What they wore: 70's inspiration from the family photo album

I've been delving through my parents' photo albums lately and have come across some really fun photos of 70s fashion as they wore them. With their permission, I'm posting some of my favorites here because I thought you might enjoy seeing them, too.

(And also because I do think my parents were, and are, pretty cute.)

#1: My parents, at left, celebrating my mom's birthday shortly after they started dating. He's wearing a checked button-down, and she is wearing a yellow mumu with a palm-tree print and pukka shell necklace from a recent trip to Hawaii.
#2: Mom's wearing bootcut jeans and a tucked-in striped, collared shirt, and my Papa is wearing a white button-down tucked into stone-washed jeans with a brown belt. My grandmother is pictured to the left. Substitute a silky blouse in for the top my mom's wearing, and it's not a far cry from what I have on today.
#3: My Papa in his fleece-lined denim jacket; Mom is in a mossy argyle sweater with a collared, striped shirt underneath.
#4: My mom in a crazy-quilted batik blouse that she loved (she still laments getting rid of it) and shearling jacket. #5 shows the blouse a bit better.
#6: My dad, with very long hair and a striped shirt, and my other grandmother in a black turtleneck and a pendant necklace with a really adorable pixie cut. This photo makes me want to actually give a plain black turtleneck a try in a very simple, sophisticated outfit like this, in spite of a lifetime's hate against turtlenecks.
#7: My mom in a pretty blouse tucked into a skirt.

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14 years ago

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Aww; your parents (and you) are very adorable! I loooove the blouse & skirt in #7 - so stylin'! And I love 70's pictures - the film makes everything look so warm; and everyone looks so happy!

Thanks for sharing!

Angie

Fashion Stylist

GROOVY!!!

Oh my word, I love it!! What a treat

Ginkgo

What a handsome couple! And stylish!

Vildy

A real treat and I love how your Mom seems to be doing artwork where she's
choosing the same colors as in her shirt.

Sveta

Kari, you are right, your parents were cute! It is such fun to see those old photos.
Thanks for sharing!

rae

They are both SO CUTE! And stylish! Perfect inspiration.

cheryle (Dianthus)

I love it. I was a teenager in the 70s and would have been wearing similar clothes. They are very cute and I think your gramma looks fab in her t-neck.

marianna

So fun to look at! Thanks for sharing.

Queen Mum

so groovy! You get your natural beauty from your mom... she is lovely!

Lynne

Ooh, Kari, you win for the most stylish grandmother! She is chanelling a young Liza Minelli! And your Mum is an artist! So cool!

Vix

Great photos, thanks for sharing! You do look so much like your mom.

ps Since some are "dating era" pics please tell me these are from when your folks were about, oh, 17...they look so glowing *and* so young!

modgrl

Your family is so adorable and they were so stylish and hip!

Carole

Oh the good ole days, these bring back fashion memories for sure. Your parents were adorable together, thanks for sharing.

Scarlet

Oh my goodness, they look so fantastic! I didn't even realize I liked 70s fashion until now. Those times had such a distinct look. Casual but still much more deliberate and polished than today.

Suz

They are SO cute!! And now we know where you get your killer smile!

Inge

Moderator

No wonder you've been rocking the 70's look lately, your entire family's style quotient is VERY high and everyone certainly knew how to dress to dazzle us even in 2011!!

I love these pictures, Kari, thank you so much for sharing them. And I see so much of your Mum in you, you have the same gorgeous smile and "openness".
And yes, please do try a turtleneck + pendant!

Jonesy

How fun and fabulous! Is it wrong that I think your dad looks cute :)? I wish longer hair for men would come back into style.

Aida

So cute, thanks for sharing! I love looking at 70s photos ^^ I can see where you get your fab style from

(Jonesy, long hair went out? Someone tell my husband! Not that he'd listen )

crwilson

I love these Kari! It makes me want to go back to my parents' photo albums, except that I seem to remember my dad in a powder blue polyester suit...not nearly as fab as your adorable parents. I love your mom's shirt in picture 7. It does remind how much I absolutely love 70s style. Thank you for sharing!

Kari

Hehe, thank you very much. I've been sitting with my mom reading over the comments with her and she is blushing. I am, too. Thank you!

My parents said it was okay to post these photos as long as I wasn't making fun of them. I reassured them that I was planning nothing of the sort.

Even though my style is a bit different - my mom is more artsy-bohemian than I am - I'm finding a lot of inspiration in the polish of what they wore in the 70s. Scarlet, I'm with you - I guess I thought of the 70s as less put together and more grungy than they actually were, and color me surprised to be wrong.

Lynne, not only is my mom an artist, but my grandma (my dad's mom, in the black turtleneck) was also an artist. You can see one of my grandma's etchings/prints over the fireplace in back of many of my WIW posts. Needless to say, I had *lots* of fun art projects and help with school crafts when I was a kid!

Vix, my mom *was* about 17 in that photo when she had long hair. In most of the photos when my parents are together they were in their early to mid 20s. I think the first photo was on my mom's 22nd birthday. How funny to think that they were even younger than I am now, then...

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