Women's 70's Clothes and 1970's Fashion Ideas The fashion of the 1970's was a time when fashion was evolving in many ways. Women at that time had more freedom of wearing what they wanted when they wanted to. Fashion was also spreading around the world and was also culturally spreading and bringing new fashion styles to the U.S. as the years went by. Here are some of the major fashion fabrics and garments famously used in the 70's.

Clothes Micro Mini or Maxi clothes The 70's was a time when women chose who they wanted to be and if they felt like putting a short mini skirt one day and then the next day a maxi dress, midi skirt or some hot pants the day afterthat is actually what every women did in that era. For nightwear women usually wore full length maxi dresses, night trousers or glamourous halter neck catsuits. At a Disco dance party, girls might wear hot pants or micro mini skirts.

Full length maxi dress

Night trousers

Halter neck catsuit

Hot pants

Micro mini skirts

Caftan or Kaftan The Hippies of the 60's brought with them clothes fro other cultural backgrounds that has never been seen before in the west. From the mid late 70's, Caftans, Kaftans, Kimonos, mummus, djellaba (a Moroccan with pointed hood) or jalabiya (loose eastern robe) and several other styles from every part of India and Africa, were very popular.

Kaftan

Flared Trousers (jeans), Bell Bottoms, and Trouser Suits One type of fashion that was the rage back in the 70's was the use of Trousers and Trouser Suits. Pants started off gently flared and grew into wide bell bottom proportions by 1975. These pants were slowly decreased to straight and wide until the end of the 70's they were back to narrow once more. Some famously used fabrics include Heavy Crepes, Wool Jersey Knits, Courtelle Jersey Jersey and Woven Polyester suiting like Trevira. The favorite fashion colors of the 1970's were: •

Emerald green

•

Apple green

•

Bottle green

Flared Trousers /Jeans

Hippie style The 70s became associated as a decade with a colorful, hippie and loving style. The style was mostly distinguished with huge hats, long straight hair, colorful dresses with flowers, bellbottoms and funky boots.

Hippy style

Shoes and boots

Platform shoes were a must-have necessity for the 1970s hippie. Platforms typically had soles ranging from 1- to 4-inches thick. Clogs were also popular for their comfort and the chunkiness of their soles.

Platform shoes

Clogs

Go-go boots were also very popular in 70’s. These boots were flat or heeled and almost reached the knee. Typically, there was a zipper on the inside of the boot that zipped from the instep to the top of the boot. Go-go boots were usually worn with miniskirts and short dresses. The leather or vinyl boots came in a variety of colors.

Go-go boots

Accessories Headbands While today’s headbands sit on the crown of the head, hippie headbands of the 70s tied around the forehead. Quite often, the most common headband was a simple, solid colored thin scarf tied around the head with the ends hanging down on one side.This kind of headband wasn’t limited to just women. Men wore them, too. Some 70s headbands were made of a stretchy material that simply slipped around the head. Similarly, some 70s headbands were made of strips of leather, usually thin. They were tied around the forehead as well. These leather headbands provided the wearer with a Native American look, which was enhanced by the fringed leather vests or jackets that were also popular during that era. If you’re hosting a 1970s party or are going to be a guest at one, it’s pretty easy to create a typical headband of the era. Purchase a long thin scarf, a piece of brightly printed fabric, or even a pack of girl’s stretchy hair bands and you’ve got an instant 70s headband that you can wear around your forehead.

Headbands

Floppy hats Hats were really quite trendy in the 70s, especially in the earlier years of the decade. And, by far, the most popular hat style was the large, floppy hat. These floppy hats could be worn with a variety of fashion styles from simple jeans and a peasant shirt to your best mini dress.

Floppy hats

Crocheted hats In the 70s, crocheted hats were a huge trend as well. In particular, there was a type of crocheted hat that was catapulted to fame thanks to one of the decade’s most popular films – Love Story. In the movie, the heroine – played by Ali MacGraw – wore several different cap-style crocheted hats that soon become simply known as “Ali MacGraw hats.” These became especially popular with teenagers and young adult women.

Crochet hats

Sunglasses In the early years of the 70s, sunglasses didn’t differ a whole lot from those that were popular in the late 60s hippie era. Generally, they were wire framed and were fairly small and round. Some people called them “granny glasses.” This 70s style was actually made quite popular by John Lennon, who usually wore them with along with his long hair and a headband that was tied around his forehead.

Granny glasses As the decade progressed, however, eyewear changed. By the mid 70s, small round glasses began to disappear and large glasses came into fashion. These vintage oversized sunglasses that were so popular in the later years of the decade came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some were round and included thick round plastic frames in any number of bright colors, like neon green, yellow, or orange.

Large glasses

Jewelry 1970s jewelry – especially that which was worn by younger folks – wasn’t expensive but it certainly did stand out. Many women wore choker necklaces, which were often made of a thin black (or other color) velvet strip of ribbon, adorned with a cameo or some other sort of icon, perhaps a peace symbol.

Peace symbol

Peace sign necklaces were the most popular way to display the symbol. Most were simple costume jewelry pieces, made of plastic or some inexpensive metal, though some well-known jewelers did indeed make expensive versions of the symbol.

Peace symbol

Hairstyles In the 1960s, hairstyles were very severe and often involved the use of lots of curlers and plenty of spray. When the 70s came along, the free-thinking hippie generation opted instead for hair that demanded little care other than washing and brushing.

Long and Natural hairstyles Thus, many girls wore their hair long and straight, usually parted down the middle with no bangs. Girls who didn’t have straight hair would straighten theirs…. In order to vary the look a little, headbands were used. Rather than wearing them as they are worn today (around the top of the head and under the hair by the neck), girls wore their headbands around their forehead. Sometimes, scarves were worn instead of elastic bands and could be tied in the back or on the side with the ends hanging down. Often, the more colorful, the better!

Hair long and straight

The Farrah The feathered hairstyle of the 70s was indeed one of the longest lasting haircuts of the decade. The style was immortalized best by actress Farrah Fawcett of Charile’s Angels and was probably the most emulated hairstyle of all times, becoming known simply as “The Farrah.”

“The Farrah” hairstyle

Afro Hairstyle This style was most effective for African Americans who had extremely frizzy or curly hair that would stick straight up in the air. Often, however, hair was curled or braided before it was styled in order to make it as frizzy as possible. Many black celebrities of the era wore Afro hairstyles, including many of the Motown recording artists like The Temptations, The Jackson Five, and Marvin Gaye, and television personalities like Richard Pryor and Demond Wilson.

Afro hairstyle

Makeup Trends The '70s saw big, false eyelashes, bold eyeliner and the ever-present blue eyeshadow. These items were must-haves in the look of '70s makeup, which was copied by women all over the world. Another big trend in makeup during the '70s was a heavy coating of clear lip gloss. Gone were the days of '50s red or pink lip colors. Instead, pale lips, bright colored eyeshadow and long, thick lashes ruled the decade.

70’s makeup