And it wasn't a view of the era as it actually was so much as it was a look at our grandparents' and parents' time as it should have been.  So what if there had been Prohibition, the Great Depression and WWII?  Nostalgia made the past look like so much fun.

Nostalgic Scenic Sweaters, as seen in a 1974 Pandora ad in Seventeen magazine

Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker
Courtesy of Warner Brothers

"Once again the ever-eclectic designer of the Sixties seems most innovative when he's working in nostalgia's attic. He is particularly attracted to the Thirties, perhaps because it was the last pure era of unselfconscious opulence, and thus the nearest decade to our ostentatious own." American Fabrics, Spring 1968

1967 is remembered as the Summer of Love, but it was also the year Bonnie and Clyde was released. This movie took two of the baddest of the bad and put a rose-colored tint on their lives and crimes. Watching the movie, you got the idea that the 30s and the Depression were not so bad as the history books tended to make us believe.

In fact, the 30s never looked so good (unless you count 1930s cinema!). The clothes by Theodora Van Runkle were sensational - Bonnie Parker was lean and trim, and her beret was the perfect hat. Just when we thought the mini was the only length to wear, Bonnie's long skirts helped usher in longer skirts.

Late 1960s hat from Mr. John's Classics line

But the craze was not limited to merely copying the fashions of the 1930s - there was a real fascination with the personalities and icons of the era.  You could buy sweaters with Laurel and Hardy's faces on the front, or clothes hangers sporting Bogey's head, or tee shirts with the early Mickey Mouse.  Posters of silent movie stars like Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin were popular.

Bogart clothes hanger from 1967

February 1971 Life Magazine cover

By 1971 "Everybody's just wild about... Nostalgia" according to a major feature in Life magazine. A large part of the issue was devoted to the ladies on the cover - six stars from the 1930s. The article also focused on the popularity of Art Deco, the revival of the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette, and the trend in clothing toward 1930s influenced fashions.

Mr. John revived some classics from his past, including the cloche and the fedora, which became THE hat of the 70s.  Halston created gowns of bias-cut jersey - "movie star dresses" - influenced by the stars of the 1930s.

Yves Saint Laurent's Spring 1971 line was dubbed the "Collection 40" for its 1940s flea market look. And while it was criticized for being ugly and "floozy" the look was reflective of the mood of the time. The "40s Look" had taken hold and had become one of the prevailing fashion trends of the early and mid 1970s.

Nostalgic 1970s scenic fabric made from nylon knit

1920s motifs were made even more popular with the release of The Great Gatsby.

40s "Flashback" in the September, 1974 issue of Seventeen

The September, 1974 issue of Seventeen magazine marked the 30th anniversary of the publication. As part of their celebration, they did a "Flashback" feature which showed the fashions of the past compared to the 1974 clothes. But what's really interesting is how the rest of the clothes in this issue of the magazine were so 1940s inspired - from lean shirtwaist dresses to wedge shoes to Eisenhower jacketed suits.

All this obsession with the styles of the past had another, more long lasting effect - it helped establish the vintage clothing industry.  Vintage stores had started cropping up in the mid 1960s. The Mod look was fading, and creative dressers were looking for funky bits and pieces to go with their increasingly "hippie" wardrobes.

But by the 1970s, some people were buying and wearing authentic clothing from the 1920s through the 1940s, instead of being satisified with the 1970s versions. And while wearing old clothes was still an idea many did not quite understand, vintage caught on and has continued to grow in popularity ever since.

From the September, 1974 Seventeen

David Evins shoes with a small platform, 1970s, but inspired by the 40s

There have been many theories as to why the 1970s were so nostalgic - everything from a longing for a simpler past to a dissatisfaction with the present to a fear of the future. But whatever the cause, the effect was a generation that came of age with a healthy respect for the past, even if it was a bit rose-tinted.

Nostalgic Bags, as shown in the November, 1973 Seventeen