A Qualitative Assessment of Feminism in U.S. Women's Fashion of the 1970s

The purposes of this study were to examine the fashion adopted by young women in the United States in the 1970s and to explore how the dynamic shifts toward feminist values influenced those fashion trends. Fifteen American women who were college students in the 1970s were interviewed for the study. Throughout the decade, casual and comfortable styles became more prevalent; for example, pants became widely accepted for formal occasions as well as informal occasions due to an overall emphasis on practicality. The feminist and civil rights movements along with more liberal attitudes toward religion were among the more dominant cultural values that influenced the respondents' choices in clothing styles. Feminist presentation was diverse extreme or eclectic - and constantly renegotiating itself. This study helped us better understand the dynamics involved between fashion and value changes as well as the influence of feminism on the 1970s fashion in the United States.