In some ways I think the 70s was a total disaster when it came to fashion - polyester flares, cheesecloth shirts, espadrilles. In other ways the Old school street fashion was actually quite cool - Adidas tracksuits, sneakers, etc.

Here's some stuff I found - I also have a collection of postcards called "70s Catalogue Man" and "Catalogue Woman" and the clothes are truly atrocious - I could scan the pics but I'm too lazy.

What was the worst outfit you wore? - mine was a toss-up between some beige polyester trouser suit I bought "down the market" (for £5 - that's about $7 dollars to you Americans! hehe) teamed with a natty cheesecloth shirt, and a pair of trousers (again, polyester) which I made at school in my first sewing class and fell to bits as soon as I walked out the changing room. I thought the trouser suit was totally cool and wore it "up the forest" with my bemused friends (I was sweating like a pig in it!). Then, once aged 13 or 14 I went to the local disco wearing a pencil skirt, court shoes, a burgundy satin shirt and - this is the worst bit - I even put a flower in my hair and pencilled on a beauty mark above my lip just to complete the look. What was I thinking of???!! John Travolta would NOT have been impressed!

Strangely enough 70s style has been recycled at least a couple of times since first time round (a bit like punk music) and because fabrics are much better these days, clothes actually look much better.

So from the net, some rather fab clothes... not!:













But these ladies made anything look good...






Edit - just to add the front cover of "Catalogue Man"

Last edited by jodemilo : 17th Jul 2010 at 11:29 PM.

Oh, my god....we had no sense at all back then. I almost wet myself looking at those plaid "bell bottoms". The only thing missing is the ubiquitous white-guy "Afro". Oh, and a Donna Summer song in the background.

Thankfully, my father had a practical approach to clothing, and would only provide clothing that was comfortable, durable and practical. So, to this day, when I am just lounging about, it is bluejeans, t-shirts and sneakers, just as it has been since I was a wee tyke.

Looking at the ladie's print dresses, I have to wonder how long it will be before Maxis puts them in one of their games...with patterns that loud, it is a wonder they can hear themselves think!

And, believe it or not, I never found Farrah Fawcett attractive. Her face was far too manly, her figure too narrow and her bosoms too small.


Give me Raquel Welch any day.

My brother lived in his Bay City Roller T-Shirt oh and we had matching polyester Adidas tracksuits with the stripes -funnily enough they became fashionable again recently but in a much less sweaty and scratchy fabric! Just to add to that picture - we both had lovely bowl haircuts :-(

Oh hi sandymdh - nice to see you post in the group - at the moment it's just me and kneon_knight waxing lyrical about what was good (and sometimes incredibly uncool) about the past.

Yes I agree Adidas old school style did become fashionable again didn't it? Actually about 15 years ago there was a resurgence of 70s style but - as I mentioned above - the fabrics were much better and the clothes fitted better. At one point I was hunting around for a beige leather biker jacket just like Paul Michael Glaser in Starsky & Hutch!


I look like her! (well in my dreams anyway)

Oh, just to add... "Maxis" could either be a Video game production company....or a horrible long flouncy skirt, usually with floral patterns on. I wore them when I was about 10 - I had one in green with flowers - boy was it sexy!

What, like this you mean?

That is it EXACTLY! My best friend in junior high school rocked that look for 3 years! The problem was he was very blonde and extremely thin. He looked like a walking Q-Tip!

Oh, add to the list of questionable fashions platform shoes and satin shirts for men. The shoes were ridiculous to look at, nearly impossible to walk in, and outrageously priced. The shirts did not wear well, and perspiration seemed to have a particularly virulent effect on the fabrics. We're talking about stains that lasers couldn't remove.

And if anyone ever happens to find the joker responsible for Paisley, please knot his arms over his head.

LMAO. You know, I very tempted to scan some pics of me and my clan aged about 12 just to show you how clueless we were when it came to fashion.

But I won't!

(I even have a pic of my sister and I wearing black binliners complete with safety pins on holiday when it started to rain - well we had to protect ourselves from the elements!)

By "binliners" I assume you mean plastic refuse bags...(see? I'm a quick study!)...

You might want to go ahead and post that pic. You could start a new trend amongst the Emo crowd, and be hailed as a modern visionary. Who knows? If it takes off, you could market a whole line of trashy fashions, and become filthy rich.

I'm only half joking. You and I both know stranger things can happen.