https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:11:55 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1803298 Sat, 29 Apr 2017 04:24:29 +0000 Gigi 1803298@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh my...I can't believe the crocheted afghan ponchos!&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802850 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:38:37 +0000 Lyn D. 1802850@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Loved this, especially the giraffe print onesie! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802824 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 20:11:56 +0000 harmonica 1802824@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks for the link! I can't stop laughing I remember mustard all over, shades of brown, knit vests, high rise pants w/ wide legs, birks, large collar button ups in fancy prints... It was alive in the 70's. Not just in ads. Fun to see the ads because they take the idea so much further. :-)</p> <p>ETA: Despite my laugh at the ads, I really love how men's fashion was so creative in terms of colours, pattern, prints, texture and mixing it all up. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802803 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:26:18 +0000 Anonymous 1802803@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I seriously hated that mustard color. What was the appeal? No one I knew looked good in it. Then again, lots of people wear black and don't look good in it, so... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802796 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:06:48 +0000 The Cat 1802796@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Jenni, mustard and other so-called "earth colours", or "fall colours", were highly fashionable indeed! But I absolutely understand your DH's feelings about that sweater. The girls in my class had to knit mustard hats!!! Unfortunately, this colour actually looks terrible on most of us Scandinavians. Nevertheless, we had to argue with the teachers for several days until we finally were allowed to use a couple of other colours for our hats. :-)</p> <p>As some of you have rightly pointed out, not everyone wore these styles. However, when I recently showed this collection of fashion ads to around 15 of my male colleagues, they all vividly remembered to have seen (either in pics or in person) their own fathers wearing one or more outfits similar to the ones featured here. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802758 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:58:26 +0000 rachylou 1802758@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>BC, my parents being so preppy, only wore wool, silk and cotton. Lol. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802682 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 12:14:37 +0000 RobinF 1802682@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Haha, these are great! I do remember the leisure suits and the stretchy pants with polyester tops. BC, I also had to make a dress for choir out of Quiana and it was a pain to sew, but I loved that dress! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802680 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 12:07:57 +0000 Anonymous 1802680@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My family and I laughed at those polyester suits and double knits even when they were popular. Not everyone wore them. No one in my family ever did, and people always thought of us as being well dressed. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802676 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 11:59:48 +0000 Chris987 1802676@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>OMG we are talking about&nbsp;Quiana shirts???? LOVE. I had one myself in a print that was a muted peach&nbsp;and darker green, which I wore with peach bell bottoms (not huge ones)...to work at one of my first jobs. I guess I loved menswear even back then. </p> <p>Most of the looks shown&nbsp;were things I saw on guys in TV shoes, movies, or in Rock/Disco bands. I could talk for hours about the fashions worn by Earth, Wind and Fire...check them out on YouTube for a great walk down memory lane.</p> <p>None of the engineering types I worked with ever dressed like the stuff shown here except maybe a little bit at an office party. The double-knit poly leisure suits, with safari-shirt styling for the jacket, were something everyone in my world always laughed at, although they did appear occasionally. .</p> <p>Some of these looks were so ridiculously "form fitting" or what we'd call bodycon now. </p> <p>Thanks the Cat, so much fun! </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802670 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 11:47:52 +0000 Anonymous 1802670@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That Quiana fabric was so slippery that my mom refused to use it. My friend was in high school choir, and needed a dress made out of Quiana. My mom managed to make it for her, but swore off ever doing that again. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802644 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 08:24:22 +0000 rachylou 1802644@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh wow. I totally missed the onesies and man ponchos. Or my mind blacked them out... hehe! If the latter, I think it will do it again... hehe! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802639 Thu, 27 Apr 2017 07:46:42 +0000 Jenni NZ 1802639@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My DH did have a mustard hand-knit sweater his mother made him at the end of the 70s when he was 19. By the time we met 5 years later he was not wearing it any more. He had dubbed it the baby- s**t jersey ( sweater). It really did look like the colour of a young baby's poo! Why she picked that colour to knit it I had never known... but there you go, maybe she thought it was fashionable! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802487 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 20:34:18 +0000 Anonymous 1802487@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The Quiana disco shirt - oh, lord have mercy!<br />Somewhere around here there's a pic of my DH in his Nehru jacket. &nbsp;TBH, I always kind of liked those!</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802484 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 20:20:11 +0000 The Cat 1802484@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, Danusia, please don't be ashamed. Looking in old crochet and knit books can be so interesting and fun. If you want to get rid of yours, I suggest that you donate them to younger relatives or friends, or to a library, an institution or a museum. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802439 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 17:52:34 +0000 Anonymous 1802439@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Unfortunately, I do remember a few of these, especially the disco shirts. I remember buying them for my dad and older brother.&nbsp;</p> <p>As for the knitwear, I am ashamed to say that I still have a few crochet and knit books that have these styles. Maybe it is time to get rid of them? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802430 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 17:41:46 +0000 The Cat 1802430@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Deb, not all men had the same courage as your brother. In the 70s and far into the 80s, I saw many men wearing these kind of hand-knit sweaters, supposedly made by mothers, wifes or girlfriends. In particular, stripey slipovers, often too tight and too short, were common, at least in Scandinavia. </p> <p>K.M., apropos wigs and high heels:<br /> I know a couple of men who are still wearing the wigs they acquired in the 70s.<br /> And I recall that at my workplace in the late 70s, the petite men were striding about in impressingly high heels and looking like they enjoyed it.</p> <p>Gaylene, I don't know about California, but in Scandinavia, jumpsuits were not unusual as partywear as well as homewear. I find your pics from the runway collections so amusing that I gave you a comedy award, but I also appreciate your wise comments regarding generations' changing views of fashion.</p> <p>Runcarla, oh yes, I do remember that kind of shoes! In Scandinavia, we used the broad term "foot form shoes", and they were seen everywhere (even at formal parties like weddings) for decades. Apparently, they are still popular among Danish men over 40. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802291 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 06:08:20 +0000 The Cat 1802291@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'll be back with further comments and memories later today. Work is calling! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802290 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 06:07:26 +0000 The Cat 1802290@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you very much for commenting -and bringing back additional fun memories! -:) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802227 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 01:45:32 +0000 Barbara Diane 1802227@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I remember the bell bottoms or flares, polyester pantsuits, very unbuttoned shirts, and a rare guy who wore a white breezy flowy ruffled shirt. Not much of the rest. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802218 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 01:31:01 +0000 Carla 1802218@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Brown suits. Prom date, and later DH when he was BF, when we went on our first 'formal ' date - wore light brown wool suits. I remember DH wore his with 'Earth Shoes'. Remember those? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802201 Wed, 26 Apr 2017 00:27:53 +0000 Gaylene 1802201@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I'll admit to seeing those pastel double-knit leisure suits, as well as colored flares worn with ghastly print shirts and Jockey's colored underwear in the 70s. BUT, like Deb, I can't remember seeing men in those hand knits, ponchos, jumpsuits, and onesies. Maybe they were more of a California thing?</p> <p>Looking back, I suspect the look of 70s men's fashion was a way of rebelling against the military/50's dark suit looks worn by their fathers. Pastel colors and long hair were scorned by the "establishment" so wearing these items send a clear message as to which side you were on. Those 70s dads, though, had to live with sons who preferred to dress like they were going to East Coast prep schools--Ralph Lauren all the way--who, in turn, would have sons in the 90s who insisted on the plaid shirts and baggy pants worn by the 30s working class granddads of those 70s hipsters.</p> <p>Interesting to see the 2017 men's runway collections... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802194 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 23:47:59 +0000 Anonymous 1802194@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>A friend of my mom's used to make polyester suits for her husband. They were always pastel colors, lol. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802181 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 23:06:59 +0000 K.M. 1802181@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So much imagination and freedom, even if these might not have been worn by most men. At least there was some creative space for all that. OK, the styles are campy, but our era is so boring and uptight by comparison. There was a time way back in history when men had fun with fashion--pink silks, wigs, and high heels... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802180 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 22:57:07 +0000 deb 1802180@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yep, polyester double knit was the thing for men's leisure suits. The knit sweaters shown are mostly from knitting magazines and I never saw any male wearing them. I think my mom made my brother one and he refused to wear it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802179 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 22:54:55 +0000 cindysmith 1802179@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, wow. I'm crine over here. I needed that laugh! Thank you </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/mens-fashion-in-the-1970s#post-1802168 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 22:29:06 +0000 The Cat 1802168@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>For those of you who were born four or more decades ago, this link may bring back fond, or perhaps rather mixed, memories. And for you who belong to the younger generations, it may be educational to see what ads your fathers and other gentlemen were exposed to in the 1970s. </p> <p>Let us be nice to men over 50 - they might have had a difficult youth in belted sweaters, giraffe pattern or double knit fancies.</p> <p>Now, be prepared for possible style shocks - and a good laugh.</p> <p><a href="http://www.boredpanda.com/1970s-mens-fashion-ads/" rel="nofollow">http://www.boredpanda.com/1970s-mens-fashion-ads/</a> </p>