The 1970s - The Decade That Taste Forgot?

BattleCorp · 28-09-2020 3:43pm

I'm from Carlow. The 70's didn't arrive here until about 1984.

Ger Roe · 28-09-2020 4:33pm

Sardonicat wrote: »

With photos to prove it! The old snowflake design was NOT just for Christmas and it wasnt just for you either. At least three children could get two winters each out of one jumper. 6 years of wear before it ended up dressing a teddy or dolly.

This exactly..... Pre covid, I met up once a quarter or so, with some old friends that all started in junior infants together - we formed a new bond when attending our primary school's 50th anniversary, as we were the first class formed in the school... on looking through some old grainy black and white class photo's, one of us was in a Christmas jumper, in a photo taken in summer... and it was a handed down jumper too, that had previously belonged to his older brother(s).

It was a very 70's thing... wearing second hand Christmas jumpers in the summer. They were simpler that the lavish productions these days, just a stick drawing of multiple Christmas trees in a pattern, do doubt ran up by his ma on the swishing knitting machine... remember those? Swish back and forth enough times and a jumper gradually emerged.

Wibbs · 28-09-2020 5:57pm

Deleted User wrote: »

You were privileged to be able to go on those exotic foreign holidays.

Oh and well I know it C. I even knew and appreciated it at the time. Even growing up in and around a middle class background, private education and all that, among my peers I was one of the very few who had gone on foreign holidays and would have been ahead of even those on the number of places I was taken. It hit home more for me in the arly 80's when there was a school trip organised to France and I was one of the very few kids that had been on a plane before. My parents just prioritised the travel thing and they only had me so that made a big diff financially too.

ShatterAlan wrote: »

Oh come ON, now.

My memories of a salad were a massive platter of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber slices, scallions, rolls of ham, beetroot on the side because everyone thought that crap was weird, slices of cheddar and a boiled egg clipped in one of those little wire things. A dollop of salad creme on the side, by the beetroot and a mug of tea.

What concentration camp did you grow up in?

And my point was the above wasn't close to what's generally going on in a Spanish, Italian or French salad. Irish salads were bloody boring. Nutritious enough, but bland.

Wibbs · 28-09-2020 6:02pm

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm from Carlow. The 70's didn't arrive here until about 1984.

Actually one thing I noticed back then on fishing trips with my dad to the West and such was how things were often a year or six months behind Dublin. The films in the local cinemas and the like. Given that often enough especially in the early 70's films were often already 6 months old before they got to Dublin. Concerts by major acts, especially American were another difference. Very rarely did they venture beyond the Pale, if they even bothered to show up in the first place.

r3nu4l · 29-09-2020 9:32am

You only have to watch Life on Mars and you know the seventies were cool

whisky_galore · 29-09-2020 9:37am

McGaggs wrote: »

Found the old person. Or the bay city rollers and chickory tip fan.

Not that old. No one's getting any younger, not even you.

The Tetrarch · 29-09-2020 11:20am

If this thread was in the 1970s

The 1920s - The Decade That Taste Forgot? :rolleyes:

Zelka · 29-09-2020 11:28am

It is easy with hind sight The trick is to be able to see the awful fads of the present. Pick out present day fads that will be thought in the future.

the purple tin · 29-09-2020 11:31am

Zelka wrote: »

It is easy with hind sight The trick is to be able to see the awful fads of the present. Pick out present day fads that will be thought in the future.

Groucho eyebrows and those earrings that leave a massive hole in your earlobe :pac:

Tony EH · 29-09-2020 12:16pm

Everything about the 70's was shite, except the movies.

JupiterKid · 29-09-2020 1:29pm

More dashing men's fashion from circa 1972.

Things happen when you wear Eleganza....

ohnonotgmail · 29-09-2020 1:44pm

^^^^^^^^
the lapels in the first pic are really something else. far out.

29-09-2020 1:49pm

Yer one's a bird though..

the purple tin · 29-09-2020 1:53pm

They had big flappy trousers in the 20s, again in the 70s and once again in the 90s and early 00s.
It's all just a big fashion wheel turning non-stop.

the purple tin · 29-09-2020 1:56pm

r3nu4l wrote: »

You only have to watch Life on Mars and you know the seventies were cool

Deutschland 83 and 86 make the 80s look really cool too.

It was nothing like that in this country however

Acosta · 29-09-2020 2:08pm

I think the current tattoo fixation is the worst fashion craze in my life time. And unlike a mullet, a dodgy brown coat or ugly dated looking carpet it's pretty much permanent.

Justin Credible Darts · 29-09-2020 2:23pm

Acosta wrote: »

I think the current tattoo fixation is the worst fashion craze in my life time. And unlike a mullet, a dodgy brown coat or ugly dated looking carpet it's pretty much permanent.

I got mine back in 89, when really the only ones you would see here were old homemade or prison ones, or guys that came back from abroad.

I even had a labret piercing and a tongue piercing in 89.
In fact i never seen anyone with it before I got, and it got me some strange looks back then, as the years went on and obviously got older, and it then became more fashionable, i stopped wearing them, because it was no longer unique, which was possibly part of the point of having them.

As for the tattoos, thankfully mine were all in area not generally seen (like back, chest, leg) bar one sleeve type on a arm.

As said I got them because it was different, today I would chose to not get them to be different...if that makes sense.

Sardonicat · 29-09-2020 3:34pm

JupiterKid wrote: »

More dashing men's fashion from circa 1972.

Things happen when you wear Eleganza....

I love those shoes. I'd wear those shoes. Red and cream or purple and white in those shoes would be amazing. ..

ShatterAlan · 29-09-2020 5:08pm

Acosta wrote: »

I think the current tattoo fixation is the worst fashion craze in my life time. And unlike a mullet, a dodgy brown coat or ugly dated looking carpet it's pretty much permanent.

Just about everyone has tattoos now. Well I don't but sitting outside during the summer having a pint and I'd say 8 out of 10 adults walking by had some form of tattoo that I could make out.

Edgware · 29-09-2020 6:32pm

Sardonicat wrote: »

I love those shoes. I'd wear those shoes. Red and cream or purple and white in those shoes would be amazing. ..

What those photos miss is the dude smoking a No 6

riclad · 29-09-2020 6:40pm

The 70,s were the worst decade for fashion, wide collars ,platform shoes for men .
i think in 10 years time people will be saying whats the point of ripped jeans.

pawdee · 29-09-2020 6:45pm

Kylta wrote: »

Ah Lsd will do that for you. Glitter should've been castrated

And Rolf Savile with him!

29-09-2020 6:47pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Oh and well I know it C. I even knew and appreciated it at the time. Even growing up in and around a middle class background, private education and all that, among my peers I was one of the very few who had gone on foreign holidays and would have been ahead of even those on the number of places I was taken. It hit home more for me in the arly 80's when there was a school trip organised to France and I was one of the very few kids that had been on a plane before. My parents just prioritised the travel thing and they only had me so that made a big diff financially too.

And my point was the above wasn't close to what's generally going on in a Spanish, Italian or French salad. Irish salads were bloody boring. Nutritious enough, but bland.

There was only me, too, as a chiseler in my household, got the private school, but money would t stretch beyond that. However it did build up a huge appetite & excitement for future foreign travel, which I have never lost. The first time I was ever on an airplane was a Cessna 172 from Iona in Dublin Airport when I was 14. My Dad & his siblings had been brought to Alan Cobham's Flying Circus demonstration flights when they were young, and they got up in the early small airplanes. Although he was a regular business traveller overseas, he decided to revisit his childhood joy of going up in a small airplane, and re rioted me as rear passenger. Mum declined. Arriving at Iona at the back of the airport, the pilot said the winds were really barely within the limits of flying, and did my father still want to go up. I was totally naive as to the fact that being nearly blown over walking over to the aircraft would have any impact to that vehicles performance.

After spending 10 minutes trying to get the thing started in the cold, with it shaking and backfiring, starting and stopping, we got going. The minute we got airborne we were flung about like a fairground rude and I found myself screaming. To add to the drops, falls, bucking, the pilot gave my father the controls and got him to put it into a stall. In the front both men thought it was hilarious losing several hundred feet in an instant. I was shaking stepping out of that.

The shock of my first flight got under my bones, and I thought to myself I must get the better of it. Aged 19, when I was working, I got flight trained and was able to fly solo, and got used to all weathers. Had to give up 4 years later due to failing medical on eyesight, but I've never forgotten how to fly and can still do it occasionally with an instructor present. About 10 years ago I flew that same aircraft that I first e we flew, and it still has difficulty starting up!

29-09-2020 7:08pm

Edgware wrote: »

What those photos miss is the dude smoking a No 6

Oh My God. I’d forgotten those! They’d tear the throat out of you!

Sardonicat · 29-09-2020 7:09pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh My God. I’d forgotten those! They’d tear the throat out of you!

I used to get sent to the shop for those for my mum!

iamstop · 29-09-2020 7:41pm

It wasn’t just the music that was great in the 70s. It was the studios too. Really talented engineers and producers stretching the realms of what was possible. Almost all was analog. The 80s ushered in the digital age. A lot of innovation too but the sound is very cheap and dated to modern ears. There was still some great music in the 80s but it got buried under huge piles of mass produced pop. Boy/Girl bands became a thing not soon after and the pop charts have never recovered. The only thing worse was Simon Cowell.

If you’re ever stuck for something to listen to, head over to https://radiooooo.com/ pick a decade, pick a country and pick a vibe. Some great 70s music from all over the world.

metaoblivia · 29-09-2020 7:41pm

I just missed the 70s (early 80s baby) but I think when we look back on it, we remember the good movies, tv and music and forget all the crap, and then it's the opposite with fashion - we pick out the most extreme pictures to remember the decade when most people weren't dressing that extreme. My parents got married in the early 70s, and I have a lot of pictures of them from that decade and while you can tell it's the 70s, it's a lot more scaled back than photos of celebrities or photos in fashion magazines.

So while I think the crazy platforms and bell bottoms were cringe, the more reasonable variants are timeless fashion staples. And a wrap dress is about as universally flattering as it gets. Plus, I've always said that I'll know I'll have made it if I ever own a home with a conversation pit.

I definitely think the 80s were just as wild here, if not worse. Especially the early 80s and some of those hairstyles. Like, for women I associates either long, straight hair parted down the middle or the Farah Fawcett blowout with the 70s, both of which suited a lot of people. But the early 80s had those awful bowl cuts and perms and it flattered very few.

Wibbs · 29-09-2020 9:02pm

metaoblivia wrote: »

Plus, I've always said that I'll know I'll have made it if I ever own a home with a conversation pit.

Marry me. Marry me now.

If velour is involved I'll even turn up to the wedding.

Snickers Man · 30-09-2020 1:53pm

Sardonicat wrote: »

Men's hairstyles and facial hair in the seventies were absolutely hideous. More than the clothing, or interior design (only really, really posh people had the coloured bathroom suites) men's hair was truly awful, particularly in the earlier part if the decade.

What on earth do you mean?

The great Alfie Conn, who played for both Celtic AND Rangers. Suppose you could say he was famous for bad choices

Justin Credible Darts · 12-10-2020 12:36am

I finished watching season one of columbo (1971).....and the fashions were atrocious.

Although I grew up in the 70s it did not seem like that as a kid oddly

Hangdogroad · 12-10-2020 9:03am

JupiterKid wrote: »

Some wonderful examples of men’s fashion in the mid 1970s.... :pac:

I was born in 74 and I dont ever recall seeing anyone dressed like that..Retro fashion shoot pics are good for a laugh but they're not really an accurate guide to what your average joe dressed like.

12-10-2020 9:07am

because that wasn't Ireland. It's from somewhere with a lot more disposable income.

The jumper on the right is more likely. I had one in the 80s.

mariaalice · 12-10-2020 9:25am

https://brandnewretro.ie/2012/01/08/old-adverts-40-jeans-in-ireland-early-1970s/

The big thing when I was a teenager in the 1970s was Levis v Wrangler.

mariaalice · 12-10-2020 9:37am

An interesting point, how did levis stop being cool? they had nearly cult status up till the early 1990s, and in the former USSR were treated like gold dust.

blackbox · 12-10-2020 9:42am

riclad wrote: »

The 70,s were the worst decade for fashion, wide collars ,platform shoes for men .
i think in 10 years time people will be saying whats the point of ripped jeans.

I've already been saying it for almost five years!

Hangdogroad · 12-10-2020 9:48am

mariaalice wrote: »

An interesting point, how did levis stop being cool? they had nearly cult status up till the early 1990s, and in the former USSR were treated like gold dust.

You just reminded me of an iconic ad from the 80s where this guy is trying to smuggle a pair of Levi's into some Eastern Bloc country.

I think there was a point in the 90s where Jean's in general became associated with line dancing and lost their coolness.

murpho999 · 12-10-2020 10:07am

Deleted User wrote: »

because that wasn't Ireland. It's from somewhere with a lot more disposable income.

The jumper on the right is more likely. I had one in the 80s.

Ah stop, people still followed fashions here in the 70s and bought clothes and like now cheap versions in Penneys and Dunnes were available.

The photos above are not representative of what people were all wearing just like model shoots today wouldn't be.

12-10-2020 10:28am

murpho999 wrote: »

Ah stop, people still followed fashions here in the 70s and bought clothes and like now cheap versions in Penneys and Dunnes were available.

The photos above are not representative of what people were all wearing just like model shoots today wouldn't be.

Of course, they followed fashions, but Ireland of the 70s/80s wasn't quite as open as other countries, with the fashion being toned down a lot.

It's easy enough to see how people dressed. Look at reeling in the years for the 70s on youtube.

mariaalice · 12-10-2020 10:53am

Deleted User wrote: »

Of course, they followed fashions, but Ireland of the 70s/80s wasn't quite as open as other countries, with the fashion being toned down a lot.

It's easy enough to see how people dressed. Look at reeling in the years for the 70s on youtube.

Ponchos and wide jeans for women, wide jeans a belt with a massive buckle, cheesecloth shirts, and a corduroy jacket or a denim jacket, for men, that is what I remember.

Sardonicat · 12-10-2020 12:02pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Of course, they followed fashions, but Ireland of the 70s/80s wasn't quite as open as other countries, with the fashion being toned down a lot.

It's easy enough to see how people dressed. Look at reeling in the years for the 70s on youtube.

The urban/rural divide was very pronounced in terms of how people dressed. By the mid eighties women at least were adopting all the various styles that abounded in the 80s and the youth sub cultures (goths, metal heads, etc)were thriving in larger towns and cities

mariaalice · 12-10-2020 12:20pm

Where do people get the peculiar notions about Ireland in the 1970s?

Imagine we even had music festivals and more that one at that, in the 1970s, the first wave of festivals Fleadh, Slane, Lisdoonvarna, and Siamsa Cois Laoi were born.

The thing I remember from Lisdoonvarna was the Hare Krishna's and the muck. That was 1982.

Tony EH · 12-10-2020 3:00pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

I was born in 74 and I dont ever recall seeing anyone dressed like that..Retro fashion shoot pics are good for a laugh but they're not really an accurate guide to what your average joe dressed like.

Those old catalogue photos aren't in any way representative of the clothes the vast majority of people would wear. If anyone wants to see what that was, ask your mother to get the shoebox of old photos down from the attic.

Flares were in abundance (well into the 80's in Ireland), but hippie ponchos and pimp outfits would be a rare sight anywhere.

murpho999 · 12-10-2020 3:06pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Of course, they followed fashions, but Ireland of the 70s/80s wasn't quite as open as other countries, with the fashion being toned down a lot.

It's easy enough to see how people dressed. Look at reeling in the years for the 70s on youtube.

What is this based on and how do you back it up?

Go back to the 60s and women wore the mini-skirt just like the rest of the rest of the western world. People wore the same clothes here in the 70s & 80s as was being worn in other countries

Really people base these statements on nothing and imply that Ireland was completely poverty stricken and also constantly on its knees praying in a church and things only improved with the arrival of the internet and the Celtic Tiger.

Reeling in the Years whilst entertaining is not really a show that you can judge people's clothes on when they mostly show politicians in suits, celebrities and people in the news.

partyguinness · 12-10-2020 3:10pm

At least the 70s had music and a 'style' whether or not you agreed with it. My abiding memory of the 70s is brown and orange.

Look at the last two decades. Absolutely eff all has been offered up.

partyguinness · 12-10-2020 3:14pm

Sardonicat wrote: »

The urban/rural divide was very pronounced in terms of how people dressed. By the mid eighties women at least were adopting all the various styles that abounded in the 80s and the youth sub cultures (goths, metal heads, etc)were thriving in larger towns and cities

I can quite vividly remember as a young boy staring at 'punks' around Cork City around 1983-84 ie. leathers, huge spikey coloured hair, piercings etc cycling around on the footpaths.

Ash.J.Williams · 12-10-2020 3:17pm

JupiterKid wrote: »

Now, I’m reckoning that that the vast majority on the boards here won’t even remember the 1970s - I myself only vaguely remember the very end of that decade as I was born half way though it - but does it really live up to its reputation as a decade of appalling taste?

The evidence:
Flares
Platform shoes
Bathroom carpet
Fabric/wooly toilet seat covers
Avocado, pink and chocolate colour bathrooms
Garish, bold patterned wallpaper
The all-electric house
Urban motorways
Mock Georgian style suburban houses
Wood paneled pub interiors
Bungalow bliss (blitz, more like)

Anyone else agree - or beg to differ?

i'd love to wake up in 1976 in the morning

partyguinness · 12-10-2020 3:17pm

murpho999 wrote: »

What is this based on and how do you back it up?

Go back to the 60s and women wore the mini-skirt just like the rest of the rest of the western world. People wore the same clothes here in the 70s & 80s as was being worn in other countries

Really people base these statements on nothing and imply that Ireland was completely poverty stricken and also constantly on its knees praying in a church and things only improved with the arrival of the internet and the Celtic Tiger.

Reeling in the Years whilst entertaining is not really a show that you can judge people's clothes on when they mostly show politicians in suits, celebrities and people in the news.

Living in England you would be amazed at the amount of English people that think Ireland is like some 1950s black and white horror flick overrun with nuns and priests. Even my wife had that impression before she met me and she has been to Ireland many times over the past 13 years- she now accepts that Ireland is nothing like it is portrayed by some quarters in England.

mariaalice · 12-10-2020 3:20pm

Tony EH wrote: »

Those old catalogue photos aren't in any way representative of the clothes the vast majority of people would wear. If anyone wants to see what that was, ask your mother to get the shoebox of old photos down from the attic.

Flares were in abundance (well into the 80's in Ireland), but hippie ponchos and pimp outfits would be a rare sight anywhere.

Women definitely wore ponchos in Ireland in the 1970s I never saw a man wearing one though.

partyguinness · 12-10-2020 3:22pm

mariaalice wrote: »

Women definitely wore ponchos in Ireland in the 1970s I never saw a man wearing one though.

There is definitely a picture of my mother in a poncho late 70s/early 80s and she regarded herself as a 'free spirit'.

Tony EH · 12-10-2020 3:30pm

mariaalice wrote: »

Women definitely wore ponchos in Ireland in the 1970s I never saw a man wearing one though.

It would have been a rare sight though nonetheless.

Looking through this, we can see what people in Dublin would have worn regularly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjqvIcFdfdo

The 70's starts around 2:55 -> 3:35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUferyKCww

The 1970s - The Decade That Taste Forgot?

Comments