Fashion 1970 - 1980

1970s fashion, which began with a continuation of the mini skirts, bell-bottoms and the androgynous hippie look from the late 1960s, was soon sharply distinguished by several distinct fashion trends that have left a lasting image of the decade in popular culture. These include platform shoes which appeared on the fashion scene in 1971 and often had soles two to four inches thick. Both men and women wore them.

The 1970s were the "anything goes" decade. Some, the uglier and older the fashion, the better, and other times, soft and feminine was the did it for them. No matter what you "dug" or liked though, making a fashion statement reached its peak in the 1970s. It was an uproarious time, with many cultures and subcultures coming out into the open at once. Militant feminism, Civil rights, the watergate scandal, and the vietnam war brought a very grim reality to the forefront. These influences gave designers new ammunition, and the public was excited for the latest fashion wave.

The seventies fashion icon Farrah Fawcett defined a generation of beauty queens with her bouffon beach-blond hair has to be responsible for a lot of hairspray during here Charlie’s Angels television series.  Farrah Fawcett-Majors of course gained the double barrel surname after marrying the Six Million Dollar man Lee Majors.

Olivia Newton John, Donny Osmond, Lisa Minnelli, Debby Harry, and George Best are all famous fashion icons of the 70s.

Movies and television shows such as Charlie's Angels were having an increasingly profound affect on fashion. Cultural icons such as Wonder Woman created a lust for interesting boots-often teamed with hot pants or short skirts. Boots might be shiny, textured, bejeweled, or covered with psychedelic or floral designs, but they were rarely boring.

Nike debuted in 1972; the result of a fateful bit of creativeness meeting a waffle iron. Running became a popular pastime, and running shoes were a practical necessity, especially for men and of course Farrah Fawcett. The athletic craze was only just beginning though.

Diane Keaton, Woody Allen’s singer in the neurotic 1977 movie 'Annie Hall', was very much unlike other leading ladies in one all-important area- she looked like a man (fashion-wise only of course). Men's shirts, ties, fedoras you name it. In the late 70’s, women’s were breaking free from the chains of old-fashioned female constrictions. Annie wore men’s blazers, baggy pants, vests, oversized shirts, ties and floppy hats-sometimes all at once, or sometimes just a men's jacket was an accessory.