"Tell her Saff, the '70s are back!" These words seemed incredibly au courant about three years ago, when Naomi Campbell came strutting down the runway with a big Afro and bell bottoms and Madonna descended from a giant disco ball in her "Girlie Show" tour. In the months that followed, John Travolta made a comeback and Quentin Tarantino referenced the '70s ad nauseum. Now, however, as designers search for new eras to reference, what is the fashion-forward (or backward) fan to do?
Many designers are still dredging up the '70s, though its direction has changed. Calvin Klein's latest women's collection is inspired by his Studio 54 days, and Gucci's satin shirts and pants-as popularized by Amber Valetta and later, Madonna-came right out of the Me Decade. Richard Tyler refined and refreshed designs from the '70s for his latest collection, while John Bartlett and Todd Oldham continually draw on the disco decade for inspiration in their respective men's and women's clothing. As Amy Spindler of The New York Times aptly noted, "fashion is a bit like a shark eating its own tail these days, cannibalizing closer and closer to the present day."
An article in Fashion Reporter, a new magazine focusing on the fashion industry and press, noted an early '80s revival on the streets of New York as well, especially in the East Village. The piece noted that, "red leather pants and creepers, fishnets worn with mini-skirts, zippered motorcycle jackets, safety-pin earrings, black lace, sunglasses, and leopard prints (still)," are all becoming popular again. Gigi Guerra, an East Village streetwear designer, confirmed in Time Out New York last week that, "The whole '80s preppy-nerd thing is going to get even bigger." Lynn Yaeger, Style Editor of The Village Voice, agreed that '80s fashions are on the streets, though she warned me not to jump to any conclusions: "I see a punk revival on the streets," she said. "I see kids around here [the East Village] dressing that way. I don't see it coming off the runway."
As a point of reference, I asked Yaeger about the '60s revival which was popular several years ago. "The first time around, it came out of a revolutionary social movement. It came up from the streets as part of a million other things that were changing and were going on and it had real energy and excitement; it was very different than the stuff that came before it. To me, it's creepy to see it in a store set loose from the social moorings that it had before." In other words, it's the social context which makes clothes exciting; tie-dye on the racks at Bloomingdale's doesn't pack the same punch.
Though many consumers may make purchases based more on magazine spreads and celebrity endorsements than an item's ideological associations, clothes are never completely removed from their social context. The ideology of each decade is, in fact, central to any revival. The '50s revival in the '70s comforted jaded consumers with innocent, post-war idealism, while the hippie '60s revival in the late '80s marked a new era of politically correct activism and liberalism. And the recent Carnaby Street mod movement promoted a guilt-free sense of freedom and simplicity with sexy, body-revealing clothing. So what, then, did the '70s stand for, aside from those ubiquitous polyester images of Saturday Night Fever?
Sex, for one thing. The '70s were the last decade before AIDS, and decadence was the word. Jet-setters like Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger cruised from club to club in search of the next thrill. Jackie O donned bubble sunglasses and torso-hugging shirts, ˆ la Halston; everywhere was cocaine, pill-popping, and promisciuity. As one columnist noted, it was all about the "bored divorcŽe at Cannes, circa 1972." If one looks at the current Warhol revival, the rise in unprotected sex, and general nostalgia for pre-AIDS culture, the picture becomes clear. It might be more prescient to look at social mores rather than magazines when predicting what fashions are to come in the years ahead.
Revivals are, as they say, here to stay. In a culture increasingly hungry for the new and the different, fashion will keep recycling and changing as long as designers can sew fabric together with thread. Without downplaying the importance of fashion's more innovative designers, there are only so many ways to cut a suit. Or a nice pair of bell bottoms.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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