Fashion of the Year

Fashion is bad for you! Fabrics and designs were not always as forgiving back in 1973; many a model has since fallen off heels and shoes recommended by podiatrists are rarely going to enage the fashion-concious. Il faut souffrir pour être beau or belle in other words you have to suffer to be beautiful. This look into flared and floaty fashion, platform shoes and suede outfits in and around Plymouth highlights seventies fashion and shows the fun futuristic designs of students.

In the first half of the decade, Mark Bolan of T-Rex, Elton John, David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Freddie Mercury and Queen and bands such as Slade, Mud and Mott the Hoople influence fashion with glam rock, unique to Britain. The highest-selling album of 1973 is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and the films of the year include The Sting and The Exorcist. The Jackson 5 have a string of worldwide hits for Motown and Bob Marley and The Wailers release their first album Catch A Fire with Island Records. Funk, disco and reggae inspire street and dance fashion. Punk, New Wave, ska and New Romantics come to the fore in the second half of the decade with the latter heavily influenced by glam rock.