(All the photos of the fabulous 70's Icons in this post are random pictures from Tumbler or borrowed from Google. Unknown source.)

Women began to revolt in the 1970's. They wanted to be treated equal to men and empowered themselves by becoming self-sufficient, and stepped out of the kitchen and into the work-place. They had already started burning their bras (late 60's) and wearing pants. This to rebel against their role as a sexual object and prove that "she" could be one of the boys (...or better).  
As the era of the housewife was coming to an end, the motherly curves was out, and the cinema icon was no more. 
Instead, it was replaced by the free-spirited new ideal, of the independent, youthful and naturally skinny woman with a tan and rosy cheeks. 
After the cinched waists of the 50s and the super-slim models of the 60s forever changed the way women viewed their bodies, by the 1970s, the thinking-thin phenomenon was in full force. 

The silhouette was slim and flared, and the androgynous hippie look was worn by both women and men.
Clothing became sexier as the disco-style became the "it" thing. The classic look with lady-like dresses and classic suits became more loosely fitted. The glamour look became more revealing, paired with wilder hair and lots of accessories, such as bangles, pearls and fur. 
Most women aspired to imitate the ultra-glam ‘Studio 54′ look popularized by Bianca Jagger. Another big icon of the 70's was the fresh-faced Farrah Fawcett. Her blown-out waves and natural makeup, demonstrated a mixture of the hippie ideals of beauty and the early disco trends. The bronzed skin, glossy lips, and layered, feathered haircut, revolutionized women's beauty and became the look that every woman wanted to have. 

This decade marked the beginning of the bronzed beach look and with it, the popular tanning booth trend. Women also began relying on bronzers and self-tanners to get that Charlie's Angels look.
Typical for this era was lots of wrap-style dresses, oversized sunglasses, very close fitting high-waisted jeans, bell-bottom pants, shirts with long pointy collars, frilly and flowy dresses, Mexican peasant blouses, platform shoes, shiny materials, sequins, tie-dye, batik fabrics, paisley and psychedelic prints. Strong or natural colors, highlighter colors, mismatched patterns, and colors such as brown, orange, yellow and red was very popular. 

The standards of beauty reflected the values and commotion of the 70's revolution, and natural beauty became the new look. Hair became a symbol of the era, as a powerful aid for projecting an image or making a statement. For most of the decade, men and women of all ethnicities wore their hair long, natural and above all free. Other new and typical hairstyles of the 70's were, Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill's short and sassy wedge cut. Men adapted Farrah's "wingback" style into the center-parted, "feathered" hairstyle. The "rebellious" afro hairstyle remained popular and was also adopted by many mainstream men and women. Toward the end of the decade the punk movement arose in opposition to the hippie-influenced values of the era. Punks created a deliberately shocking, provocative look that included spiked hairdos dyed bright fluorescent colors, shaved and tattooed scalps, facial piercings and spectacular makeup.

Although the 70's played a big part in the history of the thinner ideal, it also spawned a revival of a more casual and natural look. Which in it's own way has paved the way for the focus on diversity and that healthy body image that we are so conscious about today. 
Another important message from the androgynous 70's (other than peace and love), is that fashion and clothing can be a powerful tool in the development of a more generous ideal and gender equality. The objectification of the female body, and the predetermined roles and virtuous of what a man or a woman should be, has often been enforced through mainstream fashion. The lesson that the 1970's started to teach us, is that you shouldn't have to erase or reinforce your gender-identity to demand the respect you deserve, or look or dress a certain way to be "woman/man enough".
As the 70's icon, Iggy Pop recently said  -“I'm not ashamed to dress "like a woman", because I don't think it's shameful to be a woman.” 
Just think about it.... 


SOME FASHION ICONS OF THE 70s
Farrah Fawcett, Bo Derek, Jacqueline Bisset, Brooke Shields, Dorothy Hamill, Bianca Jagger, Angelica Huston, Olivia Newton John, Marie Helvin, Liza Minnelli, Cher, Patti Hansen, Debbie Harry (Blondie), Faye Dunaway, Jerry Hall, Ali Macgraw, Iman, Berverly Johnson, Janice Dickinson, Christie Brinkley

(Photos in this post are random pictures from Tumbler or Pinterest or borrowed from Google. Unknown source.
Information collected from several sources including Wikipedia, Thefashionspot.com and diet-blog.com, historicalideals.tumblr.com, http://comn4725blog.wordpress.com, dailymail.co.uk, 
uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_II/Psychologie/Psy_II/beautycheck/english/figur/figur.htm)

(All the photos of the fabulous 80's Icons in this post are random pictures from Tumbler or borrowed from Google. Unknown source.)

Model Brooke Shields was an icon of the time, and the late 80's marked the beginning of the age of the supermodel. There were more women of mixed, or non-European ethnic and racial backgrounds portrayed in the media, than ever before (Although still not nearly in proportion to the population). Women step into the spotlight as the career-woman was "born", and power-dressing became exceedingly popular. This was an "age of excess", which was easily translated into fashion. In general, the bigger and bolder, the better. It was the decade of big hair, big shoulders, and over-the-top makeup. 

The 1980's woman was a fresh faced "all american girl" with a wholesome figure. The aerobics obsession of the 80's continued to emphasize fitness for women, and the female body was expected to maintain a certain weight, but still appear toned, all without being too muscular. Although the ideal size was fuller than the 90's and the early 2000's, all these body restrictions still caused eating disorders to skyrocket throughout the decade. Between cropped football player shirts and shiny spandex leggings (that was just a few of the typical trends that was considered sexy), the body was very much on display. At this point in history, being sexy was an acceptable and expected thing for most young people. 

The silhouette was oversized, high-waisted, cropped and cut off. Floral patterns, neon and pastel colors, puffy sleeves and skirts, shoulder pads, ripped sweatshirts, fanny packs, stone-washed straight legged jeans, big earrings, lace and pearls, were hot commodities. Oversized gold jewelry were used by both men and women, and tracksuits worn even when not exercising. 
The beauty ideal was somewhere between overdone and unkempt, and natural makeup was uncommon. 
The ideal woman had bold "virgin" eyebrows, wore blue eyeshadow or eyeliner matched with shiny pink lips. Nose jobs was on the rise and the beauty spot's was the "it" thing to have.  

Many styles from the late 70's remained fashionable in the early 80s, but soon both men and women began wearing looser shirts and tight, close-fitting trousers. 
In the mid 80's, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper became fashion icons for young women with their "street urchin" look, which popularized the heavy makeup with vibrant neon colors and intentionally messed-up and off-colored hair, short skirts worn over leggings, brassieres worn as outer clothing, crucifix jewelry, and fishnet gloves. Michael Jackson sported the "jheri curl" (a sparkling wet-looking, heavily processed version of the Afro), and some middle-class teen-agers adapted the punk-influenced spiked hairstyle. 
Androgyny was also an important look of the 80's, from Boy George, to Sinead O'Connor's shaved head, to the Glam rock, Goth fashion and Heavy Metal bands, with their makeup and wild, long and dyed hair. There are only two words to describe 80's hair: big and bigger, with multiple cans of aerosol hairspray in it. The choices were wild, crimped, permed, dyed or sun bleached. It was the beginning of hip hop, the golden age of "the mullet" and "the rat tail".
In opposition to these trends, a new romantic or neoconservative "preppy" look was also in, popularizing traditional short hairstyles for men and women, and not to forget the "New Romantic", "Yuppie" or "The Miami Vice style".

Many of the iconic beauty ideals of the 80's might have been unconventional and extreme, but it was due to the fact that the true ideal was to make an impact and create attention. It certainly made it's impact on fashion history as the infamous 80's look has paved the way for any fashion related extreme form of self-expression ever since.

ICONS OF THE 80s
Brooke Shields, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Madonna, Demi Moore, Princess Diana, Meg Ryan, Joan Collins, Lea Thompson, Daryl Hannah, Lisa Whelchel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tawny Kitaen, Jennifer Grey, Kathleen Turner, Carrie Fisher, Ally Sheedy, Claudia Schiffer, Paula Abdul, Kim Basinger, Grace Jones, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Seymour, Christy Turlington, Helena Christensen, Iman, Linda Evangelista, Linda Evans, Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper.

(Photos in this post are random pictures from Tumbler or Pinterest or borrowed from Google. Unknown source.
Information collected from several sources including Wikipedia, Thefashionspot.com and diet-blog.com, historicalideals.tumblr.com, http://comn4725blog.wordpress.com, dailymail.co.uk, uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_II/Psychologie/Psy_II/beautycheck/english/figur/figur.htm, http://www.thefashionspot.com/beauty/171133-beauty-ideals-throughout-the-ages/#/slide/8)