Bell-bottoms became very fashionable in the late 1960s and much of the 1970s, both for men and women.They began as part of the hippie counterculture movement in the 1960s, together with love beads, granny glasses, and tie-dye shirts; in the 1970s, they moved into the mainstream. Sonny and Cher helped popularize bell-bottoms by wearing them on their popular T.V. show. They can, however, be seen as early as 1964,in the concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show worn by a young Tony Basil, who at the time was a go-go dancer in the film, and wore white "flares" with a baby-doll top.
David Bowie
Twiggy
Sonny and Cher
(Getty Images: Decades of Fashion)
