Glimpse of history from ANCL Archives:

Mini matters - fashions that dominated the bygone era

Compiled by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Those were the days dominated by bell bottoms and mini-frocks. Though it would be a queer thing to see today, the youngsters of the day paraded the streets clad in Bell Bottoms virtually sweeping the roads of dust. So much so that, it was said that the Colombo Municipal workers had little.

While groups of girls clad in mini-frocks roamed the streets, revealing parts of the female anatomy, women of the day did not give up the vogue until it wore out of fashion and was taken over by many modern-day fashions that one could categorize as decent, modest and elegant.

The mini era fad, though it created much inconvenience to women and virtually imposed constrains on their movements; yet none of the urban women of that era escaped from it. Screen idols to streetwalkers, they all wore mini-frocks.

However, the history of the mini-frock or mini skirt goes back as far as 1966 when Mary Quant was producing short waist-skimming mini dresses and skirts that were set 6 or 7 inches above the knee.

Perhaps, it was Mary who made this style a popular fashion. Inspired by, and who derived the idea from the 1964 designs by CourrSges, Mary made them even shorter for her boutique Bazaar. She is rightly credited with making popular a style that had not taken off when it made its earlier debut.

As in many other countries, Sri Lankan girls and women in the 1970's adopted the Micro, Mini or Maxi Skirt Lengths which was the worldwide trend. In a way, it was the mode of expressing their freedom.

For evenings, women often wore full length maxi dresses or evening trousers or glamorous halter neck catsuits. Some of the dresses oozed Motown glamour, others less so.

Frequently for evenings, in the early seventies, either straight or flared Empire line dresses with a sequined fabric bodice and exotic sleeves were typical for a dressy occasion.

One popular style was the Granny dress with a high neck, sometimes frilled or lace trimmed and a floral print design in a warm brushed fabric.

For men, flared Trousers, Bell Bottoms and trouser suits were serious fashions in the 1970s. They began gently flared and reached wide bell bottom proportions by about 1975. However, later on, the trousers were slowly reduced to straight and wide until by the end of the seventies they were finally narrow again.