New York City’s fashion week last month gave audience members and stylists a surprise. The 1970s are back in fashion. Since last month’s shows, retailers and customers are going crazy for wide leg denim, long dresses and skirts, kaleidoscope patterns, hot shorts and jumpsuits. Maybe the designers were just getting tired of the skinny jean craze and wanted something different? Possibly, but there was definitely more to the vintage looks at fashion week than just the wide leg denim trends that were walking down the runway.
One major design element to look for when shopping for 70s inspired pieces is the cut. Wide leg denim, known as bell-bottoms, was a popular look on the runway. For many years these were the only style of jeans that I wore. Through the years I can remember my grandparents saying, “I remember when your mother used to wear those. I guess they’re back in style?” I would just sit and wonder how something like flare jeans, that I thought was new, was thirty years old. StyleBakery on AOL says that this new craze in denim is versatile and can easily work well with plain tee shirts or dressy tops. As a style, bell-bottoms flatter most figures, by creating long lines.
A second sliming style, that was popular in many collections, was the maxi dress. Maxi dresses are floor length dresses which were either sheath or flowy. Similar to the wide leg pants, this type of dress also creates long lines on the body. Tommy Hilfiger and Zac Posen both had sheath maxi dresses in their collection. Both models were styled to look like what someone would have worn to Studio 54. A third maxi dress was flowy with an empire waist brown and beige butterfly print by Vivenne Tam. Maxi dresses look best when they have an empire waist or band under the bust. This trick draws the eye to a smaller part on a woman’s body.
Another design element that was a throwback to the 1970s were the colors and patterns that were in many collections. Neutrals, like cream and camel, were popular on the catwalk but there was also a surge of burnt sienna, forest green and peacock blue. Marc Jacobs says his colorful inspiration came after his last few collections because they had a lot of black and white. Patterns were also popular last month with plaids and tribal prints, some even looked like kaleidoscopes. These colors and patterns continued the theme of new and exciting, but vintage.
The runway fashions that were shown during fashion week seem to show a brighter and more flattering future than past seasons. The newest looks showed a lot of funky colors and less form fitting pieces. After forty years Bell-bottoms, maxi dresses and jumpsuits in kaleidoscope patterns are back in style. This year, fashion will be a salute to the 1970s; pieces that may still be in your parents’ closets.
