How 1970s Fashion Changed American Society

With fine fabrics and linens that were “soft and sun swept”, Leedy’s on Park Avenue had clothes for “discriminating girls of all ages”[1]. This advertisement reflects the changes in women’s fashion in the 1970s. After the 1960s, known as a decade of peaceful, nonviolent reform movements, the 1970s brought changes in gender roles. Many women demanded equal rights and advocated for careers outside the home. Following the Title VII provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the National Organization for Women was formed in 1966 to help create equal partnership with men. Due to the increase of women working outside of the home in nontraditional work settings, the fashions of women’s clothing started to change. Women that were working in factory jobs obviously needed work clothes – clothes with heavy thread, strong zippers, rugged fabric and heavy-duty pockets. To meet this new demand, the world’s largest retailer, Sears, Roebuck, and Co., “has developed a line of women’s work clothing to take the place of the old clothes, sweatshirts, jeans and men’s work clothing”[2] that many women wore on the job.

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