In what may be menswear’s biggest throwback to the 1970s' in 20 years, there's not a bell-bottom, frill or platform boot in sight
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| Caruso jacket, pocket square and scarf, price upon request, all carusomenswear.com; Lou Dalton trousers, £280, loudalton.com; Fendi sweater, £400, fendi.com PHOTO: FOR ALL PICTURES, PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE AT ONE REPRESENTS; STYLIST: MARCUS LOVE AT ONE REPRESENTS; GROOMING: JOHN MULLAN AT THE LONDON STYLE AGENCY USING KAPELLO; MODEL: JAMES ROUSSEAU AT SELECT MODEL MANAGEMENT; RETOUCH: THE LAUNDRY ROOM LONDON; PRODUCTION: ROSIE AT ONE |
BELL-BOTTOMS, SHIRT FRILLS and platform boots. For a season that’s shaping up to be menswear’s big throwback to the 1970s, the decade’s most recognizable hallmarks are conspicuously absent—but it’s far from an oversight. Unlike some of fashion’s previous forays into the disco era, the new ’70s nostalgia is more reality than retro.
Take that trademark brown suede coat, reinterpreted at Louis Vuitton: Its pointed lapels were left intact, but it was otherwise stripped down and simplified, with no hint of the pimp. Likewise, the signature ’70s safari jacket came back to life at Berluti—roomier in cut and with more restrained pocket details, but with the slimming attributes of a belted waist. At Saint Laurent, prairie boots with raised heels, worn with snug jeans and a denim jacket, looked modern, relevant and wearable—but with the edge that comes with a glance in the rearview mirror.
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| Berluti jacket, £2,277, berluti.com; Paul Smith trousers, £685, and belt, £85, both paulsmith.co.uk; Caruso shirt, price upon request, carusomenswear.com; Pantherella socks, £15, pantherella.com; Louis Leeman shoes, £800, LouisLeemanParis.com; Bremont watch,£3,595, bremont.com PHOTO:PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE |
The ’70s have presented a point of fascination and a challenge in menswear ever since designers started revisiting the decade in the mid-to-late ’90s. Tom Ford, newly crowned as creative director of Gucci in 1994, was responsible for a wave of flared jeans and silky shirts that eventually became trend gospel around the turn of the millennium. But the look flooded the fashion landscape to the point of saturation, and most offerings that followed never really caught on.
Yet the era stands for a mode of dressing that shouldn’t be lightly written off, according to Ben Cobb, editor of Another Man magazine, and one of the most dapper adherents of the decade. “Seventies men’s style represents masculinity, elegance and a certain loucheness—the holy trinity for any stylish man,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to show a little flamboyance, a chance to be more playful with menswear and experiment with exciting elements like fur, silk and maybe even heels.”
In a world that’s still in financial recovery, and whose hardships over the past decade have been reflected in the rigidness of trends such as normcore—the recent craze for anonymous down-dressing—the more glamorous elements of ’70s menswear may feel like a shock to the system. But as it turns out, we have more in common with the era Tom Wolfe dubbed “the ‘Me’ decade” than you might expect.
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| Saint Laurent suede jacket, £1,997, shirt, £482, and scarf, £145, all ysl.com; Louis Vuitton trench coat, £7,500, louisvuitton.com; Dita sun-glasses, £300, selfridges.com PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE |
“We now look back nostalgically to the ’70s as a lost world of the real, where everything is as weird as the Jurassic,” says Andy Martin, cultural commentator and philosophy lecturer at Cambridge University. “But [it] at least represents an escape from the virtual, and the chatter of ceaseless communication.”
The period, Mr. Martin adds, was a revolt against the dreaminess and revolution of the 1960s, where everything was mutable. “The ’70s reaffirms the resistance of the real,” he says. “Flower Power terminated, bodybuilding is expanding; masculinity is exaggerated, inflated, bulked-up—similarly, lapels and mustaches.”
No decade did casual quite like the ’70s, and spring’s modern take is just as rich on options, in the expected earthy tones and luxe finishes. But you won’t look like John Travolta’s Tony Manero in these duds—though walking down the street in a Saint Laurent printed brown suede jacket or Burberry Prorsum’s velvet trousers in a contemporary cut might give you his swagger.
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| Louis Vuitton suit, £2,210, louisvuitton.co; Caruso shirt, price upon request, carusomenswear.com; Paul Smith tie, £85, paulsmith.co.uk ; Bremont watch, £4,495, bremont.com; Ede & Ravenscroft pocket square, £45, edeandravenscroft.com; Mr Hare boots, £499, mrhare.com; Tusting leather briefcase, £470, and computer folio, £269, both tusting.co.uk PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE |
The season’s formal look, hinged around a tailored three-piece evening suit with the rounded shawl lapel, is equally appealing and achievable—think a young Robert Redford by night. And at both ends of the spectrum, are the Alpha and Omega of a modern ’70s look: accessories. Add a braided belt, a casually tied silk scarf, aviators or perhaps a standout briefcase for day. At night, try more discreetly opulent elements like suede evening loafers—preferably with a crest—and classy gold cuff links at night.
Another Man’s Mr. Cobb says spring’s modern update of these period references is rooted in the same realistic but adventurous freedom that reigned supreme in the Seventies. “The ’70s was a decade of political and economic uncertainty—especially in Europe—and saw the appearance of a more skeptical, grown-up attitude after the blind, childlike optimism of the ’60s,” he says. “That sense was reflected in ’70s fashion and definitely chimes with the world today.”
But the decade’s influences coming through in menswear today aren’t all down to the economic zeitgeist. Even before the suave Don Draper gets his groomed, manly hands on a Seventies suit in the concluding installments of “Mad Men” later this year, cultural tastemakers abound.
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| Louis Vuitton jacket, £3,230, louisvuitton.com; Caruso linen shirt, price upon request, carusomenswear.com; John Varvatos jeans, £145, johnvarvatos.com; Paul Smith belt, £99, paulsmith.co.uk ; Saint Laurent boots, £2,594, ysl.com; Pantherella socks, £15, pantherella.com; Larsson & Jennings watch, £345, larssonandjennings.com PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE |
The V&A’s David Bowie exhibition, a major hit in 2013, reopens at the new Philharmonie de Paris on March 3. And movies such as “American Hustle” and “Anchorman 2,” both released in 2013, have revisited the period, taking it beyond the cheap frills and disco clichés of Studio 54 and ABBA, and providing a more masculine take on the fashions of the era that appeals to regular guys.
“Watching ‘Anchorman,’ I fell in love with the suits and ties,” says Stanley Leeson, a 30-year-old soccer-recruitment consultant from London, referring to the first film in the franchise. “I think the sense of fun and flamboyance you got from the actors wearing those outfits is an indication of the mind-set of revisiting ’70s menswear: ‘Did they really get away with that?’ Yet a lot of those styles look amazing now.”
Mr. Leeson has been a devotee since he discovered ’70s clothing as a teenager scouring vintage shops. It was down, he says, to “lots of experimentation. I ended up favoring the colors, cuts and styles.”
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| Saint Laurent suede jacket, £1,997, and shirt, £482, both ysl.com PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHER: CAMERON MCNEE |
Above all, he likes the smartness of the look. “ ‘A vision in brown’ is a joke I make to my friends,” Mr. Leeson notes, stressing that he doesn’t do bell-bottoms. His style is defined—like this season’s looks—by more formal garments in skinny cuts, with patterned shirts. “The ’70s look has a timeless throwback quality to it that makes me feel part of something bigger,” he says. “The references are more subtle than the latest high street trend...but it remains identifiable and different. There’s a tremendous freedom to that.”
It’s a freedom that’s reflected in the heart of Seventies culture—“a refusal to conform,” Mr. Leeson says, “not just for the sake of it, but to experiment and try something out of the ordinary.”
Something to keep in mind next time you’re online or in the store.
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