1970s Fashion Essay

The 1970s was an extremely interesting decade when it comes to the political history and social issues. Many things have occurred to ensure that. The decade was full of things that made a huge impact on the social view of the United States along with the country political views. According to History.com, this decade was a tumultuous time. It was a continuation of the previous decade, the 1960s. In many ways the 1970s made an enormous impact on America.

People may say that the true years of fashion began in the late nineteen forties and went on through the early nineteen sixties. If you look at fashion today, its almost repeated the look from sixty years ago. In each generation fashion trends become based on history and/or important events. in the nineteen forties fashion was being modeled by the military wear. World War II caused a drastic change in the way clothes were being made and worn. In the nineteen fifties Americans admired the fashion of movie stars and music artists. Media had a strong influence on the wordly trend. The people of the sixties expressed there personalities and emotions through

Living in the 70s was in the midst of a unique culture. Theatres in the 1970s were very popular as various people rushed to theaters to watch plays and movies. This was also the era in which many owned bizarre items such as pet rocks, mood rings, bean bag chairs, and more. “Have a nice day!” became a slogan that earmarked the 70’s,and was almost always accompanied with the notorious smiley face icon. Sickening sweet happy faces were plastered everywhere; they were spray painted on the side of buildings and even worn on bandanas and t-shirts. Another distinct culture featured in the 70’s was the fashion. Fashion fads in the 70’s took off like rockets. Clothing styles such as shirts with colorful geometric shapes and bell-bottoms emerged. The rise of disco also played a big role during this time. In contrast to males in today’s society, some men in the 1970’s wore shoes with giant heels. Culture proved to play a big role in the 70’s and profoundly affected the civilization’s view upon The American Dream.

Men and women tried to be what is typically considered masculine both in look and attitude and the era was a negative time as the rebels hit out. It appeared they wanted to stand out from others with their uncommon choice of clothing, hairstyles, jewellery and body modification. Fashion worn by the punks also reflected their opinion of the government, “stuck together with safety pins”; the idea that the economy was falling apart with unemployment. Safety pins and studs were a popular choice to accessorise punk outfits with (as seen in the photo below) as they give the tough and rebellious masculine feel to their outfit. It also showed a creative aspect as they began to add and adapt everyday objects such as bin liners and razor blades, in attempt to give an aesthetically pleasing finish. Tape was also used in addition to safety pins in order to hold together rips in clothing although not all rips as holed clothing was considered fashionable by them. Further customisation was made when embellishments made with marker or paint decorated many clothes. These were often added to denim, leather or rubber; clothing that the general public associated with transgressive sexual practises such as bondage and S&M.

The 26th amendment was also important because it lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age. There was a long debate going on about the age during World War II when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and during the Vietnam War. The debate was over having men being drafted at a young age and not being able to vote. In 1943, Georgia was the first to lower voting age to 18. Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly voted for this law in 1945. Match 10, 1971, the U.S. senate voted unanimously in favor and by March 23 the states the states ratified it and President Richard M. Nixon signed it into law in July of that

91. 26th: The provision to the 26th Amendment gave the right to vote to citizens over 18 years of age. March 1971

Before this amendment was ratified, only four states had their required ages lower than 21. Those states were Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska, and Hawaii. During World War II, attempts to lower the voting age began. But, it was not until the Vietnam War that the 26th Amendment was passed. The issue arose because men under the age of 21 were being drafted to fight in both World War II and the Vietnam War, and many people argued that if they were old enough to fight, they were old enough to vote. Since the 26th Amendment

26th Amendment -by the National Education Association.if your old enough to fight in war so you were old enough to vote.

The 26th amendment gives U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or older the right to vote in elections. In 1971, the 26th amendment was passed by Congress on March 23rd and added to the Constitution on July 1st. During World War II, the argument over reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 was a long-debated topic that continued over to the Vietnam War. This debate started because men who were under the age of 21 were denied voting rights but were being enlisted to fight for the United States. While the United States was focused on WWII, President Roosevelt decreased the military draft age so that people who were 18 were able to be drafted into the military. The youth voting rights movement used the saying “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” as a slogan for their movement.

Women in the early 1960's wore bouffant hairstyles, and like the 1920's, knee length dresses. However, later in the decade, mini skirts, or hot pants, with go-go boots became popular. These skirts revealed their legs as bodywear revealed their curves. Women's hairstyles even changed. Women either wore their hair very short or long and lanky. Also, peasant skirts, or granny dresses, and chunky shoes somehow came into fashion during this period of time too. By the end of the decade, unisex dressing was very popular especially with the hippies. Both sexes wore bell-bottom jeans, love beads, and embellished T-shirts. This was also the era of the Afro, which both sexes of African Americans wore.

The clothing style in the 1970’s was polyester and bright colors.Men and women would wear

Throughout the 1980’s “easy-going” was the new look. Women dressed in wide-legged rompers more and they wore vibrant colors to add a spark of color in their fashion sense. The popular 80’s were more based on being big and bold. Clothing was very colorful, active wear and tights were popular again, and make up was brighter. It is known to be one of the more likes times in history.

American hippie culture soon followed in the early 70’s with Sony & Cher. The hippie phase came and went then a more simple ‘boot cut’ trouser came back into play in the 90’s. The early 2000’s was all about the skinny jeans but in recent

In the 1970’s life changing events happened throughout the decade. Some devastating things happened like the Beatles breaking up in 1970. In 1971 the floppy disk was invented to store data on the computer. In the 1970’s fashion was affected by the Vietnam War, disco, and The Feminist Movement.

Fashion and Style during the 1960s consisted of very bipolar moods. The early 1960s resembled that of the late 1950s with the ideas of conservative and restraining clothing. Later in the 1960s women’s clothing specifically began to change more than ever before. They began to show more skin that ever, with bright colors and mini skirts made a dramatic debut. The styles of women in the 1960s embodied the growing women’s movement of individuality and sexuality that continued to grow well into the 70s.