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Fashion of the 70s: Vintage Fashion and Beauty Ads
From hippie to disco to punk, this look book relives 1970s fashion via clothing and beauty product advertisements from the decade.
In between its covers you will find bell-bottoms and feathered hair mingling with platform shoes, Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dresses and endless amounts of polyester (what were they thinking?).
In between its covers you will find bell-bottoms and feathered hair mingling with platform shoes, Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dresses and endless amounts of polyester (what were they thinking?).
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 30, 2026
Did I really wear some of the clothing illustrated in this superb collection of 1970s advertisements, well the male element of them anyway (cross-dressing had not kicked in by then!!!).
The book provides a nostalgic look back at a decade that started somewhat modestly and ended with an anything goes approach. Flares, overlarge ties, plaids, fancy male underwear they are all here and some of the advertisements are decidedly risque!
The illustrations are mostly American but their influence was strongly felt over here in England with the Farah trousers and Johnny Miller golfing trousers being more familiar. I am not a golfer particularly but did play a game with my footballing pals once and I went to pick one of them up in a pair of Johnny Miller check trousers, in a vivid red, and he stood inside the door, having seen me arrive, and yelled, 'I'm not coming out until you've changed'. Charming!!!
A real delight of illustration and nostalgia - even if one hasn't worn or used, deodorant/perfume-wise, the products on display.
30 March 2026
It would appear that I pick this book up every few years just to look at what I might have been wearing in this decade. Well, seeing as most of the male advertisements (and female) relate to American products it is unlikely that I wore anything from the book. However, on closer inspection there is one item of clothing that I did own and wear and that was a pair of trousers in the Johnny Miller range. While I was not a golfer, as was Miller, they were a cool shade of red and fitted perfectly!
Two firms seem to have dominated the markets in the period and there are a plethora of their advertisements to show their dominance; they were Levis and Sears. And it is one of the adverts for the latter company that is one of my favourites in the book as it is very of its time with flower-power type illustrations from The Shoe Place at Sears and highlights their colourful range of 'lazy crazy clogs'. It is coupled with on the opposite page, another of my favourites in the book, an advert for Dexter, which is done in the style of The Beatles animated film of 1968, Yellow Submarine. Dexter stress, 'Join the Dexter movement, for the abolishment of drab, dreary, old fashioned discombobulated , depressing, outdated footwear.'
Another interesting advert is for Jockey as it portrays nine American sportsmen of the day with the caption, 'Take Away Their Uniforms and Who Are They?' That was a good question because I did not recognise one name among the NFL, NHL baseball and basket ball players!
It is an interesting book to browse every now and again but I think it is time for me to pass it on; surely I won't want to read it again!
The book provides a nostalgic look back at a decade that started somewhat modestly and ended with an anything goes approach. Flares, overlarge ties, plaids, fancy male underwear they are all here and some of the advertisements are decidedly risque!
The illustrations are mostly American but their influence was strongly felt over here in England with the Farah trousers and Johnny Miller golfing trousers being more familiar. I am not a golfer particularly but did play a game with my footballing pals once and I went to pick one of them up in a pair of Johnny Miller check trousers, in a vivid red, and he stood inside the door, having seen me arrive, and yelled, 'I'm not coming out until you've changed'. Charming!!!
A real delight of illustration and nostalgia - even if one hasn't worn or used, deodorant/perfume-wise, the products on display.
30 March 2026
It would appear that I pick this book up every few years just to look at what I might have been wearing in this decade. Well, seeing as most of the male advertisements (and female) relate to American products it is unlikely that I wore anything from the book. However, on closer inspection there is one item of clothing that I did own and wear and that was a pair of trousers in the Johnny Miller range. While I was not a golfer, as was Miller, they were a cool shade of red and fitted perfectly!
Two firms seem to have dominated the markets in the period and there are a plethora of their advertisements to show their dominance; they were Levis and Sears. And it is one of the adverts for the latter company that is one of my favourites in the book as it is very of its time with flower-power type illustrations from The Shoe Place at Sears and highlights their colourful range of 'lazy crazy clogs'. It is coupled with on the opposite page, another of my favourites in the book, an advert for Dexter, which is done in the style of The Beatles animated film of 1968, Yellow Submarine. Dexter stress, 'Join the Dexter movement, for the abolishment of drab, dreary, old fashioned discombobulated , depressing, outdated footwear.'
Another interesting advert is for Jockey as it portrays nine American sportsmen of the day with the caption, 'Take Away Their Uniforms and Who Are They?' That was a good question because I did not recognise one name among the NFL, NHL baseball and basket ball players!
It is an interesting book to browse every now and again but I think it is time for me to pass it on; surely I won't want to read it again!
September 1, 2020
This gorgeous colourful book brings back memories of a fashionable age where styles were garish, sometimes outrageous but always stylish in keeping with the times. The images certainly roll back the years and some of the fashions look dated now. But as I was around in this decade I readily recognise the colourful fashions of the times, both for male and female. And the long hair for the gents, too - difficult to believe that I had shoulder length hair for a couple of years in the mid-70s and can be seen wearing a Laurel and Hardy decorated shirt to show it off in one photograph that is carefully hidden away!
In her erudite introduction Laura Schooling cites 'Rolling Stone' magazine as a trendsetter for clothes, with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin leading the way with the psychedelic look. Beads, long tasselled vests, velvet jackets, billowing sleeves and fabrics in an array of vibrant colours and textures and even hot pants proliferate and this delightful volume gives us a feel for all of it.
Stars lent their names to fashions with their own companies; Johnny Carson had Johnny Carson Apparel with his, dare I say garish, gingham check suits, and Johnny Miller with his own brand of menswear are just two who stand out. I did once own a pair of Johnny Miller trousers, in red check if I remember correctly!
And mention of stars leads to some who lent their names to advertisers; Burt Reynolds, looking super suave, poses for Chaz, 'the fragrance that's almost as interesting as the men who wear it', OJ Simpson (then acceptable as a high-profile sporting personality), advertises Dingo boots and says, 'Boots have to look great - but they also have to be made for whatever you're going to be doing in them. That's why, when you say boots, you gottta say Dingo' and Chris Evert tells how she steps into her backhand so nicely - by wearing Converse shoes, 'the shoes of the stars'.
Advertisers went to town on slogans, too: 'Brylcreem says don't measure your sex appeal by the length of your hair' and then elaborates on the subject while Wate-on goes against today's trend by saying, 'Too skinny to have fun. Shape a New You' and one user is quoted as saying, 'I was really skinny because I just didn't eat right. It was a drag. Wate-on's extra calories helped fill me out.'
And chic by h.i.s. were 'The world's best-fitting jeans', Sunkist produced 'The one and only Fresh Lemon Elbow Rub', while Long & Silky 'silkens your hair without making it oily like some of those after-shampoo things can' and Maidenform have a woman who 'You never know where she'll turn up', well dressed as she is she would probably be welcome anywhere in her 'Sweet Nothings underwire bra' with 'matching bikini briefs' - all on show under her open faux fur coat!
For the children even a fictional character makes an appearance promoting goods as 'Pooh shoes get straight A's for style and fit' and the young girl trying them on certainly looks well impressed. And on the subject of shoes, one of my favourite advertisements is from Dexter who, with illustrations that could have come straight out of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band artwork, forcibly tells us 'Join the Dexter movement for the abolishment of drab, dreary, old-fashioned discombobulated, depressing footwear' - they would have gone well with my high-collared highway man style suits I used to wear for the office in the early 70s!
It is a superb book with hours of entertainment examining what was worn in the 1970s - many younger readers could well be prompted to comment, 'No, surely not?' But YES, we did wear it and even thought we were the height of fashion!!
In her erudite introduction Laura Schooling cites 'Rolling Stone' magazine as a trendsetter for clothes, with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin leading the way with the psychedelic look. Beads, long tasselled vests, velvet jackets, billowing sleeves and fabrics in an array of vibrant colours and textures and even hot pants proliferate and this delightful volume gives us a feel for all of it.
Stars lent their names to fashions with their own companies; Johnny Carson had Johnny Carson Apparel with his, dare I say garish, gingham check suits, and Johnny Miller with his own brand of menswear are just two who stand out. I did once own a pair of Johnny Miller trousers, in red check if I remember correctly!
And mention of stars leads to some who lent their names to advertisers; Burt Reynolds, looking super suave, poses for Chaz, 'the fragrance that's almost as interesting as the men who wear it', OJ Simpson (then acceptable as a high-profile sporting personality), advertises Dingo boots and says, 'Boots have to look great - but they also have to be made for whatever you're going to be doing in them. That's why, when you say boots, you gottta say Dingo' and Chris Evert tells how she steps into her backhand so nicely - by wearing Converse shoes, 'the shoes of the stars'.
Advertisers went to town on slogans, too: 'Brylcreem says don't measure your sex appeal by the length of your hair' and then elaborates on the subject while Wate-on goes against today's trend by saying, 'Too skinny to have fun. Shape a New You' and one user is quoted as saying, 'I was really skinny because I just didn't eat right. It was a drag. Wate-on's extra calories helped fill me out.'
And chic by h.i.s. were 'The world's best-fitting jeans', Sunkist produced 'The one and only Fresh Lemon Elbow Rub', while Long & Silky 'silkens your hair without making it oily like some of those after-shampoo things can' and Maidenform have a woman who 'You never know where she'll turn up', well dressed as she is she would probably be welcome anywhere in her 'Sweet Nothings underwire bra' with 'matching bikini briefs' - all on show under her open faux fur coat!
For the children even a fictional character makes an appearance promoting goods as 'Pooh shoes get straight A's for style and fit' and the young girl trying them on certainly looks well impressed. And on the subject of shoes, one of my favourite advertisements is from Dexter who, with illustrations that could have come straight out of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band artwork, forcibly tells us 'Join the Dexter movement for the abolishment of drab, dreary, old-fashioned discombobulated, depressing footwear' - they would have gone well with my high-collared highway man style suits I used to wear for the office in the early 70s!
It is a superb book with hours of entertainment examining what was worn in the 1970s - many younger readers could well be prompted to comment, 'No, surely not?' But YES, we did wear it and even thought we were the height of fashion!!
August 23, 2020
Fabulous. Adverts that remind me of my childhood. Some that made me laugh out loud. Now to pass on to a friend who loves Tasxhen books ;)
December 16, 2008
If fashion is your game, this little book is groovy. A far out sign of the times.
February 27, 2011
Ha,Ha, I happened to get this book as I was browsing at Barnes and Noble in Westlake, Ohio.
These ads are obscure and it takes you back in time. This book must be good. Ha.Ha!
These ads are obscure and it takes you back in time. This book must be good. Ha.Ha!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews