retroafrica

As African music took on and imported new instruments and techniques between the fifties and the flamboyant era of the sixties and seventies ushering in music heavy weights such as Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba to Papa Wemba and E.T. Mensah, the seventies era ushered in a decade of the bell bottoms, prints, ruffles, platforms shoes, huge shades and more. It consisted of the androgynous hippie look from the late sixties sharply characterized by several distinct fashion trends that left an unforgettable image of the decade commemorated in popular culture from Europe to North America with an African twist. Very common designs then (and now) are tie-dye, sew and dye and the use of paste resist. In tie-dye, tying small areas with cotton or raffia strings makes intricate patterns. In addition, the cloth maybe either folded or crumpled before dyeing. Designs maybe sewn on the cloth and the stitches later picked out after dyeing to reveal a light or dark pattern. Fashions were like a mirror image of the social ___________

instability of the decade; hemlines rose and by 1965 the new look for women was the mini skirt and men grew tired of the gray flannel suit. Men were typically more fashion forward, trying out different colors, sumptuous fabrics, ruffles, and lace. Many of the contemporary fashions were made from manufactured fibers in knitted fabrics. Authors Mead and Pederson examined periodicals such as Ebony, Mademoiselle, Time and Life for evidence of West African textiles used in US apparel from the late sixties into the seventies. In the sixties, the Kente cloth was the only type of African fabric in use but by the seventies, African textiles transferred into mainstream American fashions and showed up in Mademoiselle. African textiles were used in American apparel, appropriate for the American cultural norms and not the same norms of the African culture from which the textiles came from. African Americans adopted the dashiki, a loose, tunic style garment that has motifs on the neck opening and outer borders.

Caftan or Kaftan
The Hippies of the sixties brought with them clothes from other ethnic groups that had often never even been seen before in the West. The caftan designed by Thea Porter; a 1960s English designer was inspired very much by Northern Africa. Nehru jackets and loose flowing robes from hot countries made their way to world cities and permeated down to mainstream fashion by designers like Yves St Laurent. From the mid to late seventies, caftans,___

kimonos, muumuus, djellaba (a Moroccan robe with a pointed hood) or jalabiya (a loose eastern robe) and other styles from every part of the Indian sub continent and Africa, were translated into at home style robes and comfort wear. They were worked in every fabric imaginable, but were especially suited as glamour dressing when sewn in exotic fabrics and edged in silver, gold or other metallic embroidered trims.

Flared Trousers,
Bell Bottoms and Trouser Suits

Trousers and trouser suits were serious fashions in the seventies. Pants began gently flared and reached wide bell-bottom proportions by 1975. After which they slowly reduced to straight and wide until by the end of the seventies they were finally narrow again. Popular fabrics included heavy crepes, wool jersey knits, courtelle jersey and woven polyester suiting. Emerald green, apple green and bottle green were all favored fashion colors of the early 1970s in North America. In addition to these bold colors, hues in the brown family with African patterns were ___

the craze in West Africa. This style of trouser suit with a hip length tunic was very typical of fashion trends of 1971 and 1972. Farrah Fawcett and her actress colleagues of the series ‘Charlie’s Angels’ helped popularize the flared trousers. Heavy crepes used to make wide legged trousers often emulated the Chanel trousers of the 1930s. They were worn with small knitted short vests or scoop neck tank tops. Waistcoats were popular in any length from traditional to hip length to maxi.

1970s Tank Tops And Mix
And Match Knitwear
The tank top of the seventies was a forerunner to the scoop necked camisole top of the eighties, the shell of the nineties and the vest of the millennium. It was a useful garment worn with a blouse, or simply worn blouse free with a matching V-neck long style cardigan just like a modern twin set. Zig zagged knit patterns, African printed and complex intricate designs in bright colors were the inspiration that was much copied by chain stores. In turn these developed into the picture knits of the eighties and a blossoming of hand and machine knitting nationwide.

Platform Soled Shoes
In the early 1970s platform shoes started with a quite slim sole, which moved from one-quarter inch up to about foeeur inches at the peak of popularity. When they were that high, chse holes were hollow out from the sole base for comfort and___

stability. A platform shoe with a one-inch sole was quite comfortable to wear stopping the development of hard skin and the feeling of small stones through the soles. By the mid seventies a lot of people were wearing two-inch deep platforms without a second thought. But accidents did happen with many twisted ankles on a pair of platform shoes. At about the same time, clogs became popular as they followed the trend for chunkiness of sole. Another popular footwear synonymous with all continents and eras are the boots namely the go-go, lace up, platform and ankle –some of which are still worn today.

Whether you like the fashion of the seventies or not, it definitely made a statement. I look at photos of my mother in her retro looks and always wonder why couldn’t she have saved some of them for me. Fashion trends are consistently recycled which means the seventies will be back in some shape or form. However, in the recycle, Africa is lost to the world. So, I am itching to see a designer (especially African designers) go full throttle and bring back Retro Africa- Please Bring It Back!!!

by Amaka M. Onyioha
Photo by Jason Maddox