FIDM Museum Blog

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

Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel's signature garment is the striped sweater. Her earliest versions were shrunken, body-hugging "poor boy" sweaters with horizontal stripes designed in the early 1960s. The use of soft, knit fabric (often striped) became a trademark, earning Rykiel the title "Queen of Knitwear." Rykiel intended her knitwear to take shape on the body, so early in her career, she encouraged woman who wore her garments to forgo undergarments. When she opened her eponymous Left Bank boutique in 1968, it quickly became symbolic of the 1960s movement way from haute couture and towards youthful ready-to-wear.

Rykiel's designs from the 1970s and 80s often suggest silhouettes popular in earlier decades. Drop-waisted dresses similar to those seen in the 1920s were a particular favorite as were wide-legged pants. Though the pant and sweater ensemble below dates from the 1980s, it could have been worn by a daring woman of the 1930s or 1940s, such as Katharine Hepburn.

Wool knit ensemble
Sonia Rykiel
1980-82
Gift of Patricia G. Waldron, M.D.
2002.149.15AB