The Twenties Reborn




Fashion Knits 72, published by Patons, demonstrates how far the Art Deco revival had pervaded the general fashion consciousness in the early 1970s. Not only are several of the outfits featured specifically 1920s and 30s themed, but the influence even extended to the choice of typefaces. There was a major trend in this period for Art Nouveau fonts, an offshoot of the British vogue for Victoriana which emerged in the sixties.

  

The revival of interest in the fashions of the twenties and thirties can be traced back to Arthur Penn's 1967 film, and more specifically the costume design of Theadora Van Runkle, who made Faye Dunaway look sensationally good. Key to the look was Dunaway's beret, as Van Runkle, who won an Oscar for her first frilm as Costume Designer, explained: "The beter was the culmination of the silhoette. In it, she combined all the elements of elegance and chic. Without the beret, it would have been charming, but not the same." 


The beret brought an air of French chic to the character of Bonnie Parker, but with Dunaway toting various firearms throughout the film, it also added an unmistakable air of Che Guevara-style revolutionary chic. This trend probably reached its apotheosis with Patty Hearst, the heiress kidnapped in 1974 and forced to rob banks for a terrorist organisation while looking absurdly stylish. In the US the Black Panthers represented the more militant side of the civil rights movement, but were also very image-conscious and cut a dash in stylish outfits with berets set at a rakish angle.




In France Jean-Paul Belmomdo and Alain Delon scored a huge success with the 1930's gangster film Borsalino, based on a pair of Marseilles gangsters who in real life were not the jolly pair the film suggested, but instead Nazi collaborators. The film traded very successfully on the fashions and music of the time.


In Britain Glenda Jackson became a star appearing in Ken Russell's 1969 film adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love, dressed in a series of very striking 1920s fashions. The look was taken up by the highly fashionable London fashion retailer Biba, who took on a highly 1920's and 30's-inspired look in the early 1970s, opening Big Biba, their sumptuous Art Deco wonderland flagship store in 1973.





Of course, as I've pointed out here before, not everyone could pop to a branch of Biba for geographical or financial reasons. But they could always buy a copy of Fashion Knits 72 and create some of that Art Deco chic for themselves. . 


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