A couple of weeks ago, we were at an estate sale, as I am
always on the hunt for some great vintage jewelry, where I found a vintage
fashion jackpot! After I had shopped the
jewelry cases, I decided to browse around this very interesting, eclectic
home. As I stepped to reach for a sweet
Joseph Original figurine, my foot caught something under the table. Curiosity, being what it is, inspired me to
lift the tablecloth and see what it was I kicked. There lay stacks of magazines, but what
really caught my eye were the thirty-two teen fashion magazines, Seventeen,
from the early 1970’s.
I graduated in
1969, worked for “The Bon Marche”, which eventually was called “The Bon”, and
was later bought out by Macy’s. As a
teenage girl, I always looked forward my subscription to Seventeen Magazine to
arrive in the mail. Mom enrolled me in
the 12 week fashion etiquette course that was sponsored by Seventeen Magazine
at the Bon Marche. I credit that course
for my love for all things sparkling, fun fashionable clothing, and my years of
being a hair stylist.
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| March 1972 - Seventeen Magazine Cover |
Needless to say, when I found these magazines, I started
filling my box with them. I could hardly
wait to make my purchase and get home to browse the articles, the fashions of
that era and to see if I could find any jewelry ads. My husband hauled the box from the truck and
into the fifth-wheel as soon as we arrived home; and he was none-to-happy that
I had made this purchase all in the name of self gratification and was afraid that
I might not be willing to get rid of them quickly.
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| January 1972 - Seventeen Magazine Cover |
At first glance of these vintage fashion treasures, I was a
little disappointed that there was very little jewelry being shown, but then I
began questioning how fashion was influenced by that hippie, flower children
generation of the late 1960’s, a sexual revolution which opened the door for
women to begin discussing subjects like abortion, birth control and equality in
the work force with a louder voice, the Vietnam war and general unrest as young people continued
to rebelled against the main stream establishment. K.C Library, online makes the following
comments regarding influence in trends:
The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's. Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration. Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture. Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished. Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade. ( http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade70.html)
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| August 1972 Seventeen Magazine |
One of my favorite terms in describing the late 1960;s
and early 1970’s fashion and style is “Funky and Fun”; and the term refers to
color, styles, fabrics, architecture, literature and interior decorating. The idea of complimentary colors gained a
whole new meaning; recycling of furniture and useable puts today’s recycling claims
to shame (well maybe not, but it gave a run for the money); and literature
became interpretation of strange hallucinations or dreams. The end result was garish colors and mix
matched plaids; heavy fabrics and designs with over exaggerated ribbons, bows
and embellishments. Granny dresses
returned, hot pants were hotter, and the bell bottoms got wider. Here are a few favorites:
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| September 1974 Seventeen Magazine |
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| Seventeen Magazine - July 1974 |
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| August 1974 Seventeen Magazine |
The fashion
statements in the early 70’s were made with heavy wools and tweeds in the
winter, where the Pantsuit became a very popular look; in the summer we saw homemade
crocheted hot pants, as well those sexy leather or blue jean ones; and in the
spring and fall, we would pull out the baby doll and the granny dresses. Shoes were not delicate slippers, but heavy,
chunky elevating shoes that were anything but feminine.
I was sharing
some of my thoughts with members of my favorite jewelry collectors Team on
Yahoo, The Jewelry Ring, and got this response from fellow jewelry collector
and friend Robin Deutsch:
“I was just watching the movie ‘Boogie
Nights’ last night that took place in the 1970s, and was period perfect to a
"T". I forgot about the Nik Nik polyester shirts and prints and ugly
platform shoes and all the horrors that I thought were so gorgeous and hoped
would never go away LOL. It made sense that heavy, glittery jewelry would be so
out of place with these fashions. It's
always interesting to see the fashion along with the jewelry, of any period in
time, to make one understand how they very much went hand in hand.”
Robin was right on many levels;
she make some very good points - 1) we loved those looks! 2) They
seem ugly now, but back then we were hip!
3) The fabrics and designs were absolutely gaudy and loud and heavy; to
wear thick, bold or glittery jewelry (unless it was a big puffy matchy match
silk flower brooch!
So my final thought: "It was just too far out, absolutely groovey to go through these trippy magazines!" I am not done sharing some of the
discoveries and memories from this era.
So, until my next post, you can look forward to more jewelry and fashion
thoughts in Part 2 and Part 3 of A Treasure Trove of Seventeen Magazines!
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| The Jewel Seeker on Etsy |
A couple of weeks ago, we were at an estate sale, as I am
always on the hunt for some great vintage jewelry, where I found a vintage
fashion jackpot! After I had shopped the
jewelry cases, I decided to browse around this very interesting, eclectic
home. As I stepped to reach for a sweet
Joseph Original figurine, my foot caught something under the table. Curiosity, being what it is, inspired me to
lift the tablecloth and see what it was I kicked. There lay stacks of magazines, but what
really caught my eye were the thirty-two teen fashion magazines, Seventeen,
from the early 1970’s. 
