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!

I was 17.
There were some quite distinctive different fashion groups.
The Bay City Rollers which appealed to younger teens and we were disdainful of.
The glitter Bowie / Marc Bolan androgynous types
Hippy / rock
I was mostly in the last two.
I remember going to a Suzi Quattro gig around then. My boyfriend wore wide flares - these were not the same as what they call flares now, more a boot cut. Tight to the knee then wide. He had shoulder length hair which he sprayed purple and ankle boots with glitter on.
I wore cheesecloth maxi skirts and leather jesus sandals.
Purple loons.
A band around my forehead ( was too young for the whole 1969 hippy thing but it had a resurgance in 1975.

We had old fur coats that came from our grandma's attic.
I had some jeans which I inserted fabric triangles in to make them very, very wide from knee to ankle and skin tight at the top. There was no lycra.

My one and only teen birthday party with my entire class from school was in that era. We had twiglets, baked potatoes with curry butter, and oxtail soup, and drank Merrydown cider. One of my mates smuggled in some bottles of Babycham and Cherry B. The following day in school we were dropping like flies because one girl arrived with a nasty d&v bug and passed it on to all 30 of us. Because of the party, someone reported us to the council, accusing us of poisoning everyone, and we had environmental health people descend to take swabs from our kitchen and bins. They finally confirmed it was a bug, but my Mum said she’d never do a teen party again, and she never did.

A lot of Biba. It wasn't expensive and was pretty local to me. Personally, didn't go for the 'hot pants' but many did.

I was 5 and loved my brown flares and orange jumper.

Midi A line skirts, or knee length denim skirt, platforms ,white Afghan coat, a dip-dye shirt, or close fit T-shirts , with something interesting about them- velvet, or sweetheart neck, not just plain. I had a halter neck dress with a swishy skirt that I loved. Double denim was very acceptable, as were denim waistcoats.

It wasn’t a myth. I did it. The jeans were supposed to shrink to fit your unique shape. After sitting in the bath for about an hour I removed them (have you ever tried to remove wet skin tight jeans?) to find my legs were a fetching shade of blue, which didn’t wash out for weeks. And I don’t know what was wrong with my unique shape, but I was never happy with the cut and fit of the darned jeans anyway. Plus the fabric was hard, coarse and uncomfortable, with no give in it, except at the knees which went horribly saggy.
The seventies were not so much the decade that taste forgot, as the decade where taste never got a look in!

Mainly brightly coloured crimplene/polyester. Sleeveless polo neck jumpers with blouse or long sleeve T-shirt underneath. Flares. Very short A line skirts. Or maxi A line skirts. If the skirt was short the neckline was high. Maxi skirt was worn with scoop necked tops. I also remember wearing smock tops. I was 11 in 1975 though.
Skinny jeans were late in the 70s. Mid seventies high tight waist with big flare at the ankle, not dissimilar to those in fashion today but more flare than wide leg. Men wore them too, they were known as Oxford bags.

Alternatively Punk started 1974/75 so you could use that as a theme.

Thanks - You never forget stuff like that do you and I’m glad I stuck to the pulling them up on the floor with coat hanger method!!!

A nappy and a babygro…

orange yellow and brown

and cheesecloth

my dm made me a brown cloth kit skirt

God, how brilliant were the 70s?

Look how happy and natural people looked. That’s because they’re smiling at their loved one taking the pic, not posing for a selfie.

My favourite outfit when I was 8 was platform red faux leather sandals, a pink flared trouser catsuit with a zip up the front and a yellow and green Paisley shirt. I also had a long basin haircut.

I remember having some rust coloured flares and a matching waistcoat when I was about 3, so 1976. My mum is on photos with flared jeans on.

Classic snazzy 70s colour combo 😁🤣

Was that when Mike Oldfield's other music became popular?
Mum married 1974, black and white hounds tooth trouser suit. Her going away outfit.
Framed copy of of Desiderata in every room.

Wow, this has brought back a strong memory.
My aunty bought me a yellow shirt. It had colourful embroidery on it. I cant quite remember the design. I just remember i adored the shirt and wore it all the time. I was gutted when I grew out of it.
I remember my nan always making me and my sister ( who is 5 years younger than me) wear the same outfits. I absolutely hated it. My sister loved it!

I was only a toddler and mainly wearing cord dungarees if you judge by our family photo album 😄 Loving reading this thread. I know people think the 70s were devoid of taste but I really like the full on 70s look.

When I was 40 I bought a vintage 70s dress that was as old as me to wear on my birthday - it's a long dress with angel sleeves in pale blue, lilac and yellow florals, made out of nylon. I remember as a child (late 70s) how I loved wearing my long party dress, I was disappointed in the 80s when long party dresses went out of fashion.

My DH was a teenager in the mid-70s and claims he used to wear purple platform boots, but no photographic evidence exists

Wow, what legs your mum had!

I was 21 in 75 and remember loons/flares, platform shoes and clogs, cheesecloth hippy-type embroidered tops, espadrilles, and lots of orange, brown and yellow!

My dm as a young adult in the 70’s was wearing flared trousers of some description - jeans or cords, with blouses - I remember they were very loose fitting with balloon cuffs and sometimes a frill or bow at the neck. She had some knitted tank tops too, often striped. Hair was always flicked back at the sides, held in place with plenty of hairspray, and blue eye shadow.

Flared jeans or tiered gypsy maxi skirt.

Cheesecloth blouse or halter neck top.

Corduroy

Flicked hair held in place by a million tons of hairspray or “combs”

Blue eyeshadow obvs.

Brown crimplene trousers, a tank top. Blue checked crimplene Oxford bags. But mostly school uniform!

About now, a romper suit and a Terry towelling nappy, I should think!