THAT ’70s SUMMER
The pandemic has many of us reminiscing about a beloved decade long since gone
How ’70s is your summer? Have you found yourself Googling clogs and aviator sunglasses or watching Jaws? Did you buy a swing seat for the backyard or a record player — or just a SodaStream?
So far, summer has had a distinctly slow ’70s feel (we’re not talking Disco Inferno, more Don McLean) and now — helped by the popularity of the ’70s drama Mrs. America — it looks like the decade has got its feet under the table. In fact, there are many parallels between the summer we’re having now the ones we had back in the day. Here’s your 2020 ’70s summer:
WE’RE STAYCATIONING
It wasn’t called a staycation back then, of course, it was simply The Family Holiday and all family holidays involved getting in the car and driving somewhere not too far away with opportunities for swimming. Now we’re right back there.
Having sworn we would never again huddle around a fire in a damp cottage playing board games after a soggy sandwich picnic on the beach — that’s exactly what we’re doing for our summer holidays. Highlights will be much the same as they were in 1972: table tennis in the neighbour’s garage; eating ice cream under a towel in a high wind; dressing up the dog and putting makeup on your brother.
WE’VE BEEN EATING MOSTLY FROM CANS (AND MAKING USE OF A LOT OF DRY GOODS)
As it turned out, we didn’t eat as much macaroni with canned tuna and corn as we had predicted, but still, this is the summer that has revived our taste for ’70s classics.
WE’RE WEARING BIRKENSTOCKS
The favourite footwear of ’70s hippies is now as fashionable as Uggs were in the early 2000s. They were on the way to being a “must- have” before the pandemic and then, when must-haves went out the window, Birkies — being comfortable, practical and unisex — perfectly fit the mood.
And it doesn’t stop there. When we could have worn absolutely anything, the clothes we chose for working from home turned out to be: blue jeans (very ’70s); jumpsuits (ditto); go-with-theflow maxis (skirts and dresses); clogs (obviously); and so on. This must be because these clothes are relaxed, easy and understatedly groovy. Also, for some of us, they’re reassuringly familiar, like an old teddy bear.
WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO NEIL YOUNG
It doesn’t get more ’70s than Neil Young and this summer his “lost” 1975 album, Homegrown, finally saw the light of day, just as we were wearing out After the Gold Rush. When we needed a lockdown lift, we went for a bit of ABBA, occasionally Godspell and a surprising amount of George Harrison.
WE’RE BACK IN THE YARD — SUNBATHING
This was a top hobby during long, hot ’70s summers — that and going to the bar. (You could combine both if someone were brewing their own beer — which, if there was a man in the house, someone was.) This summer will be remembered for several things, but near the top of the list will be sunbathing like we did in the ’70s, on a towel in the park or outside the back door with cold drink and the radio on. The difference in 2020 is less baby oil (replaced by SPF 30), less smoking, less singing along to Vincent and this time we are wearing actual bikinis, whereas back then you didn’t own a bikini, so you wore a matching set of underwear featuring smileys or Snoopy.
WE’RE HAIR OBSESSED
Never have we been so preoccupied with our hair as during lockdown — apart from in the ’70s when haircuts had names and you were obliged to get them, whether they suited you or not. A Farrah Fawcett flick fringe; a wedge; a shag (a bit like David Cassidy’s). It’s not the same now, but given our new appreciation for the power of a haircut, it’s possible that we’re entering an experimental phase.
WE’RE GLUTTONS FOR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
We’re supposed to have been glued to Tiger King and Normal People and I Will Destroy You and the doc about disgraced multimillion Jeffrey Epstein, but plenty of us have discovered an urge to watch comedies with laugh tracks and all we’re really in the mood for now is wacky reality TV and cooking shows. (Also worth noting that Jaws — the original summer blockbuster — is a hit again at drive-ins, 45 years on.)
WE’RE FEELING LIKE THE LIGHTS MAY GO OUT
In the ’70s they did go out and you had the sense that we might be in trouble. Many have that feeling now.
MORE BODY HAIR
The natural look, thanks to the pandemic, is again the norm. As yet, there are no stats to indicate whether everyone stampeded to their waxing salons the day they reopened (we’re guessing they did) but maybe now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, some will stick with the ’70s look and save themselves the hassle.
WE’VE GOT NEW INTEREST IN BATHROOM POTIONS
In the ’70s you never got in a bath that wasn’t thick with bubbles or full of gritty bath salts. Lockdown has brought the bath back into favour (we really only had time for showers before) and now it’s a fun ritual once more, with — if we could find one — a frilly stick-on bath pillow.