Fearless innovators of the 70s

Men always like to think they are more sophisticated than their fathers, but it's particularly true of men born in the 70s. We're safe in the knowledge that Dad's idea of an urbane evening involved the following: a liberal application of Brut; a rump steak and a coffee floater at a Berni Inn; drinking an enormous can of bitter you could open only with a hammer, then singing Nice One Cyril at the top of your voice. How gauche and tame it all seems when viewed from the era of caprihanas, blackened cod and L'Oréal Men Expert Wrinkle De-Crease With Boswelox.

And yet, I'm not entirely certain that our confidence in our increased sophistication isn't misplaced, at least when it comes to clothes. Whenever you see an early 70s TV show, every ordinary twenty- or thirtysomething male seems to be dressed extraordinarily: a riot of colours, patterns and weirdly experimental clothing. The way they occasionally make your eyeballs ache suggests not all the experiments were successful, but you can't deny that men appear to have lost a bit of boldness over the intervening years. Pictorial evidence suggests my father - no fashionista - attended my birth wearing a rather raffish-looking, loosely-knotted paisley cravat. Frankly, three cheers - or, more pertinently, a rousing chorus of Nice One Cyril - for Dad.

So maybe it's time we stopped sniggering at average 70s man and started heralding him as a fearless innovator. Certainly Farah seem to think so: they've relaunched their 70s staple trousers in, among other colours, orange and chocolate. The only question is, where will Noughties man find the courage to wear them? Perhaps someone should think about relaunching those enormous cans of bitter you could open only with a hammer.

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