You don’t often get to quote serial killers in fashion columns, but Hannibal Lecter was right when he said that we begin by coveting what we see every day. My start was in the 1970s, and I am besotted with the decade’s style. Not glam or disco or decadence, but the fashion I saw every day on the streets of Derby, where I grew up, and on the telly we watched every night.
Thinking about what it means to be a grown-up woman still triggers a Flipagram in my head of Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer, Linda McCartney singing “Mull of Kintyre”, Margaret Thatcher becoming leader of the Conservatives, Angela Rippon, Ria from the sitcom Butterflies, and my mum. They’re the women who first made me aware of work and power, feminism, environmentalism, the news and, you know, made my tea. Though my mum did that after finishing her full-time job and before she got her Singer sewing machine out, as she made her own clothes. What a star. Their look, a very muted glamour, will always be dear to me.
This sort of 1970s style is a subtle influence this summer. Full calf-length skirts, slim-fitting shirts with cuffs, aviator shades and vivid-patterned dresses teamed with clumpy-heeled sandals or platforms are dotted through spring/summer collections ranging from Hermès to Etro. American designer Michael Kors’s whole show was a linen, khaki, leaf-printed paean to the 1970s all-American woman. Matthew Williamson – best known for his 1990s boho chic dresses – had a big dollop of 1970s fashion in his show, too. He said it was because the Williamson woman is maturing and needs clothes that reflect that: “She has kids, a job and responsibilities.” He’s the same age as me, and I can’t help but think that’s why he equates the 1970s with grown-ups.
If you’re looking for something closer in price to the original 1970s versions, & Other Stories has shirts with the right buttoned-up feel. They’re silk, which beats the polyester my mum had to wear. Most British stores have a classic beige summer mac at this time of year, and the best I’ve seen is a double-breasted one by Marks & Spencer. Super cheap. If you have money to invest, buy a brown bag. It’s suitably 70s, and there were loads of brown handbags at the autumn/winter shows, too, so it’ll make you feel fashionable until about this time next year.
You’d think that the clumpy sandals and platforms would be the easiest part of this look. They’re everywhere, from Office to Asos. I tried some wooden-soled clogs, my mum’s favoured footwear once her work shoes came off. These were Swedish Hasbeens, a label whose designs are based on original 70s shoes found in an old Swedish clog factory, and they defeated me. I hobbled like I had bad pins and needles or really needed a wee. So please wear them for me. It makes me so happy to see 1970s women back on the streets. Do I sound a bit obsessed? Well, don’t worry. I promise not to eat you.
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