By 1970 women chose who they wished to be and if they felt like wearing a short mini skirt one day and a maxi dress, midi skirt or hot pants the following day – that is what they actually did.
For eveningwear women regularly wore full length maxi dresses, evening trousers or glamorous halter neck catsuits. Some of the dresses oozed Motown glamour, others less so.
Left – 2 young women in their early twenties on vacation in the Canary Islands c1972. The short check flared skirt was very fashionable, as was the empire type of the diamond check pattern mini dress. Right – Halter neck catsuit pattern of 1971. Exotic and tropical prints were a reflection of designers gaining inspiration from international travel destinations.
For evening in the early seventies, either straight or flared Empire line dresses with a sequined fabric bodice and exotic sleeves were the style for a dressy occasion. Image of office girls wearing short mini dresses. Fashion history and costume history of the 1970s.
One frequently worn style was the Grandmama dress with a high neck. Occasionally the stand neck was pie-crust frilled, or lace trimmed. Frequently they were made of a floral print design in a warm brushed fabric or viscose rayon crepe which draped and gathered well into empire line styles.
Right – Characteristic short and mini dresses worn at an office party in 1972 / 3. At the front a young girl wears a long floral grandmother dress that covers her knees.
Another enormously successful evening type of the 1970s was the halter neck dress, either maxi or above knee.
Left – Black halter neck dress pattern of 1971.
At a disco, 1970s girls might don hot pants. In contrast to the show all mini, a lady would all of a sudden confound men by fully covering her legs and retort that mini dresses were an exploitation, rather than a liberation of women.