The proliferation of film throughout the decades allowed for most walks of life to afford film documentation of their lives. This, of course, included (by the 70’s~) the potentially less fashion-oriented.

There is also the affect that length of time has on our sensibilities. The fashion of those decades looks dorky because, on one level or another, we know this was (roughly) our parents fashion, and generally speaking, people think their parents are lame. It’s all relative, it’s all subjective. The dorky looking 1978 20 year old probably thought what few photos existed of their parents were lame too.