Last month I bought a pair of flares and a blazer, and not for the first time. The first time was in the 1970s. Sadly this time, when I looked in the mirror, I had a real ‘Miss Haversham’ moment – the clothes might not have changed but the body and face in them certainly has!

But it got me thinking about how many of the latest trends ‘owe’ something to the 1970s, so I thought I’d take a look at the influence across the new lines and try to decide if more is on the way for 2021.

The 70s was a wild decade full of disco and revolution

Thanks to the women’s movement women no longer conformed to a style but started to express their style and experiment through their fashion choices and we find punk, bohemian, classical and disco styles, and jewellery was not left out of these adventures! Not so very different now with consumers searching for customisation and personal style. Perhaps with more subtlety and sophistication but there is no doubt that 70’s styles are Influencing what we have on offer today and understanding this may help us to anticipate what customers will come looking for and what we are starting to see a leaning towards in terms of demand.

Earrings Rule

The 70s were about feel-good jewellery. They were not afraid to be bold and perhaps (with fingers crossed), now looking ahead in 2021, the release of lockdown will encourage buyers to again be bold and adventurous and jewellery can be there, ready to lift the spirits.

Hoops

Earrings in the 70s were huge – they needed to be seen beneath the big hair and to balance out the flares!
Hoops were the ‘must-have’ back then – the bigger the better – and we are seeing a move back towards the larger hoops. Whilst huge hoops might not be for everyone, hoops in general remain popular and are a staple for any collection offering reliable background sales figures.
These shoulder-skimming twisted hoops come from a new Italian supplier.