Stories Written By: Rennie Hand
Roundies
Roundies Big round toed shoes. Very comfortable fashion and popular with those who had a width-fitting off the scale at Clarkes!
Punk
Punk Lots of leather, tartan, safety pins, heavy make-up, chains and anything else you felt like wearing, to get you noticed whilst “pogo-ing” and to scare your Nan! (1977). The Punk era really pushed the glam and the glitter out of the door forever. We had enjoyed Slade, T.Rex, David Bowie and hundreds of others, but now with the Sex Pistols, it all became a little more realistic. Not only did the music of the Sex Pistols change the pop charts, it also changed fashion in a few months. Not sure if it was for the better, but change, it …
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Platform Shoes
Platform Shoes. Chunky shoes (often multi-coloured) with dangerously high heels and mega thick soles. Ideal for that sexy walk across the dance floor to impress that chick/guy you had your eye on all night. NOT! How many ankles were broken by guys trying to walk around in this strange shoe that really was a boot? I had a purple and black pair that were very thick at the toes, and had huge amounts of plastic heels to give me extra height. The thing is I did not need the height, but they worked, as I needed to keep those flippy …
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Patches
Patches I used to work on a haberdashery stall down Roman Road market and we used to sell these by the bucket load! The big favourite was the US Dollar. Perfect for sewing on your jean jackets. As mentioned in the article about Suede patchwork skirts, the use of patches was not only a fashion thing, it was also a way to keep costs down and continually rotate and renew old clothing. You would be watching Play School and see the female presenters looking like something out of a car crash. They would have patches all over their trousers, and …
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Oxford Bags
Oxford Bags Pleat-front baggy trousers with turn-ups, usually woollen, checked material. No comment necessary. How awful do they sound? (Mid 70’s). Oh, these were SO bad and it is not surprising that these trousers originated from the 1920s and were popular up to the 1950s. Then the Oxford bag made a surprising comeback in the 1970s and suddenly everyone was wearing them! Unlike the other trousers of the 70s, Oxford bags were not flared but rather straight wide cut trousers that were baggy from the top of the leg down. It suited the look of platform soles because the ankle …
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Mini, Midi, Maxi Skirt
Mini, Midi, Maxi Skirt Mini, Midi, Maxi Skirt A-line skirts in 3 different lengths, usually worn with knee-length boots. No doubt, which length the blokes preferred! (1972). Again mostly influenced from the 1960s, but you cannot keep a good skirt down. If you know what I mean. The mini skirt was every schoolboys dream. Here you had the ability to see the legs of the wearer right up to the, well nearly the top. It was always a joy to watch the girls wearing them trying to sit down gracefully without revealing those blue knickers. Of course, I am not …
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Love Beads
Love Beads Tiny multi-coloured beads threaded onto cotton, worn wrapped round and around your wrist or neck. Never knew if you wore them when you were looking for love, in love or just had a “bit of love “to express! The love beads fashion was a really a hangover from the 1960s summer of love, but still to be found in the early 70s on most girls throughout the school yard and beyond. The love beads could be small and discreet, or be huge chunky blocks around the neck. You could wear them tight around the neck or knot them …
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Loon Pants
Loon Pants Zany bright coloured cotton hipster trousers that changed colour from the knee downwards. Could be striped, multi coloured or plain and somehow they had a homemade look about them. Loon pants looked like something that Barbara from the “Good Life” would run up on her sewing machine! (1974), and wow, was this a 1970 classic style! Loon pants got their name from balloon pants because the trouser hugged the leg until the knee then “ballooned out” into a wide flare. They were often made from lightweight material and often brightly coloured, sometimes featuring two or three colours in …
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Loafers
Leather shoes with front tassels, popular with the skinhead brigade. This was a fashion that only appealed to the under 20s and not the older age group of the seventies. Loafers made you look cool and sound even cooler especially if you fitted Blakeys to your shoes and most people did. You wore loafers together with your Ben Sherman, Sta-press trousers and Crombie (1972). The best way to describe Loafers would probably be to say they were slip on shoes normally for the guys with a little style. They had no laces, and they just gripped the feet for a …
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Leather/Suede Waistcoat with tassels
Leather/Suede Waistcoat with tassels Leather or suede waistcoats with tassels were a macho fashion accessory favoured by bikers or Hells Angels. The serious bikers often wore jerkins and sometimes added club patches to their waistcoats although later in the decade this style was replaced by denim cut off waistcoats worn over the black leather biker jacket. Easy Rider – the cult film classic had been released in 1969 and the cowboy biker look was in with British bikers. The leather-tasselled waistcoat tapped into this tough guy image. Hippies also occasionally wore suede waistcoats with tassels and they looked good as …
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