The denim skirt, and the evolution of denim styles in the 1970s

The denim skirt was born in the ‘70s as a way to recycle damaged denim in the awakening of the back to the land, environmentally conscious consumer- in all lengths from a take on the 60s mini to the ankle length bohemian cut with raw hems.

The silhouettes started to get more varied too, from the looser fitting flares of 1969 to more fitted in the waist but also lower rise in the ‘70s flowing out into bell-bottoms in ’72 to the elephant bells of 1975 then back to a slimmer, straighter and tapered leg in 1977 with the onset of a punk-inspired vibe.

By 1978 and the wave of disco jeans got darker and tighter, Fiorucci’s Buffalo 70s jeans and also Sasson jeans’ super slim in the leg dark denim became very popular.

Then the end of the decade (the 70s) came to symbolise a fresh, new, wholesome all-American sexuality as seen in the likes of Farah Fawcett and Lauren Hutton of Charlie’s Angels, and soon to follow, as reflected in the iconic (barely there) cut off shorts look of Catherine Bach in the Dukes of Hazard (1979).

By the end of the ‘70s denim no longer belonged to just one cultural or political persuasion. Whenever the country music star Merle Haggard criticised Hippies in his conservative anthem “Okie from Muskogee” you bet he was wearing denim.

From the end of the ‘70s denim had become more or less ubiquitous, and also an established symbol of Americanism.

Bruce Springsteen wears jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap again a backdrop of the American flag, on the cover for his no.1 hit single, “Born in the USA”.

Thereafter blue jeans also ranked high on the list of US cultural exports. In November 1978 Levi Strauss & Co began selling their first large scale shipments of jeans behind the Iron Curtain, where the previously hard to obtain trousers had become a mark of status and liberation. East Berliners were lining up in the hoards to snag them up.

The silhouettes started to get more varied too, from the looser fitting flares of 1969 to more fitted in the waist but also lower rise in the ‘70s -

with an infusion of the psychedelic vibe -

flowing out into bell-bottoms in ’72

to the elephant bells of 1975

then back to a slimmer, straighter and tapered leg in 1977 with the onset of a punk-inspired vibe.

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