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Anything goes! becomes fashion byword. Hippies initiated the 1970s in tie-dye and denim, and punks closed the decade wearing black long-johns and spikey hair. Tolerance was a running theme socially and in the fashion world. From the wildly eccentric to the conservatively elegant, individual expression was welcomed. Skirts and hair could be any length. Lapels and pant legs could be any width. The collective conscious embraced ethnic fashion and retro styles. Nostalgia reigned from Art Deco- inspired prints to the prairie look. Fashion eclecticism reflects the extremes of the times. Feminism became a social force, and many feminists eschewed fashion. Old design houses such as Dior and Laurent produced more ready-to-wear collections. Army surplus boomed. On American campuses, imported, embroidered shirts were worn sans bras. Bell-bottoms dominated. Heavy hiking boots were an integral part of the unofficial uniform. Secondhand clothes, an anathema during earlier times, became de rigeuer. Punks took it further, strategically ripping their secondhand clothing into rags. Theatrical glam rockers motivated teenagers to try wild haircuts and glitter makeup. David Bowie exemplified androgenous style. Gender bending became art. The world gets smaller. A global recession damped employment and investment. Industry shifted production to the Third World, exploiting women and children. The energy crisis brought rapidly escalating gasoline prices. Oil spills and dioxin were in the news, as was terrorism in Europe and the Middle East. President Nixon was forced from office, the first president to resign before his term ended. |
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