Clothes from 1970s | Clothes on Film

Posted by Chris Laverty on September 1, 2009

Jane Seymour was just 22 years old when she played white witch Solitaire in Live and Let Die (1973). Her wardrobe was a mixture of uniform (as tarot reader), casual (escaping the poppy fields, New Orleans airport) and sexualised (sacrificial peasant dress, various chemises).

Most illustrative of her kooky characterisation however are the maxi-dresses. There is something intrinsically spiritual about a maxi dress; the way it flows and veils the body. It gels with the divine aspect of Solitaire and later, with its rapidly decreasing neckline, epitomises her sexual awakening by Roger Moore’s randy new 007.
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Posted by Chris Laverty on August 22, 2009

Third and final part of a sartorial analysis examining denim as symbolic recognition for character on film – focusing on The Parallax View (1974) starring Warren Beatty.

Action Man:

By the mid-1970s denim had been accepted as day wear for everyone though still remained intrinsically associated with adolescent ‘drop out’ culture.
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Posted by KB on August 10, 2009

Establishing a new feature at Clothes on Film, the following review is written in collaboration with costume designer Kristin M. Burke (Death Sentence, Crossing Over); the intention being to provide a deeper, more balanced analysis of the film in question. For a detailed synopsis of the plot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), visit Kristin’s own site Frocktalk.

Kristin’s Thoughts:

I love this movie. It is so dark, and at the time it was released, taped into the zeitgeist of a large, young part of our population. In a post-hippie reality, with a culture embracing its own diversity at last, along comes a movie that talks about all of it. In Saturday Night Fever, we find forums for discussion about everything from women’s lib to racism – hot topics at the time – and yes, these issues are carried out, expressed and explored in the costumes.
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Posted by Chris Laverty on July 4, 2009

Live and Let Die (1973, directed by Guy Hamilton) is a fantasy Blaxploitation movie made in the wake of Shaft and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (both 1971).

Roger Moore’s first stab at James Bond pitted his tightly buttoned jackets and high waisted trousers against a bevy of colourful, flared, snap-brimmed seventies street wear as commanded by corrupt diplomat/New York drug kingpin, Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto). For the first time in his existence the world’s foremost super spy would be all but invisible.
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