1970s Research

 1970s Research:

The 1970s was extremely diverse and makeup ranged from very natural to very intense with different subcultures including disco and punk. Natural makeup was also popular.

Blush was quite natural in terms of both colour and application and creams, powders and gel formulas were used. From the mid-1970s, blush became more intense and was in stripes across the cheeks sometimes even from the temples down. A tanned look was desired which means that bronzer was used to create a sun-kissed glow (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

Eyebrows ranged from very skinny and over-plucked to slightly thicker, skinny eyebrows were curved similar to how they were in the 1920s and thicker eyebrows were slightly shaped with an arch, these were similar to the eyebrows in the 1950s (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

Eyeliner varied depending on the subculture you were part of people who wore more natural makeup often wouldn’t wear eyeliner, but others would wear it on the upper and lower lash line and punks and goths opted for a very intense application that was well defined. A white line behind the black line was often worn by teenagers and younger women but eyeliner also came in blue, green, grey, burgundy, and brown (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

Eyeshadow varied on the subculture but popular colours seen on adverts included blues, greens, and purples along with earthy tones and whites and silvers were used to highlight under the eyebrow. Powder, liquid and cream formulas were used and words such as “velvet” and “frost” were used to describe them, they could have a matte or shimmer finish and eye crayons also became extremely popular in the 1970s. crease colours were blended to create a softer edge and they a cat eye or almond shape eye was desired, others used 1 shade over the whole lid up towards the eyebrow and then use a lighter shade to highlight under the eyebrow. More blended eye looks were fashionable; however, punk eye looks often involved more harsh lines (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

Advert for Boots 17 Colour Crayons (1974)

Maybelline eyeshadow colours

Mascara was worn on both the upper and lower lashes and the application varied depending on the time it was worn, for example, during the day there was a lighter application, and a heavier application was usually for the night. False lashes were more natural to help emphasise the natural lashes and mascara came in a variety of colours including basic colours such as, black, brown, blue, green, and grey and brighter colours including turquoise, raspberry, and lavender (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

(Left and top row): April 1976, March 1977 and August 1978. (Bottom and right): April 1978, August 1979 and Vogue cover December 1979.

Lipsticks with gloss was fashionable throughout the decade, however, at the start of the decade deep fruity colours such as plum were popular and red lipstick became popular again at the very beginning of the decade and again from the mid-1970s onwards. Natural makeup included colours such as, raspberry, peach, and pinks and lips were not heavily lined with lip liner and if it was used, it wasn’t visible. Very shiny lip gloss was extremely popular especially for teens and younger women and flavoured glosses became popular, flavours included fruity tangs and mint, to things like bubble gum (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook,2013).

Cover Girl lip glosses (1974)

Max Factor lip colours (1974)

The tanned look was extremely fashionable, and this led to lots of sun damaged skin so spf was introduced to help protect the skin while still helping achieve a tan.

There were many influences on makeup, music was one of the biggest influences and disco was one of the biggest genres of the decade with singers like Donna Summer, Debbie Harry, Cher and Siouxsie Sioux had huge influences on makeup and they influenced different subcultures. Punk makeup was very intense and included very pale skin, dramatic eyes, brows, and cheeks and was often described as “provocative, ferocious, and tribal” (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

The feminism movement also had a huge influence on makeup, natural makeup in particular, as they would say that “beauty is from within” and not painted on as they didn’t want to be seen as sex objects (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

The Women’s Strike for Equality march in New York 1970, showing the fashion for long straight hair and natural-looking makeup.

Magazines were extremely popular for teenagers and young women which meant that the adverts in magazines influenced styles as people wanted to look like the models in the pictures and magazines helped set the trends for the decade. The UK magazine “Spare Rib (1972-1993) talked about domestic violence, abortion, rape, sexual harassment and other issues that the mainstream mags stayed away from” (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

Vogue covers from April 1970, June 1970 and March 1971

Film stars also helped to set trends and special effects makeup in particular was hugely affected as new techniques were being used, for example, in The Exorcist (1973) has some of the most iconic makeup in history, no makeup looks has ever been done in that style before which helped give it such a huge impact on the audience and the make was very advanced for this time.

Linda Blair in The Exorcist (1973)

That 70s Show is an amazing depiction of the styles of the decade, Jackie who’s played by Mila Kunis and Laurie who’s played by Lisa Robin Kelly demonstrate the makeup work by many teenagers and young women, lip gloss was the most important thing to them and Donna who’s played by Laura Prepon has a feminist attitude and she wouldn’t wear makeup very often.

Shorter trends in the 1970s included: (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013)

• ·         “1971 – the highly painted “doll face”, inspired by the Art Deco revival”

• ·         “1972 – the Walt Disney princess look, after makeup artist Barbara Daly created a “Snow White” look for Vogue using Mary Quant makeup”

• ·         “1975 – The Pierrot which included a heavy mask-like foundation and a Cupid’s Bow mouth. Created for the Christmas cover of British Vogue”

A popular hairstyle of the decade was the afro, this hairstyle was worn largely by the African Americans and the black community, however, it was also worn by other ethical groups which gave people with naturally curly hair a hairstyle other than the long straight look and perming was used to create this style when it became fashionable (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013).

Marsha Hunt with a natural Afro and Barbra Streisand with a permed "Afro" in 1979.

Cornrows were also very popular, and they were often decorated with beads, flowers or shells, it also didn’t require any relaxer or other harsh chemicals (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

(Left to Right) Actress Cicely Tyson, who rejected straightening in the ’60s and wore an Afro, is shown here in the early ’70s with cornrows; Floella Benjamin in 1976; Bo Derek in about 1979.

Very long hair was often very straight and sometimes had a little bit of volume.

The pageboy had been worn for centuries and it was a bowl-like shaped hairstyle.

(Left to Right) Joanna Lumley with the much admired “Purdey”; Very happy have a Purdey it seems; A sleek salon pageboy

The shag was another popular hairstyle which consisted of even layers and a full fringe and a longer version of this style was often called a gypsy cut (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

Jane Fonda, Joan Jett and Suzi Quatro looking splendid with shag cuts

The stack perm became popular later in the decade and it consisted of perming the middle and bottom of the hair while leaving the crown untouched which created a halo of curls (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

(Left to Right): Donna Summer; A classic stack perm do; And how the perm rods were stacked up

The wedge was popular which was a short haircut with angular layers, and this created a triangle shape cut (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

Dorothy Hamill (left) and two other examples of wedge haircuts

Punk hairstyles consisted of lots of different looks which included short, spiked, shaved or sculpted styles, the skinhead was a very popular style, and it came back from the 1950s and colouring hair became very popular, Crazy Color was released in 1977 and this product is still widely used today (Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook, 2013). 

(Left to Right): Vivienne Westwood; Soo Catwoman with her trademark cat ears; and two women on the London Underground with jet black hair.

Casual drug use also became very widespread and popular drugs included: (Nostalgia Central, No Date)

• ·        Marijuana

• ·        Valium

• ·        Acid (LSD)

• ·        PCP/Angel Dust

• ·         Speed/Cocaine/ Heroin

Withdraw Symptoms include:

Physical withdrawal symptoms include: (Priory Group, 2020)

·         Nausea and vomiting

·         Diarrhoea

·         Muscle and bone pain

·         High temperature and/or chills

·         Fatigue and exhaustion

·         Restlessness

·         Vivid, unpleasant dreams

·         Flu-like symptoms

·         Headaches

·         Heart palpitations

·         Excessive sweating

·         Shaking and shivering

Psychological withdrawal symptoms include: (Priory Group, 2020)

• ·         Depression

• ·         Anxiety

• ·         Paranoia

• ·         Insomnia

• ·         Panic attacks

• ·         Confusion

• ·         Irritability and agitation

• ·         Difficulty focusing or concentrating

• ·         Intense cravings for the drug

• ·         Short-term memory loss

More severe withdrawal symptoms include: (Priory Group, 2020)

• ·         Rapid heart rate

• ·         Elevated body temperature

• ·         Extreme confusion

• ·         Uncontrollable shaking/shivering

• ·         Visual and/or auditory hallucinations

• ·         Seizures

There were hundreds of serial killers active in this decade from all around the world and this decade had some of the most infamous killers in history including, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper and Harold Shipman, Fred and Rose West were also active in the 1970s and Jeffrey Dahmer began his killing spree in the late 1970s.

Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris are known as the Toolbox Killers who had 5 victims in the late 1970s, they met in prison and they raped and murdered 5 girls, it was all recorded and it all happened in a white van that they called “Murder Mack.” They abducted 16-year-old Cindy Schaeffer and she was their first victim, they “forced into her truck, duct-taped her mouth, and bound her ankles and wrists” then they raped, tortured, and murdered her by wrapping a wire coat hanger around her neck and using pliers to tighten them and strangle her before dumping her body in the canyon (Murderpedia, No Date). Their next victim was 18-year-old Andrea Hall who was hitchhiking and “Norris jumped her, bound her arms and legs, and taped her mouth shut” and they both raped her multiple times before Norris left to get beer and when he returned Bittaker was looking at polaroid pictures of her, he’d stabbed her in both ears with an ice pick then strangled her and threw her body off a cliff (Murderpedia, No Date). Their next 2 victims were 15-year-old Jackie Gilliam and 13-year-old Leah Lamp, they offered the girls a ride and they got into the back of the van, they got suspicious and Lamp tried to open the door but Norris hit her over the head with a bat to prevent this and Bittaker helped to bound both the girls and they kept the girls alive for 2 days. During those 2 days, they raped and tortured the girls using a wire coat hanger and pliers and they made an audio recording of every incident and then Bittaker stabbed Gilliam in both ears with an ice pick but that didn’t kill her so Norris and Bittaker took turns to strangle her until she died. “Bittaker then strangled Lamp while Norris hit her in the head with a sledgehammer seven times” and then they threw the bodies off a cliff and the ice pick was still Gilliam’s head (Murderpedia, No Date). “They kidnapped Shirley Sanders on September 30^th and both men raped her, but she escaped before being murdered but the police didn’t take any further as she was unable to identify the men (Murderpedia, No Date). Their final victim was 16-year-old Lynette Ledford, they kidnapped her then Bittaker stabbed her multiple times and tortured her with pliers before eventually strangling her with a wire hanger and he used pliers to make a very tight loop around her neck and the whole thing was audio recorded which meant that all of her creams and pleas were recorded and she was told that she wasn’t allowed to stop screaming (Murderpedia, No Date). 

Toolbox Killers Victims

They were caught after Norris had been bragging to another friend that he met in prison and his friend thought that Norris was lying until the body of the last victim was found and then he went to his lawyer who contacted the police, during the trial they were both found guilty and Bittaker was put on death row and gave himself the nickname “Pliers Bittaker” and Norris was spared the death penalty because he testified against Bittaker (Murderpedia, No Date), Bittaker died December 13, 2019 aged 79 and Norris died February 24, 2020 aged 72. 

Bittaker on trial in 1981

Norris shortly before his arrest in 1979 

John Wayne Gacy is one of the most famous serial killers, he had been married and divorced twice and has 2 biological children and 2 stepdaughters. He was very well liked by his community and “Gacy was a member of a Chicago-area "Jolly Joker" clown club and frequently performed in clown attire and makeup at children's parties, charity fundraisers and other events,” he called himself “Pogo the Clown” and he used this to lure his victims back to his home where he would sexually assault and rape them, he had been to prison multiple times for sexual assault and all of his victims were male. He assaulted, raped, and murdered at least 24 people, he murdered them by strangling them with his hands or rope. When the police searched his home they found numerous bodies in a crawl space below his house and later Gacy confessed to killing roughly 30 people between 1972 and 78, his first victim was a 16-year-old boy called Timothy McCoy and his last victim was 15-year-old Robert Piest, when they searched his house 8 bodies couldn’t be identified. During interviews, Gacy said “A clown can get away with murder” and later while in prison he said “I should never have been convicted of anything more serious than running a cemetery without a license” (Biography, 2017). 

Gacy as Pogo the Clown 

After being released from prison after murdering his grandparents, Edmund Kemper wanted to be a state trooper, but he couldn’t be due to his size. A police officer gave him a training badge, gun, and even a car that looked like a police car, but he had an accident and badly injured his arm which meant that he was unable to work but he got a payout which he then used to buy a car. He started to notice how many young women were hitchhiking so he started to store supplies in his car that he’d need to murder someone, these included a gun, a knife and handcuffs (Biography, 2017). He started by picking hitchhikers then let them go but he picked up 2 students called Mary Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa and later Pesce’s head was found but Luchessa’s remains were never found, after murdering them he took them back to his house and removed their heads and hands and he also claimed to have had sexual relations with their corpses. Later that year he picked up 15-year-old Aiko Koo and she suffered the same fate as Pesce and Luchessa. He continued his killing spree when he picked up Cindy Schall, he shot her and hid her body in his mothers home, he then dismembered the body the following day and threw some body parts in the ocean which later discovered when they washed up on the shore but he buried her head in the garden. Later that year he picked up 2 students and shot them both then drove out of the university campus and when he arrived home he decapitated them and further dismembered their bodies, he removed the bullets from their heads then disposed of them in different places. He then committed his last 2 murders, he had an argument with his mother and he attacked her after she went to sleep, he hit her in the head with a hammer then slit her throat, as he did with his other victims he removed her hands and head before he also removed her larynx and put it down the garbage disposal. After disposing of her body, he invited his mother’s friend, Sally Hallett, over when he continued to strangle her and hid her body in the cupboard (Biography, 2017). 

Edmund Kemper Victims

He fled east and confessed to the murders, the police didn’t believe him, but he gave them evidence they needed to prove that he was the “Co-ed Killer.” He was charged with 8 counts of murder and was found guilty, when asked what his punishment he should be given he said that he should be tortured to death but he was given 8 life sentences which he is currently serving in California (Biography, 2017). 

Edmund Kemper's mugshot Photo: Getty Images

The Doodler is an unidentified serial killer from the 1970s who killed at least 5 victims, but it’s thought that there is up to 16 victims, all the victims died due to sharp-force trauma. It is thought that at least 3 witnesses that survived but refused to identify themselves as they feared the backlash of coming out as part of the LGBTQ community, 2 confirmed victims were European and another was a drag performer, this serial killer would often request a sketch of a potential victim before killing them (Unidentified Wiki, No Date). 

1975 composite accompanying the original frontal sketch 

Bibliography:

Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook (2013) Women’s 1970s Makeup: An Overview Available at: https://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1970s-makeup/ (Accessed: 22nd November 2020)

Hair and Makeup Artist Handbook (2013) Women’s 1970s Hairstyles: An Overview Available at: https://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1970s-hairstyles/ (Accessed: 22^nd November 2020)

Nostalgia Central (No Date) DRUGS IN THE 1970S Available at: https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/fads/drugs-in-the-1970s/ (Accessed: 28^th November 2020)

Priory Group (2020) Drug withdrawal Available at: https://www.priorygroup.com/addiction-treatment/drug-rehab/drug-withdrawal (Accessed: 28^th November 2020)

Murderpedia (No Date) Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker Available at: http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bittaker-lawrence.htm (Accessed: 28^th November 2020)

Biography (2017) John Wayne Gacy Biography Available at: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-wayne-gacy (Accessed: 28^th November 2020)

Biography (2017) Edmund Kemper Biography Available at: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/edmund-kemper (Accessed: 28^th November 2020)

Unidentified Wiki (No Date) The Doodler Available at: https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/The_Doodler (Accessed: 28^th November)