Bell Bottoms 🔔
- Feb 12, 2025
- 2 min read
I love how fashion subtly exposes repetitive cycles..
My oldest is around the same age I was when bell bottoms became popular for my generation.
During that time our nation experienced one of the first publicized scxool 🔫 , presidential sexcapades, high gas prices, war, rising cost of living etc. from what I personally recall.
My parents reminded me that they wore them first when they were experiencing economic stagnation.
Softer, more natural hair styles became a trend. (See: Afro styles and beautiful braids for curly textured hair of all cultures and ethnicities.
Layers and Feathered hair styles for both men and women with straighter locs became popular.
Natural fabrics like corduroy and jean were the standard.
Clogs, platforms, crop tops, jumpsuits, aviator glasses, leisure suits… all popularized during this time.
We adorned ourselves with mood rings, shells and beads.
Cultural designs and prints from indigenous cultures were embraced and woven into our nations fabric.
People began to not only embrace their own ethnicity and culture but they began collectively incorporating the beauty and fashion trends of others which hadn’t widely been done and accepted before.
Our country experienced fuel shortages and high oil prices, the steel crisis which impacted the auto and construction industries.
Disillusionment in government, advancement in civil rights and gender equality were major trends.
The Department of energy organization was established, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency, Office of management and budget, The FBI academy, Social Security and National Insurance trust, Congressional budget office, Federal Election Commission, Department of Defense Inspector General, The Bureau of Justice statistics, United States Department of Education were all enacted during this time.
Bell Bottoms were popular when these departments were established..
Bell Bottoms have circled back during the dismantle.
We saw the justice system intervene in Spangler vs. Pasadena Board of education for intentional segregation and racism.
We saw the first lawsuits seeking federal recognition of same sex marriage.
We saw mega corporations suing and countering each other for copy rights infringement and fair use.
Art and cinema became more than basic news or entertainment.
We saw celebrities become activist and mobilize loudly against injustice then.
These days challenging the established order whether their stance is agreeable, negative or positive may not be in their best personal interests so just many don’t.
Technological advancement created platforms that would become the blueprint to our modern social media.
Beta-Max crawled so the DVR could run.
Finding ways to monetize television outside of commercials has since been perfected and Disneys legal team has always been a beast.
Nixon, watergate…
….. The Manson cult
How quickly we forget.
It’s no coincidence.
During the last century, when our nation is in need of revolution the bell bottoms come out.
Then we fail to radicalize, heal and support the root and those roots become the inheritence for our children, our country, our future.
History will continue to repeat itself until we listen and change.
- Shyralyse ♥️
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