70s Disco FashionDrawing of hotpants. Fashion history and costume history of the 1970s.
1971 Dressmaking pattern for hotpants with mini topcoat.Disco looks began in the 1970s and was memorable for its hot pants look and Spandex tops. Shiny clinging Lycra stretch disco pants in hot strident shiny colours with stretch sequin bandeau tops were often adaptations of professional modern dance wear that found itself making an impact in discos as disco dancing became serious. Gold lame, leopard skin and stretch halter jumpsuits and white clothes that glowed in Ultra Violet lights capture the 70s Disco fashion perfectly.
Right -70s Disco Fashion - Hotpants 1971
Left - 1971 Dressmaking pattern for hotpants worn with mini topcoat.
Disco gave way to dress codes and a door screening policy. People had to have tried to look right to gain entry to clubs. Disco wear was never acceptable for day wear, but for night it was the only possible wear to enable the participants to be part of the action, to be part of the atmosphere of strobe lighting, mirror balls and spotlighting of individuals at any time. Satin jackets that reflected the light and a medallion resting on a tanned chest in an open neck shirt with the collar turned up were de rigueur, however awful such fashions might seem now. The latter is a fashion male individuals will never admit they followed, yet for many men it was the equivalent of the iPod accessory or mobile phone of today.
Films like Saturday Night Fever of 1977 as John Travolta illustrates in the header, emphasised how important it was to release all the pent up energy of the working week on the weekend. Posing clothes designed to show off the body and made in materials like figure moulding stretch Lycra were ideal.
The elevation provided by platform soled shoes which were the epitome of the spirit of the seventies, also gave an air of theatrical space age fantasy as individuals in Lurex and satin flared silver trousers shimmered as they swayed to the music beat.
Linked to disco was the fashion for fitness and the craze to feel the burn as Jane Fonda urged in her workout videos.