THAT '70'S FASHION SHOW

When it comes to my Favorite Fashion Decade, nothing tops the 1970s!

Now, when I was in high school, the mid-1960s, we had a strict, dressy, dress code. Like all the other girls, I wanted to be cool in the latest styles …shaggy sweaters, madras blouses, and my most coveted, a tartan wrap-around skirt with a huge gold safety pin that kept it from blowing open, thus preventing terminal embarrassment. My desire to be with the fashion in-crowd waned, however, as I went off to college and couldn’t begin to compete with the sorority girls and their high-dollar wardrobes. Why, when I enrolled at Pitt State, girls could not even wear slacks on campus until after 5 PM. Can you believe that? Archaic!

After my freshman year, this ridiculous rule was ditched, much to my delight. I started shopping at the Salvation Army for corduroy shirts, tie-dyed my t-shirts, had a staple of bell bottom pants, and wore leather sandals. Mama Bore made me some hot pants and shoulder bags, too. By the time I graduated in 1971, I only owned two dresses and, for some reason, I still have them. One is a pink and purple paisley mini dress I couldn’t stuff my butt into now if my life depended on it, and the other is a green/blue print granny gown with hot pink flowers, another one of Mama Bore’s creations, which I still wear occasionally at home. I could gain three hundred pounds and it would still fit me, more or less.

Drum roll please! I now present: My 70’s Fashion Show:

Here I am wearing a khaki sleeveless sweatshirt over a white turtleneck and blue jean bell bottoms. Next to my left thumb, you'll notice some cute little flowers on the jeans. "Is that a Men Working traffic sign in your college apartment," you ask? Could be.

Before she became a respected physician, Dr. Maureen and I monitored the men's restroom at the college Student Union building when we weren't working for the yearbook staff. I'm wearing a chic Spiro Agnew "What Time is It?" sweatshirt (you young readers won't have a clue) underneath a long, navy blue macrame sweater vest. The pants were red, white, and blue bell bottoms. Too bad you can't see more of 'em. I think I look rather friendly in this picture, but Dr. Maureen took crap off no one!

This oversized football team sweatshirt was obviously ripped off, as I only hung out with basketball players and a few track dudes. The hand belongs to one of my neighbors, whose face I cropped out since its now most likely being featured on "America's Most Wanted." Did I always wear my hair like this? Well, pretty much.

Here's a dandy outfit I wore while covering the police beat for the college newspaper. It's a black turtleneck shirt over black and gray bell bottoms, and in my lap is a shoulder bag made by Mama Bore. Quite professional looking, don't you think? This could be the reason it took me so long to find a real job!

As the 1970s moved along, I traded my hippie clothes in for the jock look: baseball t-shirts, shorts that were shorter than short, tube sox, and tennis shoes. If you look closely, my right knee is wrapped up...the result of a nasty skateboarding accident. I was such a stud! And, yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you...the hair stayed the same! ---So much for our little trip down Memory Lane. This concludes "That '70's Fashion Show." Ah, what groovy, sporty threads! There will never be another clothing decade quite like that one. Fortunately.