The fashion of the 1970s also put the female body on show like never before.
She wore the pantsliterally!
Pants, suiting, andby the late 1970s, anywaydesigner denimall became fully acceptable for just about any situation.
Though bold, 1970s fashion also possessed a featherweight touch.
It was an era of easy-on, easy-off fashions for the disco and jumbo jet.
By 1974,Voguereached a milestone.
Cover girl Beverly Johnson
For the August 1974 issue,Beverly Johnsonmade history as the first Black woman to grace a cover ofVogue.
An August 1977Voguearticle put it succinctly: Sportswear Dress: The Word Is Soft.
Polyester peaked; if there was one fabric that the 70s wrapped itself in, it was polyester.
Cover girl Sophia Loren
It also gave her a low-maintenance suit to wear to the office.
In 1973, Neiman Marcus dubbed Levi Strauss the single most important American contribution to worldwide fashion.
A lofty award, sure, but it was no less accurate.
“A New Freedom."
Denim was on everybody and every body.
After the 1950s saw the twill fabric go from workwear to streetwear, the jean steadily took over.
And by the 1970s, high fashion wanted in.
Natalie Woods in Zandra Rhodes
The designer-denim era had begun.
Until now, that is.
I want the girls who cant afford to wear my clothes to wear my jeans.
Lesley Warren in a tie-dyed silk chiffon toga by Halston.
Pariscoutures golden agecame and went, and the1960ssaw London come onto the fashion scene in a real way.
By the 1970s, it was New Yorks turn.
In Pariss eyes, there was no competition.
The soft touch of Halston: A model his angora and wool top; cashmere pants. Elsa Peretti pendant for Halston Ltd.
The French can no longer ignore it.
If the 1960s looked ahead tothe Space Age, by the 1970s fashion got seriously nostalgic.
(Rummaging up wartime memories for the sake of fashion didnt go over too well for Saint Laurent.)
Halston’s best-selling ultrasuede shirtdress.
Regardless, tastes seemed to align on the 30s and 40s as a reference point.
Silhouettes borrowed from the structured shoulders before Diors New Look, and women wore shirtwaist dresses in geometric prints.
The year was 1977.
A Missoni look, 1975
Disco dominated, and people needed to look the part.
It also meant platform heels and feathery hair.
Shirts were worn tight, pants had a flare, and lapels were wide.
Polyester pantsuits for women, c. 1970
Roger Moores James Bond popularized the safari suit.
Theera of the jet setbegan, and fashion responded by making wrinkle-free wares.
The decade also heard from women, who demanded equality.
Valentino Garavani introduces his new line of designer denim Valentino Viva in New York on May 15, 1979
In 1973, Billie Jean King triumphed over Bobby Riggs in the much-publicized Battle of the Sexes tennis match.
Political unrest permeated throughout the US until the Vietnam War came to an end in 1975.
In 1972 President Nixon became the first US president to visit the Peoples Republic of China.
Model Janice Dickinson wearing a pair of Calvin Klein jeans on April 20, 1979 in New York
Over in the UK, Prince Charles announced he was datingLady Diana Spencerand Margaret Thatcher was rising in power.
In entertainment, Sonny Bono andCherenthralled audiences with their show, which premiered in 1971.
Diana Ross was in her heyday, kicking off her solo career in 1970.
At the Palace of Versailles, Helmut Newton photographed actor Patrick Honoré of the Comédie Française on the Queen’s staircase with models in,Vogue wrote: “Halston’s pale green sequined evening dress with short butterfly sleeves; Bill Blass’s grey sequined evening dress bordered insable; Oscar de la Renta’s bright green charmeuse evening pyjama; Anne Klein’s red silk jersey evening dress; Stephen Burrows’s red sequined evening dress with a yellow feathered jacket.”
For front row tickets, emailparis@vogueworld.com
Pieces from the Halston Spring 1975 collection photographed at the designer’s townhouse at 101 E 63rd Street on October 16, 1974.
A fashionable phone-a-thon, 1974
Jerry Hall and model Lisa Taylor survey the scene.
Cheryl Tiegs and Rene Russo.
Diana Ross c. 1970
Lauren Hutton in “blaze and feathers from Norell.”
Halston with models in his designs.
John Travolta on the set of Saturday Night Fever, c. 1977
Mick Jagger’s wedding to Bianca Jagger in Saint-Tropez, France, May 12, 1971
Farrah Fawcett, 1976
Cher in Bob Mackie, April 9, 1978, in Los Angeles
