Stories Written By: Rennie Hand
Kipper Tie
Extremely wide tie with huge knot! Great for keeping your shirt clean. (Mid to late 70’s), this tie just gets wider and wider as it goes down the front of your chest… really wide. The tie used up so much material that I used to use it as a blindfold in the school playground. There was no chance of peeking out of that. It was called kipper because of the shape. That is if you hold a kipper it gets wider as the body goes down, and the same with this silly tie. I can say it was ridiculous as …
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Hotpants
Shorts with bib ‘n’ brace, very often made from crimplene! Some had turn ups. You could also get hotpants in a one-piece set – like a truncated romper suit and a nightmare to get off when you went to the bathroom. Some things have improved over the years. Just ask yourself, who looked better in Hotpants, Babs from Pans People or Kylie? (1971) Along with the wonderful mini skirt, the Hotpants are probably the most loved, and the most missed piece of 1970s fashion. Well that is according to the men. It is true that some guys in fashionable places …
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Halter Necks
Halter Necks Lovely little backless tops for the girls, which tied up round the neck and midriff. Very nice in the summer months. Again the 1970s had many variants of the Halter necks, You could find halter neck casual sun tops but in the main they were incorporated into dresses and held in position by shoulder straps. Sometimes the strap would be like a neck ring too, but whatever strap held the dress on, it gave the impression that the dress was very free flowing. A sexy natural look revealed the wearers back and went well with a suntan. These …
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Flares
Trousers that flared extremely wide at the bottom to completely cover shoes. I never knew the difference between these and bell-bottoms. Does anyone know? The famous Loon pants seemed to be in the same category too, although these were generally tight fitting straight cut trousers that flared from the knee in a sharper angled cut. All trousers in the seventies were flared. The word “flares” was really just a generic name given to any trousers that “flared” at the bottom, and in the seventies that was all of them! All trousers were much wider at the foot end of the …
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Falmer Jeans & Waistcoat
Falmers Jeans & Waistcoat Denim jeans with three pin-tucks in the back pockets & front of waistcoat. Status Quo eat your heart out. (1976) It was the height of fashion, especially for the Denim brigade, which included myself. Jeans evolved in the 1970s from work wear into designer clothes. Peter Golding was a British fashion designer who was hired by the Falmers Jean Company to come up with designer jeans that had no pretence of ever having been used as working clothes – unlike Levis who still had this rugged reputation and appeal. In 1970 Peter Golding created the” World’s …
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Espadrilles
Woven or canvas wedge shoes/sandals with long ties to criss- cross up the legs! Great for stopping the circulation, giving you varicose veins and an interesting tan if worn in the sun. These never stayed up even with the best boy scout knot! (1977). Guys, the worrying thing here is that these actually came from the 14th century. Espadrilles are traditional shoes that originate from the Pyrenees in Spain. The uppers were made of cotton fabric and the soles made of a rope material. They could be slip on shoes or fasten up the leg with criss crossed ties. They …
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Elasticated Nurse Belt
Elasticated Nurse Belt Worn with high waisted skirts, this belt had a three clasp metal fastening. Most boyfriends were interested in the full nurse’s uniform, not just the belt! (1975). Nothing better to have the lady dressed up as a nurse! Ooh Matron! The nurse belts dropped in via the 1960s, and were something I would always see in the Carry on Doctor Films. To my young mind, there was nothing better than seeing a wasp waist being used to promote the elasticated nurse belt. Or was it the other way around? Mostly the belts were white and very adjustable, …
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Dinner Plate Sleeves
Blouses or shirts that flared out from the elbow. Not the best item to wear when meeting the boy/girlfriend’s parents for the first time and eating soup! And, if the wind was right behind you, you may take off. Flared sleeves were big in the 70s. At first, the sleeves were a slight tapered bell shape that started from the elbow down, but as the decade progressed, the sleeves became ever wider, until the flare of the sleeve could be the width of a dinner plate. Typical 70s fashion. This decade is not known for its subtlety – that is …
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Crombie
The Crombie was a traditional looking black or navy woollen knee length coat that was always worn with a red silk hanky in top pocket. These iconic coats were worn by the same crowd making lots of noise with their blakies! (1972). The Crombie style coat became very popular in the 1970s with the skinhead brigade. These were smart and well-cut coats that were ideal for cold weather and when seen en masse, such as at the football matches of the 70s – it looked like an army was on the move. Despite the skinhead associations, the Crombie Company was …
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Cowbell Necklace
Cowbell Necklace Love and peace baby! Far out. Groovy! The cowbell necklace was big in the 1960s and was a small bell hanging from a leather shoestring. Worn by hippies throughout the late sixties, cowbell necklaces were a vital part of the early hippy look along with beads and flower power, and made a tinkling noise when the wearer moved. In the early 1970s, many people still hung onto the fashions and styles of an earlier era. Hippy bells, sandals and flares could still be seen out and about on the High Street. Although the scene had changed in this …
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