Fashions are another thing, but the design for fixtures and appliances is amazing.’
I love those globe lights that seem to be universally hated.
A lot of the 70’s designs utilized new material and technology. That resulted in a new look, clearly contrasting with traditional designs. Often that contrast was a greater priority in the design than other aesthetic qualities. Over time the design parameters evolved to conform more with consumer preferences. You can still get products like that. Globe lights, acrylic colors, wood grain veneer, etc., but those things have to compete against both classic and modern designs now.
I just looked up “70s Design” on Google Images, and, yeah, other than the Coppertone ad, I pretty much hated everything that popped up.
(Intriguing how prevalent, in that sample anyway, the use is of autumn colors. Where’s the green?)
There was green. Believe me, there was Exorcist-puke green…
I love that room!
I wasn’t even born in the 70s.
No, grude, you aren’t alone. On the other hand, I’m pretty much enamored of anything from the 70s, so I may not be the best advocate. And I was born in '68.
Thats “avacado” not green beyotch!
But ohh hell yeah there was some green floating around.
“All eras have bad taste. It took the 1970s to make bad taste triumphant and universal.” -James Lileks
I like it anyway. Great jazz music, the young post-war classical cats were maturing, new kind of flicks – all that’s in the design I think. New and just cool as shit. Nobody cares about swinging and Watergate and a bunch of dirty hippies – but the cool is remembered beneath the covers of the aesthetic.
What was that site where some photoshop nerds took a bunch of 2000s stuff like notebook computers, mp3 players, etc. and cloaked them under the veneer of 1970s generic American design? Can’t find it.
Every era goes through the 40-year ewwwwwwws.
Fifteen years later people are paying fortunes for the stuff in antique stores. It’s just happened to the Mad Men 60s.
I live in a highrise designed in 1979. For years I’ve fought to make sure we don’t do any irreversible remodeling, because someday—and that day is approaching—potential residents will walk in with their Realtors and exclaim “What a great 70s piece of Late Modernism. Just look at that exposed brick! And the circular window!”
Oh yea! I love those too, you still see a few survivors around.
That just got me laughing! It is soooooo 70s.
What really bugged me about 1970’s designs: EVERYTHING from TV cabinets to toasters had fake wood grain slapped on it. Even a hand held shower head had a little bit of fake wood.
What was the obsession with wood grain? For some reason, European designers avoided the fake wood-their stuff looked a lot cleaner and honest-a plastic knob was plain plastic-it didn’t look so chintzy with a some wood grain printed paper stuck to it.
As for men’s clothing-the 1970’s were the absolute nadir-suit jackets with 12" lapels…and gasp…“leisure” suits! (Wearing a rose pink or lime green leisure suit is grounds for commitment to a mental hospital).
That was the era when double-knit polyester came into its own, and people actually seemed to believe that it was a legitimate fabric.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I may have owned a few pairs of plaid trousers, to be worn with solid-colored turtlenecks.)
But no, aside from some of the agressively tasteless Bicentennial items, '70s design is still in the “outdated and old-fashioned” bin and not yet in the “retro-nostalgia cool” category.
I was born in 1970, so that decade is all about my pre-teen childhood. My parents are seriously unhip, so we didn’t have any of that mod, bright, disco-style furnishings. But I do remember running around on a harvest-gold shag carpet and having an avocado fridge and range top. And I don’t mind those old early-70’s colors. They were nice and understated, but combined with the love affair with cheap dark-brown wood panelling, they left a lot of homes feeling rather murky.
Among women of a certain set, the three piece polyester pantsuit (usually consisting of a pair of pants, a long sleeved shirt, and a vest or jacket, all in coordinating polyester print fabrics) was THE outfit for every occasion. Generally the pants and jacket or vest were made of sturdier material than the blouse, but not always. Preferably navy blue or navy blue print pants, white shirt, and navy blue or navy blue print jacket or vest, however some women also liked fashion colors, such as [=tags&ga_search_query=polyester+pantsuit&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery]turquoise](VINTAGE 1970's Women's Turquoise Polyester Pantsuit - Etsy[) or peach. Quite often, the women who wore these suits sewed them themselves, using the same pattern with no variations, not even a different pocket placement. So a woman might have the same outfit in half a dozen colors.
Fashion designers kept trying to convince us that short shorts/hot pants/whatever you call them, were acceptable bottoms for office wear. I saw any number of suits that consisted of a long sleeved jacket and a pair of short shorts which did not really cover the old cooter, which were being marketed and priced as office wear. Yeah, this was the age of the minis, but even minis were, in theory at least, skirts. The 3PPPs were not skirts, but they gave coverage and mobility, and were not nearly as fragile as most women’s clothing of the time.
I admit it. I owned a 3PPP or two myself, which my mother had made for me. It was the 70s, if you weren’t there, you wouldn’t understand.
I was a child in the '70s. I find the styles very comforting, especially the colors – brown, orange, mint, mustard. I don’t so much like the hard plastic, but I like the soft-edged, curved designs.
I really do like ‘historic’ decorative periods. My favorites are art deco and art nouveau but there is a certain affability in the various visions of modern/future that was found in the 30s [Flash Gordon Modern] 50s [Future Modern] and 70s [Jetsons Modern]
I like a lot of the 70s stuff. The colors are perfect for me, which helps (no bell-bottoms though, please). There was a lot of bad stuff or just too much of everything, but there was a lot of fun and energy.