What Did People Wear in the 70s?

The 1970s saw more fashion trends, shifts and swings that just about any other decade before or since, probably because of the way the world was shrinking. The media was expanding, and travel was becoming easier and more affordable, and with that, fashions from around the world came together. It was largely a time of “anything goes” as far as fashion was concerned.

The fashion trends of the 1970s can be divided into five distinct categories. In the early 70s, hippie trends from the late 60s were still in style. They were later replaced by disco and punk trends. But fashionistas aside, everyday people wore everyday clothes, both business and casual.

Hippie Holdovers

The hippie style of the late 1960s carried over into the 1970s. It featured natural fabrics, loose, flowing skirts and blouses, hip-hugger jeans, and the bold colors and patterns of exotic, foreign influences. Hand-crafted items were very popular, including crocheted, embroidered and macramè clothing and accessories. Eyelets and lace embellished every billowing blouse, sleeve and skirt.

Hippie skirts were generally very long. This length is called “maxi.” The maxi-skirt and the maxi-dress were popular throughout the 70s, although they changed slightly later on, making use of different cuts and fabrics.

The 70s also saw the beginning of friendship bracelets, which were made of braided or knotted yarn or thread and given as gifts to friends.

Disco Divas

Although disco music began in the early 1970s, it took a few years for it to reach the mainstream. By the mid-70s, however, it was growing in popularity, not only as a music genre, but as a fashion trend as well. Disco clubs were filled with mirror balls and lights, so the accompanying fashions made the most of their “natural habitat.” Anything that would catch and/or reflect the light as one moved on the dance floor was a hit. White clothes would glow under the black light, anything with sequins, glitter or rhinestones would sparkle like a disco ball, and metallic lamè was as blinding as your righteous dance moves (in a good way).

Also, in an effort to show off the body either on the dance floor or strutting down the street like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, clingy, synthetic fabrics like polyester and rayon were used more than the natural fabrics of hippie fashions. Women wore hot pants and rayon or jersey knit wrap dresses, both with platform shoes. Body suits and leotards were worn with high-waisted, flared jeans, sweater vests and platform shoes. For a very brief time, some women even wore leotards under transparent plastic pants (with platform shoes, of course). Men wore polyester 3-piece suits – high-waisted, flare-legged trousers, wide-collared jackets, and vests. Also with platform shoes. 

Disco skirts and dresses were usually mini- or midi-skirts, meaning they were either very short (mini) or knee- to calf-length (midi).

Punk Rock

In the mid- to late-70s, British punk music began making its way to America, and although it didn’t reach the height of its popularity until the 80s, it still made a fashion statement in the 1970s. Influenced by the glam rockers of the early 70s, punk rockers, both male and female, wore distinct hairstyles and a lot of makeup.

In stark contrast to the natural styles of the hippies, punks bleached or colored their hair and made it do things that defied gravity. They wore jeans that were tight from hip to ankle, and they did not leave home without their eyeliner.

Business Attire

Not everyone in the 70s was on the cutting edge of fashion. Folks in the business world could hardly show up at the office in skinny jeans or 5-inch platform shoes. Everyday business attire for men comprised a suit and tie. The three-piece suit was very popular in the 70s, with a wide-collared shirt and a wide tie to compliment the matching pants, jacket and vest.

Women were allowed to wear pants to work for the first time in the 70s, so for them, trouser suits were common. They could be worn with a blouse or a belted jacket and a silk neck scarf.

One of the biggest trends in business and business casual attire of the 70s was that everything matched. Stores sold entire outfits or color-coordinated mix-and-match items for easy shopping. The plaid of the pants matched exactly the plaid of the jacket, and couples could even get matching his-and-hers outfits.

Casual Attire

Teenagers and pre-teens in the 70s were very much into do-it-yourself customization. Iron-on letters and decals could be added to any t-shirt while patches and appliques personalized your favorite pair of jeans. For teenaged boys, the standard uniform was jeans or maybe polyester trousers with a t-shirt. Baseball jersey-inspired t-shirts were particularly popular – the kind where the sleeves are a different color from the torso part of the shirt.

Teenaged girls also wore jeans/pants with t-shirts, but they might also wear mini-skirts with blouses and sweater vests, mini-dresses with tights and ankle-strapped shoes, cropped tops with high-waisted jeans, a belted dress, or a belted shirt with jeans.

A more grown-up casual look for women might have included a short-sleeved tunic top or a blouse/vest combination with pants. And men could be found in black slacks with the top button or two of a button-down shirt undone, a “leisure suit,” or jeans and a t-shirt.

What did people wear in the 70s? Whatever they wanted to wear. Dress codes were changing, and fashion influences were coming from all sides, so no matter what people felt like wearing, they could probably pull it off.