The decade that had very little shame of flaunting it’s ego.
The decade remains a fashion favorite for most people, no matter how tacky or bizarre the clothes or hair were. Were you into slipping on those bell bottoms to cruise on down to the disco club? Did you wear those thick pointed collar shirts and have thick sideburns?
Coca-Cola, 1971 – ‘Hilltop’ | “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”
Clothes
By the 1970′s and the disco craze, clothes gave way to a real flamboyancy. There were the Bell bottom pants, and big collar shirts buttoned down low. Athletes (particularly basketball players) wore knee high socks with shorts up high on the thigh.
Hair
The Afro, sometimes shortened to ‘fro, was the quintessential ‘70s hairstyle. It was usually reserved for people with naturally curly hair, created by combing the hair away from the scalp, allowing the hair to extend out from the head in a large, rounded shape, much like a halo, cloud or ball. The style is maintained with a wide-toothed comb colloquially known as an ‘afro-pick’. The style was particularly popular in the African-American community of the late 1960s and into the 1970′s. The sideburns of men in particular, became real long and bushy. Movies like ‘Easy Rider’ and pop icons like Elvis made them mainstream.
Shoes
Platform Shoes were the most popular shoe for men and women in the disco club scene. Converse Shoes goes back to 1921, when a basketball player named Charles H. Chuck Taylor went to the Converse shoe company complaining of sore feet. This led to him getting a job there were he worked as a salesman and ambassador, promoting the shoes around the US, In 1932 Taylor’s signature was added to the All Star patch on the classic, high-topped sneakers. He continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969. The shoe was popular in the 1970′s particularly with NBA players.
Roller Skates were first introduced in 1760 by a Belgian inventor named John Joseph Merlin. His invention did not become very popular. In 1863, James Plimpton from Massachusetts invented the “rocking” skate. This was an improvement on the roller skate that allowed skaters to turn easily around corners. This invention opened the door for the masses to enjoy roller skating. Eventually, roller skating evolved from just a pastime to a competitive sport, beginning with roller hockey. By the 1970′s skating became a cultural phenomenon with kids and adults. In the 1990′s roller blading took over with more of a thin blade of wheels.