The 1970s were a time when clothes were still structured and tailored, but the1960s’ emphasis on matchiness had fallen away.
The decade is often associated with the flowy, drapey hippie aesthetic, but it’s the ’70s career girl who is underrated in the annals of fashion inspiration. With more freedom to experiment, but still plenty of polish, this was a time before the American predilection for wearing sweatpants in public became widespread. Head-to-toe pastel pink with white accents had turned into, perhaps, a red coat over camel-covered pants with black boots. And there was suede — so much suede.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show encapsulated ’70s style perfectly. Watch one episode, and you’ll see a dozen or so quintessential looks for that decade.
But the designer Rick Owens complained in a recent interview with The Telegraph about what he considers to be a “Mary Tyler Moore consensus” in women’s fashion:
“Why are we seeing Mary Tyler Moore on all of the runways? ‘A-line skirt, blouse, flowers’ – you can reduce a lot of fashion collections to that. Possibly ‘A-line skirt, blouse, sequins’, or sometimes ‘pencil skirt’, or ‘miniskirt’. . . . I was more ‘let’s go bonkers and make something ridiculous that hits you over the head’.”
Now, we’re all thankful for Mr. Owens’ out-there, black and white, thoroughly 21st century aesthetic. But there’s something to be said for the sharp lines and smart silhouettes of the 1970s career girl — and if anything, we wish we could see more of it from designers.
Click through this slideshow to see how to bring the miniskirts, gogo boots and wool coats of Mary Tyler Moore into 2014.