Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, Vogue proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now" due to overproduction flooding the market with affordable synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bell-bottoms popularized by hippies, vintage clothing from the 1950s and earlier, and the androgynous glam rock and disco styles that introduced platform shoes, bright colors, glitter, and satin.

New technologies brought about advances such as mass production, higher efficiency, generating higher standards and uniformity. Generally the most famous silhouette of the mid and late 1970s for both genders was that of tight on top and loose at the bottom. The 1970s also saw the birth of the indifferent, anti-conformist casual chic approach to fashion, which consisted of sweaters, T-shirts, jeans and sneakers. One notable fashion designer to emerge into the spotlight during this time was Diane von Fürstenberg, who popularized, among other things, the jersey "wrap dress". Von Fürstenberg's wrap dress design, essentially a robe, was among the most popular fashion styles of the 1970s for women and would also be credited as a symbol of women's liberation. The French designer Yves Saint Laurent and the American designer Halston both observed and embraced the changes that were happening in society, especially the huge growth of women's rights and the youth counterculture. They successfully adapted their design aesthetics to accommodate the changes that the market was aiming for.

Top fashion models in the 1970s were Lauren Hutton, Margaux Hemingway, Beverly Johnson, Gia Carangi, Janice Dickinson, Patti Hansen, Cheryl Tiegs, Jerry Hall, and Iman.

Women Early 1970s (1970–1973) Hippie look The 1970s began with a continuation of the hippie look from the 1960s, giving a distinct ethnic flavor. Popular early 1970s fashions for women included Tie dye shirts, Mexican 'peasant' blouses, folk-embroidered Hungarian blouses, ponchos, capes, and military surplus clothing. Bottom attire for women during this time included bell-bottoms, gauchos, frayed jeans, midi skirts, and ankle-length maxi dresses. Hippie clothing during this time was made in extremely bright colors, as well as Indian patterns, Native American patterns, and floral patterns. Women's hippie accessories of the early 1970s included chokers, dog collars, handcrafted neck ornaments, and accessories made from natural elements like wood, shells, stones, feathers, Indian beads and leather. All of these replaced standard jewelry. Unisex hippie accessories included headbands, floppy hats, flowing scarves, Birkenstocks, earth shoes, authentic beaded and fringed Native American buckskin moccasins, including knee-high boot versions, and sandals, including tire-soled versions and huaraches. The back-to-nature direction of the times meant that there was also a lot of going barefoot.Multiple sources:

Glamour wear

Although the hippie look was widespread, it was not adopted by everyone. Many women still continued to dress up with more glamorous clothes, inspired by 1940s movie star glamour. Other women just adopted simple casual fashions, or combined new garments with carefully chosen secondhand or vintage clothing from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s. Glamorous women's accessories of the early 1970s included cloche hats or turbans, pearl earrings, necklaces, bracelets, feather boas, black-veiled hats, clogs, wedgies, cork-soled platforms, and chunky high heels. Golden chains, gold-button earrings and rhinestone clips started to become popular again in 1973 after several years of homemade jewelry.

Trousers and hemlines The 1970s was the first decade in Western fashion history that women wore more trousers/pants than skirts and were free to do so in all settings.Multiple sources: In the first half of the 1960s, designer André Courrèges had promoted pants at all levels of formality, and by the end of the 1960s other designers had followed his lead and women on the street began wearing them increasingly as well, challenging dress codes at establishments throughout society. By the early 1970s, all barriers had been dropped and women wore pants everywhere, including jeans. The switch to trousers was partly due to the fashion industry in the year 1970 trying to push all women out of miniskirts and into calf-length midiskirts, which came to be known as the "midi debacle" because women's resistance to it was so strong that it almost ruined the fashion industry as women refused to buy the long skirts that manufacturers had stocked up on. From 1970 to 1972, many women continued to wear miniskirts, some took up the new longer skirts, but even more women simply switched over to trousers and jeans. Though a number of pant styles were popular and fashionable during this time, including knee-length knickers and gauchos, the most common style of trouser in the early seventies was fitted at the hips and then flared gently to a foot-covering hem, a look given impetus when Yves Saint Laurent endorsed it in all his collections in 1968.

General trends More simple early 1970s trends for women included fitted blazers (coming in a multitude of fabrics along with wide lapels), long and short dresses, mini skirts, maxi evening gowns, hot pants (extremely brief, tight-fitting shorts) paired with skin-tight T-shirts, his & hers outfits (matching outfits that were nearly identical to each other), and flared pants. Pastel colors were most commonly used for this style of clothing, such as mauve, peach, apple green, pink, yellow, white, wheat, camel, gray, and baby blue. Rust, tangerine, copper, forest green, and pistachio became more popularized from 1973 onwards. Sweaters were a huge phenomenon in the early 1970s, often outfits being judged entirely by the sweater. This fragmented into more styles, such as turtleneck sweaters, sweater coats, sweater dresses, floor-length sweaters, and even sweater suits. Many of them were trimmed with fur, especially faux. Chunky, shawl-collared, belted cardigans, often in brown and white, were also commonplace. Jeans were ubiquitous, characteristic of the period. Standard jean denim during this period might be pre-faded and softened via pre-washing, but it was still of a thick, sturdy weight designed to last, not yet thinned to virtual leotard weights like it would be in the 2000s. Both men and women wore their shorts at the upper thigh, with cut-off blue-jean shorts extremely popular, usually worn with t-shirts or tank tops. Women frequently paired them with halter tops that were often just the tops of string bikinis. The popularity of jeans led to blue denim being used for many other garments, as well as other fabrics being given a blue denim look. On the feet, platform shoes were widespread in a variety of styles, including clog-like forms and sandals, with relatively wide straps but never spindly heels; heels were always thick and chunky. The young paired these with colorful, often brightly striped knee-socks, some with separate toes like gloves for the feet, called toe socks. In the early 1970s boots were at the height of their popularity, continuing onward from the mid-1960s. Women had boots for every occasion, with a wide variety of styles being sold in stores for affordable prices. Despite the wide variety, the most popular boots were Go-go boots, crinkle boots (boots with a shiny wet look that was wrinkled), stretch boots, and granny boots (1920s style lace-up boots that ended just below the knees).

Mid-1970s (1974–1976)

Casual looks By 1974, the T-shirt was no longer considered underwear, and was by then made in elaborate designs such as slogans, sports teams, and other styles. Around the same time the looser, more flowy shirts of the early 1970s had given way to fitted tops. By the mid-1970s, the hippie look had completely disappeared, although casual looks continued. In the mid-1970s women wore sweaters, T-shirts, cardigans, kimono, graphic T-shirts and sweaters, jeans, khakis, gauchos, workmen's clothes, and vintage clothing. A denim emphasis continued from the early seventies, particularly strong in 1973 to '75, with denim and denim-look fabrics of various intensities of indigo paired with blue jeans, usually flared, and denim skirts in below-knee lengths. In 1975, the slim-legged jean style known as the cigarette-leg was introduced, a style that would dominate the end of the decade. Around 1976, casual fashion adopted a Parisan peasant look. This included capes, turbans, puffy skirts and shirts with billowing sleeves. In the mid-1970s, accessories were generally not worn, adopting a minimalistic approach to fashion akin to that of the 1950s. The most commonly seen form of jewelry was a simple, thin, unobtrusive gold neckchain, sometimes in silver, worn under the collar against the skin by both men and women throughout the decade but becoming really ubiquitous starting in the mid-seventies.Multiple sources: White puka shell necklaces were also worn by both sexes. Small leather shoulder bags were worn by women everywhere, and popular shoes included Mary Janes, knee-high boots with rounded toes, including Dingo boots and Frye boots (often with pants tucked in), platform shoes and sandals, wedge-heeled espadrilles that often had long cords to wrap around the ankle, Birkenstocks, Famolares, and loafers. Despite the lack of accessories, the mood ring was a big fad in the mid-1970s.

Active wear Clean-cut, all-American active wear for women became increasingly popular from 1975 onwards. The biggest phenomenon of this trend was the jumpsuit, popular from 1975 onwards. Jumpsuits were almost always flared in the legs, and sleeves varied from being completely sleeveless to having extremely long bell-sleeves. Other sportswear trends included tracksuits, tunic shirts, crop tops, tube tops, sweatshirts, hip-huggers, low rise pants, and leisure suits. This continued into the 1980s. Accessories were less of an importance during this time, but two very desirable accessories included sneakers and tennis headbands.

Tailored styles As the divorce rate rose and the marriage rate declined in the mid-70s, women were forced to work in order to support the nuclear family. The progressive addition of women to the work force altered shopping styles and fashion. Working women shopped on weekends and in the evenings. Feminized men's business suits such as tailored jackets, midi-skirts, and fitted blouses were their go-to choice as to "dress for success."

Starting in 1975, women's semi-formal wear became more tailored and sharp. This included a lot of layering, with women wearing two blouses at once, multiple sweaters, pants underneath tunic dresses, and jumpers worn over long, fitted dresses. The 1970s also featured some of the most scandalous dresses worn publicly in American history up to that point. Other clothes worn in this style include suede coats, peacoats, blazers, cowl-neck sweaters, pencil skirts, backless dresses, extremely low-cut dresses, palazzo pants, tube dresses, evening gowns, jacket dresses, and pinstriped pantsuits. Women's dresses in the mid-1970s were dominated by pastel colors, but Asian patterns were also common. Accessories for the more formal styles included high-heels (both low and high, mostly thick-heeled), turbans, and leather shoulder bags. Boots continued their popularity in the mid-1970s. This trend expanded to other styles, most notably the wedge heel (arguably the most popular women's shoe of the mid-1970s). Boots became rounder, chunkier, heavier, and thicker, and were more expensive than they were in the early 1970s. Popular boots of the mid-1970s included wedge boots, ankle boots, platform boots, and cowboy boots. The A/W Haute Couture Collection "Opium Collection" by the French designer Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by the Chinese culture and history.

Disco look