To ask what you were really wearing in the Uk in 1975?

[fishcalledwonder]

Planning a 50th birthday lunch for my sister with a 70s theme. All costume ideas online are ABBA, disco or hippy. I was hoping for some ideas to make it more reflective of the UK when my sis was born. We’re doing quizzes on children’s telly and 70s music. Going to attempt to make a Black Forest gateau. Any other ideas for 70s food would also be great. Thank you!

this exactly , especially doing up your jeans!

Brown wool. Yeĺlow Tartan. Brown Polyester.

I mainly spent 1975 itching.

Nappies 😂

Cheese footballs, fondue, Quiche became quiche not ham and egg pie, prawn cocktail, knickerbocker glories, peach melba, a birthday cake with candles and a ballerina on. Blue Nun wine and a Party Seven tin of beer.
Most of these I remember from the 80s! I think fashion moves slowly/comes late to the provinces where I grew up.
Likewise Black Forest gateau (still my favourite) and cheese and pineapple on sticks (actually also my favourite).

I was born in 1974, so not wearing anything of note in 1975. A little later I had a yellow dress with brown floral sprigging, made by my nan, in crimplene. And a purple dress, also crimplene I think, with a Princess Di white lace collar.

To eat:

Prawn cocktail
Chicken & chips in the basket or steak Diane
Yes, black forest gateau

Or, if you're having a buffet you HAVE to have one of those cheese & pineapple hedgehogs & vol a vons - the height of 70's chic.

Agree flicked back hair held in place with hairspray, 'page boy' haircuts were also popular. Lots of blue eyeshadow, if you can bear to, overplucked eyebrows so just a line pencilled in, barely-there lipstick. 'A' line skirts, heavily printed blouses with huge collars, voluminous sleeves with long cuffs with 4-5+ rows of buttons. Or you could go all Laura Ashley with long flowing Edwardian-style dresses, skirts with a frill around the bottom or, if shorter, the lace from your petticoat showing, high necked Edwardian style blouses. Shoes have to be clumpy wedges or platform with chunky heels. As others have said, flares which were very tight at the top reaching to the floor with high waist bands. Tank tops as I remember were worn by both men and women.

Sounds like a fun party - enjoy!

Devilled eggs, prawn vol au vents, primula on crackers

Nappies and little homemade smock dresses 🥰😂
Going by the photos of my parents....
orange and brown.
Everything was orange and brown.

Dierdre Barlow glasses. A polo neck with a necklace over worn with a long A line suede skirt.

Men in flares, kipper ties, brown brown brown and leather or tweed fitted jacket. A feather cut and a 'tache. The guys in The Sweeney had the look sewn up.

Ice lollies - Fab, Zoom and Funny Face.

For games, how about Space Hoppers, Swingball, clackers and that game with a small hoop around your ankle and a ball on a string you hop over.

Floaty Laura Ashley stuff.

I wore A line skirts and flared jeans but mostly skirts, Cheesecloth shirts and A line polyester dresses in bright colours. Collars were long and pointy . Shoes were high platformed and clumpy . My sister wore wooden Dr Scholl sandals and had fab calf muscles I recall.
I think ponchos for children were still a thing . I recall our neighbour crocheting some for her daughters at that time .
Most older men still wore formal trousers ,shirts ties and jackets for most occasions (including on the beach I remember) withan open necked shirt and a cardigan to show they were 'off duty.' A 40+ year old dad woudnt be seen wearing jeans and certainly no gym gear.

My Mother aged 45 in 1975 had an 18 hour gridle and a long line bra. Her shoes were not so platformed and she only had one pair of trousers which she rarely wore. . Twin sets (short sleeved jumper under a cardigan) in pastel colours were popular among our neighbours .

Yes, I loved this look when I was in my early teens! Very, very bright colours. The short-sleeved jumper I recall was lime green and the very full-sleeved blouse was bright orange. I also had a blouse that was a lovely deep crimson. All man-made fabrics, of course!

I well remember skirt lengths suddenly going down in the very early 1970s. In the late 60s and up to about 1973 they were very short and then suddenly skirts, dresses and pinafores were knee length or longer. It felt very odd.

By the mid 1970s, lots and lots of denim and cheesecloth. I went on a school trip in 1975 and remember looking at other school groups from other European countries. They were wearing jeans with much narrower legs whereas we were still all in flares. I think they were ahead of the trend and we were behind.

When did the Purdey cut come in? That might have been more like 1976 or 77. I had one of those. It was a mistake.

I do remember 1975, there really was a lot of beige/brown about. Unless you were a pop star or something like that, then you got to wear all the bling.
I remember having a dress made out of crimplene. Horrible stuff really but I liked it because it was red, and not brown!

When I say "everything" I mean everything - sofas, curtains, carpets, kitchen cupboard door, the bathtub, cushions, wallpaper....
All orange and brown 🧡🤎

Flared jeans with a fitted yellow round collar blouse!

Quiche, fruit flan (tinned mandarins), prawn cocktail, angel delight.

I had a Hollie Hobby t shirt. 3-tiered skirt and Clark’s sandals, single bar.

Omg yes it was all orange and brown!!!

I was 5. Funnily enough, 2025 fashion is not dissimilar to 50 years’ ago: long hair with a centre parting and flares! Lots of brown, orange and mustard.

Oh wow! This is amazing! Some very stylish ladies on this thread. Lots of ideas that don’t involve sweating in a plastic ABBA costume! I might actually persuade 14yo DD to dress up when she hears some of them.

Cheese and pineapple hedgehog is definitely going on the list. Sis is vegetarian so that’s perfect. Thanks all!

We used coat hangers with the hanger end through the hole in the zipper to help do them up. As you say, not able to breathe or bend. DH remembers going to see Elkie Brooks in mid 70's & couldn't take his eyes off her crotch as he said her leather trousers were so tight they left nothing to the imagination. 😂

My mother used to put cold Campbells condensed mushroom soup in vol a vons (after cooking & cooling the cases) - looked disguising when she did it, but surprisingly tasty - I think it's vegetarian as well.

Early 70s loons and platform shoes which I fell off! Afghan coats and anything Biba like. Maxi dresses. By mid 70s wide jeans and floral dresses. Laura Ashley vibe. Late 70s punk - not for me but disco glamour was also in. You could consider David Bowie or Marc Bolan looks. Was a lot of fun in the 70s.

I had a fab Laura Ashley smock dress , felt very trendy in it!
However, I recently found something I made in the 70’s from Laura Ashley fabric. I washed it , oh my goodness the colour absolutely poured out , even in a cold hand wash, must’ve driven my mum spare !!
I also remember my dad cursing Laura Ashley wallpaper , apparently it was a nightmare to put up as it was so flimsy!

My mother stopped my father from painting the living room ceiling brown to match the brown doors, brown & orange swirly patterned carpet & the giant sunflower wallpaper on 2 walls & different brown flowered wallpaper on the other 2 walls - she drew a line at that one even though Daddy showed her pictures of trendy houses in the Sunday paper's colour supplement.

Picture of my mum are mostly a line knee length wool skirts and blouses

I love all this!

Just a thought though- if your sister is a 1975 baby, then really the late 80s/early 90s are her ‘era’. She and her friends can re-live their youth if you go for a 90s theme! You could even dig out old photos of her / friends and family and try to recreate them!