FIDM Museum Blog

Roberto Cavalli poncho c. 1970

Though Roberto Cavalli's aesthetic is closely associated with flamboyant animal printed textiles crafted into overtly sexy garments, the designer's career actually began with T-shirts. In the late 1960s, Cavalli designed and silk-screened a batch of T-shirts. The T-shirts sold well, and Cavalli started a small workshop to meet demand. The designer soon expanded his offerings, developing techniques for printing designs on lightweight leather and suede. Cavalli used the printed leather and suede like a textile, using it to create garments of solid or patchwork leather and/or denim. Cavalli's use of leather, suede and denim was perfectly tuned to the decorative 'rich-hippie' aesthetic of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his garments were worn by numerous style icons, including Bridget Bardot and Sophia Loren. By 1972, Cavalli's reputation had grown, and his garments retailed at small boutiques in Europe and New York.

Poncho
Roberto Cavalli
c. 1970
Museum Purchase
2004.5.39

Pantsuit dressing, c. 1972

As described in this recent post on our Sonia Rykiel tunic, women gradually adopted trousers as everyday dress in the 1970s. While the Sonia Rykiel tunic demonstrates a somewhat ambivalent acceptance of trousers, this tan wool pants suit from our Study Collection would have been worn by a woman entirely convinced that trousers were here to stay.

Two-piece pants suit
c. 1973
Gift of California Hospital Medical Center
S2007.165.11AB

Sybil Connolly

The handling of homespun fabric in a sophisticated manner is the forte of Sybil Connolly.¹

In 1953, Irish designer Sybil Connolly was "discovered" by a group of American department store buyers and fashion reporters visiting Ireland. Having worked as a dressmaker in London and Dublin since the late 1930s, Connolly was actually an experienced designer. Connolly's designs were a hit with the American visitors, and she was invited to the United Stated to present her work. In March of 1953, Connolly arrived in Philadelphia to present a collection at Gimbels Department Store. Inevitably, the showing was scheduled for St. Patrick's Day.

Though her first collection featured a variety of well-received suits and day dresses, it was a ball gown of finely pleated Irish linen "of a quality so fine it was almost chiffon-like in weight" that received the most attention.² As her career progressed, Connolly's consistent use of this same lightweight, pleated linen became a trademark. In 1971, almost 20 years after Connolly's first visit to the United States, women attending a Sybil Connolly trunk show in New York were still enthusiastic about her pleated linen dresses.

Evening dress
Sybil Connolly
c. 1971
Gift of Jane Tucker
S2009.967.5

Koos van den Akker

In a Koos van den Akker garment, fabric is always the focal point. Not just a single luxury fabric, but a riotous mix of fabric patches and panels combined into a surprisingly unified whole. According to the designer, his garments always "start with the fabric. Silhouettes come later."¹ Though van den Akker apprenticed at Christian Dior from 1963-1965, his work demonstrates little interest in a precise fit, one of the traditional concerns of the haute couture. Nor is van den Akker interested in the interaction between garments and the human body, declaring that "shapes are not really what I'm interested in."² Instead, van den Akker prefers to use his garments as an arena in which to explore the visual and tactile qualities of different textiles.

Blouse
c. 1976
Koos van den Akker
85.423.1
Gift of Devra Korwin

Sonia Rykiel tunic and pants, 1970

The late 1960s controversy over mini, midi and maxi skirt lengths continued into the early 1970s. Though some designers began experimenting with longer skirts, women declared their loyalty to the mini. In 1970, a young Philadelphia woman spoke for many when she said, "I'll keep wearing the mini even if it goes out of style."¹ This loyalty to the mini caused confusion among retailers, who usually stocked their stores with versions of the latest runway offerings. As there was no consensus about which skirt length would be most fashionable, retailers didn't know what to offer their customers.

Perhaps in response to the hemline controversy, women began turning to pants as a fashionable alternative to skirts and dresses. Though pants had been considered appropriate for casual activities since the 1950s, in the early 1970s they began to move into the arenas of formal and professional dress. High-end restaurants, many of which had prohibited the entry of any woman wearing pants, relaxed their dress codes. Pants also began appearing occasionally in the workplace.

Tunic and pants
1970
Tunic: Sonia Rykiel
Pants: Unknown designer
Gift of Anonymous Donor
Tunic: 2003.40.11B
Pants: 2003.40.21

Oscar dressing

In the early years of the Academy Awards, celebrities didn't always dress themselves in the latest glamorous fashions. In 1935, Claudette Colbert wore a simple traveling suit to accept the Best Actress Award for It Happened One Night. Colbert didn't expect to win, so was already on-board a New York bound train as the ceremony began. The train was held at the station and Colbert was rushed to the ceremony to accept her award. That same year, Bette Davis wore an "afternoon frock" to the Academy Awards and was criticized by the press and studio executives for her lack of glamour. During the early 1940s, Ingrid Bergman proudly wore the same black dress to the Academy Awards two years in a row!

Platform boots

Platform boots
1972-73
Museum Purchase
2006.5.3AB

With a heel of about 5 1/2" and a platform sole roughly 3 1/2" thick, these dramatic boots are an extreme example of the platform shoes, sandals and boots popular in the first half of the 1970s. Perhaps even more notable then their extreme height is the fact that platform shoes of this era were worn by both men and women. In a final flowering of the Peacock Revolution, men wore platform boots and shoes featuring contrasting color combinations, appliques and exotic leathers with unusual finishes, including wet-look and crinkle leather. In 1972, a shoe salesman interviewed by the New York Times reported that his male customers were unafraid to experiment, saying that "the freakier the shoe, the higher the platform and heel, the better it sells."¹

Stephen Burrows

Stephen Burrows' first fashion show, held in 1970 at Henri Bendel in Manhattan, was accompanied by a disco soundtrack. In attendance were not only members of the fashion establishment, but also "hordes of boys and girls in brilliant plumage who looked as if they came from the nearest rock festival, only cleaner."¹ On show were garments of studded leather, form-fitting sweaters and dresses of a simple, fluid cut in a riot of colors. As one attendee noted, Burrows "has an absolute disregard for the established laws of color."²

Wrap dress
Stephen Burrows
1970-71
Gift of Jo Holzman
2006.871.12

Marimekko

With its oversized imagery and brightly clashing colors, Marimekko textiles are unmistakable. The Finnish company began in 1951 as a textile design firm specializing in hand silk-screened cotton fabric. The patterns created by Marimekko designers were a departure from traditional Finnish floral patterns, though the graphic, modern Marimekko imagery was definitely inspired by aspects of Finnish heritage and landscape. To promote their textile designs, the founders of Marimekko created a collection of unrestrictive garments utilizing their textiles. From the beginning, Marimekko garments were loose and unstructured, meant to allow freedom of movement. Marimekko gained widespread popularity in the United States when Jackie Kennedy purchased several Marimekko dresses in 1960, which she wore throughout her husband's presidential campaign.

Belted dress
Marimekko
1972-74
Gift of Dora Lou Davis
2004.835.1AB

Holly's Harp

Los Angeles based designer Holly Harp (1939-1995) began her fashion career in the late 1960s, designing theatrical, psychedelic clothing for iconic performers such as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. Harp's early designs were in tune with the catch-all aesthetic of late 1960s hippie fashions, and her garments quickly gained a reputation for "being wild and wonderful, feathers and fringe."¹ A maxi-dress worn by the singer-songwriter Dory Previn was typical of Harp's aesthetic. Constructed of an old table cloth, green doily and a piece of vintage satin, it was described as a "clothing mosaic."² In 1968, Harp opened Holly's Harp, a small boutique on the Sunset Strip where she sold both her ready-made and custom-designed garments.

Within a few years, Harp's designs had taken on a very different character. Instead of merely incorporating bits and pieces of the past by using vintage textiles, Harp started designing slinky, overtly sexy dresses and separates that referenced the glamour of Old Hollywood. Using silk textiles such as jersey, crepe and chiffon, Harp created what she called " fantasy-oriented...mood clothes."³ These mood clothes often referenced 1930s evening wear, as in the Holly's Harp bias-cut dress seen here.

Evening dress
Holly's Harp
c. 1978
Gift of Gloria Strasburger
99.655.3