The seventies, though influential, have often been dismissed as 'the decade that style forgot.' The visual guide 70s Style and Design sets out to redress the balance, showing not only the huge impact of the era on our twenty-first century world, but its cultural significance. It focuses on Britain and America.
It was certainly a decade of extremes. From the clean shapes and bright colours of pop at Mr Freedom, to the opulent, Art Deco influenced glamour of Barbara Hulanicki's shop Biba, the decade embodied change. It began with the natural ethos of the hippy movement and the drama of glam rock, before ending with the angry iconoclasm of punk.
This book, which contains four hundred and thirty illustrations, is a photographic account of this important time, which reveals much about the political and cultural developments of the era.
Biba and Art Deco in the 1970s
Art Deco was a huge influence on seventies style, along with Art Nouveau, Belle Epoque and Victoriana. Aubrey Beardsley was very popular with both the tastemakers of the day and the general public - his pictures sold in huge numbers in poster shop Athena.
The visual opulence chimed with the sexual freedoms of the era, and it was not only women who enjoyed the style. Glam Rock pioneer Marc Bolan, who wore feather boas and 1920s women's tap shoes from Anello and Davide, commented at the time that you can be male "without having to wear Brute aftershave."
Gender was becoming more blurred, and the success of shops such as Biba and Granny Takes a Trip played an important part in how people thought about and saw themselves. When people were given a more free sense of style, they were more easily able to express different parts of their identity.
The Human Consciousness Movement of the 1970s
Tom Wolf said in 1979 that in the seventies, "People moved from the plateau of the merely materialistic to a truly aristocratic luxury: the habit of putting oneself on stage, analysing one's relationships, one's hang-ups...the way noblemen did in the age of chivalry."
The end of the twentieth century in the West can be defined as the age of the individual. Although today there is criticism that this has gone too far, resulting in selfishness and a lack of responsibility, from the perspective of the seventies these things were necessary.
Many of the freedoms we take forgranted (and are still working towards) today have their roots in the political activism of that decade - the gay rights, women's rights and racial equality movements all made major progress during the seventies. This book shows powerful and often humorous images from that time.
Interest in Eastern philosophies was also increasing following the Beatles' trip to India in the late 1960s, and this influence can be seen now in the huge popularity of yoga and Buddhism, amongst other things. The hippy fashions of the seventies were inspired by the clothes of other countries, particularly India and Afghanistan.
The Development of the Environmental Movement in the 1970s
No-one can think of the 1970s without thinking of the hippy movement. 1970 saw the first Earth Day in the USA, and in 1976 Anita Roddick started her hugely successful business The Body Shop, with its reusable bottles and holistic philosophy. Although she was mocked by London financiers as "the cocoa butter woman," her ideas proved to be ahead of their time. Today, many companies both big and small specialise in natural skincare with simple packaging and labels.
There was also concern that technological advancement was happening at the expense of the natural world. This brought about many exciting developments, particularly in the built environment. Sustainable architecture became increasingly important and some people even moved into 'geodesic domes' - a rounded living space made from natual materials. Other architectural designs were more utilitarian, high tech - low fuss buildings, which have proved very influential.
Eventually, however, the hippy movement ran its course and Biba style had reached saturation point by 1975. The backlash against the opulent style of the early seventies, plus economic malaise and a general feeling of rage amonst some young people led to punk, which expressed itself in a completely raw, honest way. A few years later the New Romantics rebelled against punk, and the eighties began.
Source:
- Dominic Lutyens and Kirsty Hislop, 70s Style and Design (Thames and Hudson, 2009)
Victoria Robinson - Victoria Robinson is a freelance article writer based in Chester, a beautiful and historical city in the North West of England. She has a ...
