Fashions of a Decade: The 1970s
Herald
1992
Submitter: Unfortunately, there are no fashion history aficionados at our school. This is a lone volume from a series, which is probably why it hasn’t been touched in years. It’s a pretty thorough overview of 70’s trends, and covers big influences like Saturday Night Fever, Elton John, Farrah Fawcett, etc. The mix of photos and painted illustrations is odd. Wouldn’t the teen reader want to see the fashions in an authentic context? The “poster-ized” renditions would look great on black velvet!
Holly: My library has this whole series, and it actually comes in handy for those “decade reports” that kids do every year – but it probably does work better as a full series. It’s not very indicative of real people/daily life fashion of each decade, but gives a more extreme view of fashion. Kind of artsy, even. I can see why Submitter would weed it, and I would too in her situation. This is a classic case of “know thy user” and “know thy collection.” It’s a keeper here! (I especially love the picture of Diana Ross and her painted-on “outfit” – below.)
Mary: As the representative of teens in the 1970s, every time I am confronted with the “historical” 1970s, I have a minor anxiety attack. As a teen, I didn’t embrace any of these particular looks other than an attempt to convince my mother that gaucho pants would make me popular.
Awful Library Books 