchy andGeoffrey Beene. Held first fashion show inNew York, 1971; the next in Paris, 1973.

Mori, Hanae (b. 1926) Japanese designer.Opened New York salon in early 1970s,and in 1977 showed first couture collectionin Paris. Design ideas influenced bytraditional Japanese kimono and obi(sash).

Muir, Jean (1928-1995) British designer.Trademark classic clothes made ofheavyweight rayon jerseys and punchedand stitched suede.

Porter, Thea (1927-2000) British designer.In the 1960s sold antique Near Easterntextiles from London shop and begandesigning "ethnic" clothes from exoticfabrics for evening wear. Opened a NewYork store in1968, and one in Paris in early1970s.

Price, Antony (b. 1945) British designer.Designs for Bryan Ferry and Roxy Musicbrought success by mid-1970s, and in1979 launched his own label.

Rykiel, Sonia (b. 1930) French designer.Known in the 1970s mostly for knitwear insubtle colors of beige, gray and slate blue.

Saint Laurent, Yves (b. 1936) Frenchdesigner. Former chief designer at Dior,established his own house in 1962. In1970s designed impeccably cut suits:some inspired by exotic Eastern andRussian sources, some more sober for thenew executive woman.

Smith, Willi (1948-1991) Americandesigner of ethnic-influenced sportswearinspired by trips to India. Set up Willi Wearcasual sportswear in 1976.

Von Furstenberg, Diane (b. 1946) Belgianborn. Apprenticed in 1968 to Italian textilemanufacturer Angelo Ferretti and openedher own business in New York in 1972.Known for plain, simply cut or wrap printedsilk jersey dresses.

Yuki (b. 1937) Japanese designer, bornGnyuki Torimaru. Worked for Louis Feraud,Norman Hartnell and Pierre Cardin beforedesigning collections under his own namefrom 1973. In 1970s designed one-sizejersey dresses of tubes and rectangles,made fluid through draping and themovement of the body.

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Further Reading A great deal has been written and published about the1970s, and this reading list is only a very small selection.Magazines and movies of the period are another excellentsource of information.

Adult General Reference SourcesCalasibetta, Charlotte. Essential Terms of Fashion: ACollection of Definitions (Fairchild, 1985)Calasibetta, Charlotte. Fairchild’s Dictionary of Fashion,(Fairchild, 2nd ed,1988)Cumming, Valerie. Understanding Fashion History(Chrysalis, 2004)Ewing, Elizabeth. History of Twentieth Century Fashion,revised by Alice Mackrell (Batsford, 4th ed, 2001)Gold, Annalee. 90 Years of Fashion (Fairchild, 1990)Laver, James. Costume and Fashion (Thames & Hudson,1995)Martin, Richard. American Ingenuity: Sportswear1930s–1970s (Yale, 1998)O’Hara, Georgina. The Encyclopedia of Fashion (Harry N.Abrams, 1986)Peacock, John. Men’s Fashion: The Complete Sourcebook(Emerald, 1997)Peacock, John. Fashion Accessories: The Complete 20thCentury Sourcebook (Thames & Hudson, 2000)Polhemus, Ted and Procter, L. Fashion and Anti-Fashion(Thames & Hudson, 1978)Skinner, Tina. Fashionable Clothing from Sears Catalogs(Schiffer, 2004)Steele, Valerie. Fifty Years of Fashion: New Look to Now(Yale, 2000)Stegemeyer, Anne. Who's Who in Fashion, (Fairchild, 4thed, 2003)Trahey, Jane (ed.) Harper’s Bazaar: 100 Years of theAmerican Female (Random House, 1967)Watson, Linda. Twentieth-century Fashion (Firefly, 2004)

Adult General Reference SourcesGilmour, Sarah. Twentieth Century Fashion: the 70s(Heinemann Library, 1999)Ruby, Jennifer. The 1960s & 1970s, Costume in Contextseries (David & Charles, 1989)Wilcox, R. Turner. Five Centuries of American Costume(Scribner’s, 1963).

Young Adult SourcesGilmour, Sarah. Twentieth Century Fashion: the 70s(Heinemann Library, 1999)Ruby, Jennifer. The 1960s & 1970s, Costume in Contextseries (David & Charles, 1989)Wilcox, R. Turner. Five Centuries of American Costume(Scribner’s, 1963).

AcknowledgmentsThe Publishers would like to thank the following forpermission to reproduce illustrations: Bath Museum 20t,59tl; B.T. Batsford 10l, 12l, 26r, 30r, 34t, 36l, 42r, 44l, 49tl,50l, 52, 54b, 57r, 59bl, 59r; BFI Stills 6; Camera Press 11l,24, 32, 34b, 54t; Caroline Broadhead 50r; FIT 56b; Getty9l, 17r, 19, 25r, 35; Getty/Time Life 58l; Popperfoto 10r,15, 53r; Retro Library 26l; Rex Features 8l, 9r, 12r, 13, 14,16, 17l, 18l, 20b, 21, 23, 25l, 28, 30l, 33, 36r, 37, 38, 39,40, 41, 42l, 43r, 44r, 45t, 46, 47l, 48, 49bl, 49r, 51, 53l,55, 56t, 57l, 58tr, ; Topfoto 7, 8r, 22, 27, 29, 31, 43l, 45b,47r; Victoria & Albert Museum 11r, 18r

Key: b=bottom, t=top, l=left, r=right

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IndexFigures in italics refer toillustrations.

American Graffiti 6Annie Hall 58Armani, Giorgio 58, 58arts and artists 20Ashe, Arthur 17Ashley, Laura 10, 32

Balenciaga, Cristóbal 32Barthes, Roland 8Beene, Geoffrey 52Benatar, Pat 43Bendel, Henri 25Biba 24, 32black culture 17, 36Blahnik, Manolo 48, 49Blass, Bill 52Bolan, Marc 40Bowie, David 40–41, 41Broadhead, Caroline 50Brown, James 36, 37Burrows, Stephen 26Byrne, David 20

Cardin Pierre 25, 56Chelsea Cobbler 8, 49The Clash 46Cohn, Nik 55Cooper, Alice 44Cosmopolitan 10crafts 17, 18, 18, 50

dancewear 52, 54de Niro, Robert 45denim 28, 28, 30, 30; see

also jeansDenisoff, R. Serge 22Dior, Christian 9, 24djellabah 35

Eco, Umberto 8environmental concerns 7,

8, 15, 16Erker, Richard 42ethnic look 18, 18, 34–35,34–35, 56, 59exotica 35

Fawcett, Farrah 14Feraud, Louis 11

films 6; see also under titlesFiorucci, Elio 49, 49, 51Fixx, James F. 17Fonda, Jane 53Fraser, Kennedy 24, 52Frink, Elizabeth 20Frizon, Maud 49

Gernreich, Rudi 52Gibb, Bill 56Glitter, Gary 22Godfather, The 32Graham Central Station 36Grease 6, 55Great Gatsby, The 6, 33Greer, Germaine 10

Halston 56Harry, Debbie 43, 46Hayes, Isaac 20Hechter, Daniel 13, 50Hell, Richard 44, 44Hendryx, Nona 42, 42hippies 12, 15, 17, 28, 28,

29, 31, 35Hockney, David 20Howell, Georgina 15Hughes, Patrick 20Hynde, Chrissie 43

Irwin, Colin 32

Jackson Five 23, 23James, Tony 15Jarman, Derek 27jeans 8, 10, 11, 26, 28, 30,

30, 31, 44, 45, 49, 56John, Elton 40, 48, 49Jubilee Year 27

Kamali, Norma 42, 42Klein, Calvin 56, 57

Lagerfeld, Karl 56, 59Lauder, Estée 17Lauren, Ralph 10, 32, 35,

58, 58Lear, Amanda 40leather 13, 27, 27, 28, 30,

30, 31, 35, 45, 45, 57LeGaspi, Larry 42, 42Lehr, Henry 30

Lennon, John 32Lovich, Lene 47Lurie, Alison 12

Marley, Bob 38McLaren, Malcolm 27, 27,

46menswear 25, 25Mercury, Freddie 42Metropolitan Museum of

Art 32Miyake, Issey 57, 57Mohawk hairstyle 45Mori, Hanae 35Morrison, Jim 28Muir, Jean 56, 59music 20, 22, 38, 40, 46,

47

New York Dolls, The 44, 45Nixon, Richard M. 7

Osmonds, The 23

Page, Jimmy 21pantsuits 11Plant, Robert 42Porter, Thea 17, 25preppie look 8, 35Presley, Elvis 32Price, Antony 40punk 15, 20, 22, 27,

44–47, 44–47

Reger, Janet 12Reich, Charles 15Reid, Jamie 27Rhodes, Zandra 42Rocky Horror Picture Show

40Rolling Stones 28Ross, Diana 37Rotten, Johnny 20, 44, 44Roxy Music 40Ruffin, Clovis 26Rykiel, Sonia 25

Saint Laurent, Yves 24, 32, 34, 49

Saturday Night Fever 54, 55Schumacher, E. F. 15secondhand clothes 32, 47

Sex Pistols 20, 44, 44, 51Shaft 17Sims, Naomi 36Siouxsie and the Banshees47, 47skinheads 12Slade 20, 42Slits, The 47Sloane Rangers 8Sly, J. B. 20Smith, Patti 46Smith, Willi 53Spare Rib 10sportswear 17, 53, 53, 54,

55, 55Springsteen, Bruce 30Stewart, Rod 40, 41Styrene, Poly 46, 47Summer, Donna 39

Taxi Driver 45terrorism 13, 13trash culture 48–51, 48,

49–51Travolta, John 6, 54, 55Tubes, The 45

Van Peebles, Melvin 17Vanderbilt, Gloria 56Village People 31, 31Vogue 15, 24, 32, 57Von Furstenberg, Diane 56Vreeland, Diana 32

Warhol, Andy 18, 28, 48Watergate scandal 7Westwood, Vivienne 27, 27,

46Wolfe, Tom 6, 22, 31, 37women’s movement 10, 11

York, Peter 8