Perspective is everything, and nowhere can that lens be better applied than men’s fashion of the 1970s.
OK, maybe there are better uses of perspective, but not for the sake of this post.
Related: 70s Gay Subculture Preserved In Surprising Detail In “Gay Semiotics”
Below, sample some of the best (or worst) decisions men made while getting dressed in the iconic decade. And if you’re still looking for a Halloween costume, take notes:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
h/t BoredPanda
Bauhaus
The men were the best, the fashion was awful.
Thad
Some retro fashions deserve a comeback. (The V-neck caftan should return as a t-shirt; I’d wear it now.) But, dear Lord, there are those others happily relegated to oblivion. Thanks for the memories!
Len John
No one wore any this crap in the 70s. It was 501s and a t-shirt. Still good today..
silveroracle
Top left picture. Man in blue longjohns and vest. That hairstyle has made a comeback again.
Quite a lot of the outfits left nothing to the imagination.
woodin
Friends give the worst award to the British, the English gay’s made velor and other matching joggingware/sweats the must worn fashion in the London clubs in the 1990’s. They said it was a terrible and odd .lol
What’s can the U.S. gay culture take ownership with fashion faux pas. (the leisure suit was to mainstream to be considered.
woodin
Friends give the worst award to the British, the English gay’s made velor and other matching jogging ware/sweats the must worn fashion in the London clubs in the 1990’s. They said it was a terrible and odd .lol
What’s can the U.S. gay culture take ownership with fashion faux pas’? (the leisure suit was to mainstream to be a contender.
He BGB
Nobody actually wore many of these clothes. I recognize many from INTERNATIONAL MALE, a catalogue that was more porno looking than anything because there was no porno then. They had a store in LA I used to frequent. It moved to Santa Monica Blvd then closed as did the catalogue. I used to fantasize about that model in the shiny red pants in the middle. The guys were hot bavk then including the hair but the clothes sucked.
OzJosh
Not a single one of these fashion faux pas were ever worn by a real person in the 70s. Even the flares in the picture halfway down are weirdly out of proportion and ill-fitting. This is as crazy as taking a selection of cat-walk fantasy creations from today’s fashion shows and presenting them as if they are what everybody is wearing in 2016. For those who weren’t there in the 70s here’s the truth: the fashions were liberating, they allowed people to express real flair and personality (unlike everyone wearing a the same jeans/chinos and checked shirt today), and, so long as you had a half-way reasonable body, sexy as hell. If 70s fashion has become a joke it’s mainly because of articles like this and movies like American Hustle, which dressed characters in ridiculously extreme riffs on 70s trends that nobody ever actually wore.
ingyaom
Hot natural men – more, please.
Sammy Schlipshit
All I know is I want that crew neck rainbow T-shirt.
As others have said, I never saw any guy wearing any of that stuff. Fun to take a look back though.
I, too, ordered the International Male catalog. It was the closet any little homo boy could get to anything resembling porn…as soft as it was that catalog was very titillating.
Chris
I never saw anyone wearing the stuff in these catalogs. But the things we DID actually wear are best forgotten.
SteveDenver
What about ultra low-rise jeans and slacks?
I scored at a vintage store: three LOUD plaid double-knit pants and six pairs of flared jeans. The zipper is about 2-inches long and they look fab with a tank top tucked in, wide leather belt, and 3-inch stacked heel platforms with a bump toe.
CaliKyle
Horrifying. Except for the mesh underwear.
dvlaries
Anybody else old enough and willing to admit they recognize porn stars Gordon Grant (center of the trio, fourth picture down) and Paul Barresi (the mustachioed number in the final picture) among this group? Barresi at 67 still looks damn good (there’s a picture at Wiki) but Grant is long gone since the 90s.
*
If we actually walked around in this stuff convinced we looked cool, then no wonder Nixon got away with his crimes as long as he did.
Hank
the people are more beautiful today.
dantheman91
that shirt onesie seems so convenient! I’d definitely buy that
Eye of the Beholder
The 70’s were the best everything for men.
sabretoothless
Where are the Dorothy Bags? They were very “de rigueur” at the time.