W52 Style: 1970s fever

I have a new-found obsession with the decade in which I was born. I think it started earlier this year when I saw the heavy 1970s influence many fashion designers looked toward for fall 2010. I bought a pair of high waist, bell bottom jeans, which to me looked incredibly fresh compared to the skinny jeans I’d been living in for the past year. Then last week, I found three pairs of 1970s sandals, one in maroon crocodile with barely worn soles, and the obsession went into overdrive.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t exactly a new obsession. In college, my friend Brad and I scoured thrift stores for late 1970s Christian Dior cardigan sweaters. (I kept my two favorite ones and still wear them around the house.) I have a 1970s Dior belt that’s one of my favorites. Vera scarves in colors like mustard yellow and avocado green are totally up my alley. The women in the ads below — all taken from The Fashion Spot — remind me of what my mom looked like when she and my dad went out on Friday nights. I was a little kid but I vividly remember my mom’s wavy, curled hair, her flowing dresses, the echo of “Solid Gold” playing in the background and the whiffs of her sweet perfume as they walked out the door and left me with the decidedly non-glamorous babysitter.

I have a handful of her vintage leather jackets, some of which she bought in London in the mid 70s, and I’m wearing the heck out of them now. They will hit the perfect pitch next fall when the 70s look goes into high gear.