# 70's Sartorial Insanity



## JDC (Dec 2, 2006)

Yesterday I stumbled on this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog. What were people thinking? Was it some kind of mass insanity?


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## Alexander Kabbaz (Jan 9, 2003)

FrankDC said:


> Yesterday I stumbled on this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog. What were people thinking? Was it some kind of mass insanity?


I agree. What were they thinking?!? No sense of style! They definitely should have paired the yellow pants with the black floral shirt.

Although, personally, I would have gone for the blue/blue combo if only the collar points were a tad longer.


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## My Pet. A Pantsuit (Dec 25, 2008)

I have 3 Montgomery Wards catalogs full of stuff like this. The suiting was the abject worst.


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## JDC (Dec 2, 2006)

Alexander Kabbaz said:


> I agree. What were they thinking?!? No sense of style! They definitely should have paired the yellow pants with the black floral shirt.
> 
> Although, personally, I would have gone for the blue/blue combo if only the collar points were a tad longer.


Alex, did people really aspire to look like pimps back then? I'm trying to understand the mindset that would find these outfits attractive.


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

FrankDC said:


> Alex, did people really aspire to look like pimps back then? I'm trying to understand the mindset that would find these outfits attractive.


It's not they who look like pimps, it's that our concept of pimp style comes from 1970s blaxploitation films ("Shaft" etc) which featured then-trendy styles.

It's interesting to see how some older styles still look "good" (British "mod" style, for example) while some look "bad" (those 70s styles, the boxy 80s styles and so on). I don't really know enough about clothing style to explain the difference, but it's pretty distinct and, interestingly, usually fairly agreed-upon ( most people share a disdain for disco couture, for example.)

I suspect the baggy street fashion look of today will be regarded as comically preposterous in a few years... or at least one hopes 

DH


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## sko (Jul 1, 2009)

My eyes! Oh dear Christ, take it away!

Not having lived through the 1970s, stuff like this just makes me shake my head in disbelief. It is just...so...horrible. And it's a J.C. Penny ad. Since when were they on the cutting edge of fashion? Was this just what everyone wore?!? If that's the case, my parents must have burned a lot of photographs...


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## TomK (Nov 18, 2009)

I am still suffering from the times as a kid where I was dressed in hideous fashion and often velour.

Sitting in the seat of my father's Pontiac I could not tell where the velour seat ended and my velour shirts began.

And don;t get me started on the bright red furniture we had...


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## Epaminondas (Oct 19, 2009)

Star Wars, Jaws, & The Godfather....

The above are the only good thing to come from the 70s. The entire decade was abysmal or, at least, a malaise pervaded.........

I can't believe bell bottoms ...ahem... "flared" legs and sandals made a comeback in recent years. The whole decade was abhorrent - anyone who says differently lies and probably graduated from high school in the 70s (we're all biased by the years spent in high school).


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## David V (Sep 19, 2005)

There is no explaining it.
You just had to be there.

It did cure me of polyester.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

The vast majority of folks didn't dress like that in the 70's as denim was far more common place than the stereotyped pimp and Saturday Night Fever stuff. As far as the more commonly seen outlandish clothing of the day, this would be things liked wide striped double knit pants and flowered shirts, but these were seen more in the late 60's and very early 70's. Leisure suits and platform shoes did have a brief period of popularity, but even those didn't look like the folks in the ad posted by the OP.

This picture from 1974 (when I was 25 years old) is far more typical of how young people dressed back then, at least in that vast area between New York and Los Angeles known as middle America.










Cruiser


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## JDC (Dec 2, 2006)

I dunno, Cruiser, I've seen enough Brady Bunch episodes and other shows from the 1970's to know these clothes were popular and widespread. Also, as another post pointed out, this is a JC Penney catalog. They're about as mainstream as it gets.

Tonight I asked some older friends about it, and they said these outfits were standard nightclub wear in the 70's, not something you'd see much of outside that environment. One friend mentioned the Steve Martin/Dan Ackroyd "two wild and crazy guys" bit from Saturday Night live. They dressed exactly like this.


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## iclypso (Jan 10, 2009)

Maybe that wasn't Everyman's daily outfit but those lemon pants (with matching belt), silk print shirt with the, um, v-neck, and hat (which can only be described as "K") are horrifying even to someone who grew up in the style crisis known as the 90's. If not for that mysterious 'stache peering out from the shadow of the custard-banded "K"-hat, I think he'd have a hard time pulling the off the look.

:icon_pale:

I had no idea these outfits were mainstream enough to be offered at a store like JC Penney. Was 1970's JC Penney closer to Spencer Gifts than the current incarnation? Like any good train wreck, it's hard to pull my eyes away from that shirt but I start grinning when I see the front tie floral shirt otherwise known as "B". By the time I get to the patterned hernia-inhibitor otherwise known as "F", I'm in hysterics.

*Please someone turn to Page 442!!*


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## ourkid (Nov 17, 2009)

Watered down versions of these styles definitely found their way to the UK, as photos of me as a child will attest.

Personally I believe most of the worst excesses of man-made fibre died out when personal computers became affordable and early adopters got tired of killing their expensive new systems with the massive static shocks they were generating .


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## Mattdeckard (Mar 11, 2004)

Do you have the page with the description?


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## My Pet. A Pantsuit (Dec 25, 2008)

Wards' delivery of the "European" look, circa 1977. Note the sneering lapel on the leprechaun.


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## deanayer (Mar 30, 2008)

First day of school going into 7th grade and I and my friend were decked out in JC Penny's giant floral print rayon shirts with mega collars and I had the baddest pair of two-tone platform shoes that were brown and black. Wearing them I am sure I was at least 5 feet tall! Half the school had gone disco over the summer and I am sure none of us had seen Saturday night fever due to its R rating. Even without the movie's inspiration we looked like extras from it albeit pint sized. 

What's funny is that Penny's made this same garish crap for kids at the same time they were making it for boomers in their heavy plumage years.


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## Mr. Walter Trent (Jul 21, 2009)

FrankDC said:


> ...this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog...


Images like these always make me wonder why some on this forum rant and rave that flat front pants are so great.

Wally


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## Srynerson (Aug 26, 2005)

Alexander Kabbaz said:


> FrankDC said:
> 
> 
> > Yesterday I stumbled on this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog. What were people thinking? Was it some kind of mass insanity?
> ...


Wait, just a minute, that fellow in the blue outfit looks familiar. Curly/wavy hair . . . moustache . . . hmmmm. :devil:


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## Srynerson (Aug 26, 2005)

More seriously, is there a proper tailoring term for the button arrangements on both the black and blue pairs of trousers?


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## My Pet. A Pantsuit (Dec 25, 2008)

Srynerson said:


> More seriously, is there a proper tailoring term for the button arrangements on both the black and blue pairs of trousers?


Sansabelt?


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

sko said:


> My eyes! Oh dear Christ, take it away!
> 
> Not having lived through the 1970s, stuff like this just makes me shake my head in disbelief. It is just...so...horrible. And it's a J.C. Penny ad. Since when were they on the cutting edge of fashion? Was this just what everyone wore?!? If that's the case, my parents must have burned a lot of photographs...


Having lived through the 1970's and seeing outfits such as those pictured in the OP, in the catalogues and in the movies, I very rarely saw those sorts of outfits outside of such venues. Perhaps Cruiser and I just did not get off Base enough in those days to witness the sartorial splendor that we were missing out on! The closest I ever ventured to such extremism was perhaps, wallpaper print shirts and earth shoes...heavy sigh...the shame of it all!


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

FrankDC said:


> I dunno, Cruiser, I've seen enough Brady Bunch episodes and other shows from the 1970's to know these clothes were popular and widespread. Also, as another post pointed out, this is a JC Penney catalog. They're about as mainstream as it gets.
> 
> Tonight I asked some older friends about it, and they said these outfits were standard nightclub wear in the 70's, not something you'd see much of outside that environment. One friend mentioned the Steve Martin/Dan Ackroyd "two wild and crazy guys" bit from Saturday Night live. They dressed exactly like this.


Brady Bunch episodes?? Those people were dressed like the stereotypical "nice" family.

The vast majority of people dressed very similar to Cruiser's picture unless they were going to church, work, a wedding or a funeral. (At least this is true for most who were 25 or under.)

Older people and children whose parents still dressed them dressed like the Brady Bunch sometimes.


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> Brady Bunch episodes?? Those people were dressed like the stereotypical "nice" family.
> 
> The vast majority of people dressed very similar to Cruiser's picture unless they were going to church, work, a wedding or a funeral. (At least this is true for most who were 25 or under.)
> 
> Older people and children whose parents still dressed them dressed like the Brady Bunch sometimes.


I'm glad someone set the record straight. Thanks also to Cruiser for the picture.


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## Srynerson (Aug 26, 2005)

My Pet said:


> Sansabelt?


Maybe, but the fastening arrangement on the trousers above doesn't especially resemble the pictures I'm finding on-line for Sansabelt slacks:


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## El_Abogado (Apr 21, 2009)

D---ed dirty hippies and dope smokers. The 70's remain an embarassment on many levels.


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## JDC (Dec 2, 2006)

deanayer said:


> First day of school going into 7th grade and I and my friend were decked out in JC Penny's giant floral print rayon shirts with mega collars and I had the baddest pair of two-tone platform shoes that were brown and black. Wearing them I am sure I was at least 5 feet tall! Half the school had gone disco over the summer and I am sure none of us had seen Saturday night fever due to its R rating. Even without the movie's inspiration we looked like extras from it albeit pint sized.
> 
> What's funny is that Penny's made this same garish crap for kids at the same time they were making it for boomers in their heavy plumage years.


It appears someone is still making these clothes:


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## cmacey (May 3, 2009)

eagle2250 said:


> Having lived through the 1970's and seeing outfits such as those pictured in the OP, in the catalogues and in the movies, I very rarely saw those sorts of outfits outside of such venues. Perhaps Cruiser and I just did not get off Base enough in those days to witness the sartorial splendor that we were missing out on! The closest I ever ventured to such extremism was perhaps, wallpaper print shirts and earth shoes...heavy sigh...the shame of it all!


No, I don't think so. Where I grew up - TX and AL, I don't remember seeing many dressed like that either. Clothing in movies such as those featuring Jodie Foster were more the norm I think. Personally, I burned all but one photo of me from that era - couldn't come to grips with the truth I guess. These days I claim ignorance and will plead the 5th when questioned.
Sad days were they!


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

*El Abogado!*

My dear friend

I saw your comment. And you are quite the educated man.
Again, let me educate you some more.
I and many in this forum enjoyed that carefree ere. Sad to say you missed out.
I think I smoked the best pot, did great lines of dexedrine!
And brought them down with a great Rorer 714 Quaalude. Soper to those who missed out on this great generation.
And you know what, got a great military career out of it, couple great grad degrees etc.
I have a Psych friend of mine, has the boomer kids identified quite nicely.
He says, in laymen terms, that they are all assholes!
Come on down a bit from heaven enjoy a joint with us, clear your head some.
And get hip!
After some hash you will love the look my friend, maybe a hit of acid as well

LOL


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## JDC (Dec 2, 2006)

DukeGrad said:


> My dear friend
> 
> I saw your comment. And you are quite the educated man.
> Again, let me educate you some more.
> ...


Jimmy, have you ever seen this:






It's hysterical. In one clip, a soldier starts climbing a tree because he wants to feed the birds. :icon_smile_big:


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## thunderw21 (Sep 21, 2008)

The '70s had more style than the '90s and 2000s. Albeit bad style, but a style of it's own nonetheless. You know '70s fashion when you see it!


Those trousers in the first pic have been influenced by the Oxford Bags of the 1920s and '30s, though the '70s version is hideously done. Early '70s fashion was very influenced by '30s style but it took a turn for the worse


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Yeah, I was there too (I think, parts are a little hazy) and not that many people went full disco. Not to mention that what many/most people assume about "hippies" is more a Nixon-response than the truth, a Time magazine "What is Youth Wearing Now?" level of non-info.

This style was a sort of continuation of the British "Carnaby Street" look of the mid-60s. Who else lusted after mini-skirted "Dolly Birds"?


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## Alexander Kabbaz (Jan 9, 2003)

FrankDC said:


> Alex, did people really aspire to look like pimps back then? I'm trying to understand the mindset that would find these outfits attractive.


To be brief, you only have to look at the heros of the day - The O'Jays, MFSB, Barry White ... even the Jackson 5 - to understand from whence the motivation. Remember, this was the disco era. People were painting themselves silver and cavorting in silver Speedos. Transvestite Divine was a cult hero of the disco era. I can even remember the publisher of _Billboard_, Bill Wardlow, opening the annual disco show in one of the blue outfits. His was brown and he sported a brown blazer - doubleknit, of course.



Srynerson said:


> Wait, just a minute, that fellow in the blue outfit looks familiar. Curly/wavy hair . . . moustache . . . hmmmm. :devil:


 Damn! I've been exposed.



My Pet said:


> Sansabelt?


Entirely correct!


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## comrade (May 26, 2005)

FrankDC said:


> Yesterday I stumbled on this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog. What were people thinking? Was it some kind of mass insanity?


I have it in my "clip art" folder. It's great. To my credit, I say
modestly, I never dressed like that in the '70s. Neither Paul Stuart
nor Chipp ever carried such edgy threads


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

double post


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

I still contend that not many men dressed like that in the 70's and I believe that I was in the prime age group to know. I turned 20 in 1969 which means that the decade of the 70's was the decade of my 20's, almost to a tee since I reached the ripe old age of 30 in 1979, the end of the decade. During that decade I lived in San Diego, Nashville, and Beaufort SC, a coastal town about 15 miles north of Hilton Head.

For example, I remember an incident in 1974 when I was in a hard rock night club in Nashville. The band invited a guest singer to do a song with them and the guy was dressed similar to the guys in the picture and he was practically booed off the stage solely on the basis of his appearance. Actually he was quite good, but that didn't matter to the crowd.

For the record this is the band, and their attire, that was onstage that night. They also spent time as the opening act for_ The Ides of March_. The guy in the middle was a dear friend of mine who died much too young. He could make his Hammond B-3 talk; a heck of a keyboard player.










Cruiser


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## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

Is it any surprise that the 70's is often referred to as the decade that taste forgot.


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

*Frank DC*

I just saw that and am going to save that one!
I like the man with a rocket launcer, talk about a 1000 stare!
The Brits did a study, on minimal amount of troops, as did the US.
I trained very hard for a few years to get me strength up, to be a great soldier!
That is a riot.
All in all, am being facetious about tthis issue.
I, like a couple presidents who only did not inhale, plead the very same.
Except when it was hash, dexedrine, and a nice Soper!
There I go again,

Andy, got an old hippie pot head here!
Oh God that film was a riot, everyone should see that.
Another one I loked was Kellys heroes which was a classic.

Have nice day friends.

Jimmy


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## AscotWithShortSleeves (Apr 12, 2009)

ajo said:


> Is it any surprise that the 70's is often referred to as the decade that taste forgot.


True--but that could also be said of the '80s, which spawned parachute pants, MC Hammer pants, sleeveless t-shirts, too-short Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts for men, legwarmers for women, Members Only nylon jackets; I'm sure we could all go on.

Hopefully no one has a photo of me in my 2001-era duckbill shoes!


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## gaseousclay (Nov 8, 2009)

FrankDC said:


> Yesterday I stumbled on this page from a 1975 JC Penney catalog. What were people thinking? Was it some kind of mass insanity?


out of work porno actor comes to mind :icon_smile_big:


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

AscotWithShortSleeves said:


> True--but that could also be said of the '80s, which spawned parachute pants, MC Hammer pants, sleeveless t-shirts, too-short Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts for men,


Or perhaps the 1930's and 40's which spawned the zoot suit? I have a hunch that mainstream retailers like JCPenney carried them also back in the day.

The truth is that every decade and every generation has some wild, unorthodox clothing that is worn by a small segment of the population. To identify an entire decade or generation by something that simply didn't apply to most is unfair at best.

That isn't to say that the late 60's-70's didn't see a lot of young people wearing clothing that was different from the previous generation, but the fact is that only a small percentage wore the type clothing shown in that JCP catalogue picture. Denim jeans were much more commonly seen.

Cruiser


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

deanayer said:


> First day of school going into 7th grade and I and my friend were decked out in JC Penny's giant floral print rayon shirts with mega collars and I had the baddest pair of two-tone platform shoes that were brown and black. Wearing them I am sure I was at least 5 feet tall!


I too fell victim until HS when I discovered Levis, Lacoste, and Sperry!!


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## Alexander Kabbaz (Jan 9, 2003)

Cruiser said:


> Denim jeans were much more commonly seen.
> 
> Cruiser


 Not at night.

And it was *not* a small segment of the population. The "disco look", in its various manifestations, was _mainstream _for Baby Boomers from 1973/4 - 1979.


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## culverwood (Feb 13, 2006)

My Pet said:


>


Mean lapels on those suits mine reached the arm seam.

What about the safari jacket/suit I certainly had a couple and remember Roger Moore wearing them in his Bond films.

Things must have been very quiet where cruiser lived I remember shirts and trousers like the ones on the right in the JC Penney picture everywhere in the 70's, including on me. Nicer flares with big turn-ups and very tight in the groin area.


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

Cruiser said:


> I still contend that not many men dressed like that in the 70's and I believe that I was in the prime age group to know.
> Cruiser


Maybe it was the difference between being in your 20s and being in your 30s. I have pictures of my father, dresed in suits that were very fashionable for the time, going to make sales calls in the southern states. My favorite is a powder blue suit with leges wide wider than his waist, a white butterfly collar shirt open to the third button, and matching white patent leather shoes that had a heel that could iduce altitude sickness.

Now when we get those pictures out his only excuses are that bell bottoms were comfortable, and that they had a lot of really good drugs back in the 70s.


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## Trenditional (Feb 15, 2006)

TomK said:


> *And don;t get me started on the bright red furniture we had...*


Don't forget the lovely avocado green and gold appliances.


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Trenditional said:


> Don't forget the lovely avocado green and gold appliances.


Hey, my avocado oven still works great. I _want_ to replace it, but...


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

agnash said:


> Maybe it was the difference between being in your 20s and being in your 30s. I have pictures of my father, dresed in suits that were very fashionable for the time, going to make sales calls in the southern states. My favorite is a powder blue suit with leges wide wider than his waist, a white butterfly collar shirt open to the third button, and matching white patent leather shoes that had a heel that could iduce altitude sickness.


I'm not saying that there weren't folks dressed like you describe. Of course there were. Heck, I had a powder blue suit and a pair of platform shoes at one time, but when I put it on I was definitely in the minority and I only wore it a few times for this reason. Besides, the clothing you describe that your father wore isn't nearly the same as the clothing in the JCPenney ad which is the focus of the discussion.

Over the past year or so I've posted several pictures of me in the 70's. My clothing was very typical of 20-30 somethings of the day in my part of the country. There were a few folks who dressed like the JCP ad when they went out at night and quite a few more who were much more conservative. My attire put me squarely in the middle.

Early 70's as a college student.









Late mid-70's just hanging out.









Late mid-70's date night.









Late 70's on the job.









And finally an assortment of friends from various times in the 70's.




































These pictures are far more representative of how most 20-30 somethings dressed, at least in the South, in the 70's than any of these models in the JCP catalogue.

Cruiser


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

My Pet said:


> Wards' delivery of the "European" look, circa 1977. Note the sneering lapel on the leprechaun.


The guy on the right is pretty tastefully dressed even with the '70s proportions. Classic colours and patterns. At least there were a lot of three piece suits.



Mr. Walter Trent said:


> Images like these always make me wonder why some on this forum rant and rave that flat front pants are so great.
> 
> Wally


Ah, don't be silly! Not all plain fronts are the same. The ones favoured by "trads" here tend to be looser on the groin and thigh and taper a bit toward the bottom. Clearly the opposite of what is pictured in this thread.



AscotWithShortSleeves said:


> True--but that could also be said of the '80s, which spawned parachute pants, MC Hammer pants, sleeveless t-shirts, too-short Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts for men, legwarmers for women, Members Only nylon jackets; I'm sure we could all go on.
> 
> Hopefully no one has a photo of me in my 2001-era duckbill shoes!


But the '80s also ushered in the definitive preppy look. Not all was lost. :icon_smile_wink: Nipple-notch monstrosities aside, the suits I've seen from then definitely look better than the previous decade!


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Cruiser, I think you and Alex are both right, depending on the part of the country where you lived. You are probably more correct about small towns and rural places (I was in college in Marquette, MI during the 1974-78) and except when people were going to the one discoish bar, people dressed more like what you are suggesting.

In cities, I saw more of the look from the catalog.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

phyrpowr said:


> Hey, my avocado oven still works great. I _want_ to replace it, but...


...I'd have to replace the matching avocado fridge as well as the powder room sink and commode!!


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> Cruiser, I think you and Alex are both right, depending on the part of the country where you lived. You are probably more correct about small towns and rural places (I was in college in Marquette, MI during the 1974-78) and except when people were going to the one discoish bar, people dressed more like what you are suggesting.
> 
> In cities, I saw more of the look from the catalog.


I lived in Nashville for most of the 70's, a city much, much larger than Marquette MI, and a city with 21 colleges and universities in the immediate vicinity. Definitely a lot of young folks in the area and a lively night life which, contrary to popular opinion outside of Nashville, is far more than country music.

For example, notables who got their start in the nightclubs of Nashville include a young Jimmy Hendrix playing guitar for The King Casuals; the Allman Brothers Band, then known as The Allman Joys; and Ronny and the Daytonas of Little GTO fame. And then there were the songwriters living in Nashville and honing their skills such as a young Carole King.

My point is that it was a more progressive city than many think and there still weren't many who dressed like the JCP ad. Apparently it was much different up North. I knew there was some reason I preferred the South. :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

Trekking The Sheap Meadow on way to Studio 54 with a Bag'O'Blow, apparently for a confab of '70s versions of Hawkeye, Trapper and other military M-Dees from Dix. groovy


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## Alexander Kabbaz (Jan 9, 2003)

Cruiser said:


> I lived in Nashville for most of the 70's, a city much, much larger than Marquette MI, and a city with 21 colleges and universities in the immediate vicinity. Definitely a lot of young folks in the area and a lively night life which, contrary to popular opinion outside of Nashville, is far more than country music.
> 
> For example, notables who got their start in the nightclubs of Nashville include a young Jimmy Hendrix playing guitar for The King Casuals; the Allman Brothers Band, then known as The Allman Joys; and Ronny and the Daytonas of Little GTO fame. And then there were the songwriters living in Nashville and honing their skills such as a young Carole King.
> 
> ...


 If ever disco had an antithesis, it was Country music. Thankfully, the latter remained with us when the former died ... but I digress.

And where was "the Home of Country"? It's that place where they wear them denims with the bib and the blue straps over the shoulder. Ya know - where most folllks are a'sittin' on hay bales. Wait! I remember!!! It's *(violins in fast, high pitched stacatto rythym)* NASHVILLE!

Cruiser ... where was it you said you derived your worldly information about 1970's dress styles?


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Alexander Kabbaz said:


> If ever disco had an antithesis, it was Country music. Thankfully, the latter remained with us when the former died ... but I digress.
> 
> And where was "the Home of Country"?


Bakersfield, CA.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Alexander Kabbaz said:


> If ever disco had an antithesis, it was Country music. Thankfully, the latter remained with us when the former died ... but I digress.
> 
> And where was "the Home of Country"? It's that place where they wear them denims with the bib and the blue straps over the shoulder. Ya know - where most folllks are a'sittin' on hay bales. Wait! I remember!!! It's *(violins in fast, high pitched stacatto rythym)* NASHVILLE!
> 
> Cruiser ... where was it you said you derived your worldly information about 1970's dress styles?


Even country music didn't escape the '70s. :icon_smile_big:


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## dmac (Jun 30, 2006)

This link has more excerpts from the same catalog. Note that JC Penney apparently sold hookahs as well that year, along with guns:

https://janceedunn.typepad.com/wwwjanceedunncom/2007/09/jc-penneys-19-1.html


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

deleted


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

:icon_smile_big::icon_smile_big::icon_smile_big: OK, you guys got a chuckle out of me. But having said that, you also are making my point about the perception of Nashville of those outside of Nashville. Let me show you some of the local acts that the good citizens of Nashville were listening to in the nightclubs in the 60's and 70's. You can also get a feel for the attire.

The King Casuals, an R&B band. That's a young Jimmy Hendrix on the far left.










The Turning Point. The guy on the far right co-wrote and produced "The Super Bowl Shuffle" made famous by the Chicago Bears football team.










The Pat Patrick Band.










And then there were The Headstones. The name probably tells you all you need to know about them.










Some friends of mine, The United Steal.










But to be totally honest, there was some "country" as played by Barefoot Jerry. Perhaps there's a hay bale here.










And as much as it pains me, some disco also; or, as the band Rhapsody billed themselves, progressive disco.










And that was the 70's scene that I knew.

Cruiser


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> And that was the 70's scene that I knew.
> 
> Cruiser


You LIVED it!!

Rhapsody was the obvious inspiration for Murph and the Magic Tones from the Blues Brothers!!


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## foodguy (Feb 6, 2009)

i was there, too. and my experience was much the same as cruiser's (living in the southwest). actually, there was quite a split between disco and rock as well as disco and country (and some of that split did take on pretty nasty homophobic overtones). a couple things to remember: a) that crazy dressing was a reaction to decades of having to conform to a conservative norm. Mad Men is only cool if you weren't there. b) be careful what you laugh at: almost everything fashionable has its season in the dust. take a look in your closet and wonder "which of these will people be posting on the internet in 30 years?".


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## mbebeau (Feb 6, 2009)

Jovan said:


> Even country music didn't escape the '70s. :icon_smile_big:


That's a tragedy! I don't want my country stars in anything but white, rhinestones, and teal fringe.


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## Epaminondas (Oct 19, 2009)

DukeGrad said:


> My dear friend
> 
> ...I and many in this forum enjoyed that carefree ere. Sad to say you missed out. I think I smoked the best pot, did great lines of dexedrine!
> And brought them down with a great Rorer 714 Quaalude. Soper to those who missed out on this great generation.....
> ...


So, DukeGrad - is the above the explanation for your writing style? :icon_smile_wink:


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## jazz_tini (Jan 30, 2009)

Do you really believe that in 20 years the suave and hairy chested men-about-the-lounge in the Penney's catalog will seem much stranger than this? The 70s were awfu--pretty much like the last decade.

https://www.hairstylesdesign.com/articles/photos/86.jpg


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

jazz_tini said:


> The 70s were awfu--pretty much like the last decade.


Of course the late 30's and 40's were nothing to write home about either.










Cruiser


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## ashie259 (Aug 25, 2005)

My Pet said:


> Sansabelt?


Round our way (south London), trousers known as six-button bags were all the rage for a while in the mid-70s. They featured a very wide waistband, like these, only higher and sporting six buttons. They were impossibly flared and came in hideous pastel shades. You'd wear them with a wallpaper print shirt, a tank top and platforms or wedges. Job done.


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## My Pet. A Pantsuit (Dec 25, 2008)

Burn me at the stake, but I rather like some wallpaper print shirts. Maybe it's an instinct to become camouflaged in my surroundings, but I'd like to own more of them.


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## ashie259 (Aug 25, 2005)

My Pet said:


> Burn me at the stake, but I rather like some wallpaper print shirts. Maybe it's an instinct to become camouflaged in my surroundings, but I'd like to own more of them.


I remember my friend up the road, who was at the vanguard of 70s fashion, had a particularly enviable example featuring horseshoes. He also had some snot-green six-button bags to go with it.

Perhaps wisely, my mum wouldn't buy me anything of the sort. I'm quite grateful to her for that.

It's only in the last couple of decades that kids are all knowing and cool from about age three - before that, you just wore whatever your mum shoved on you. Same goes for haircuts - I had the same German-helmet haircut for years until I was about 12 and decided I wanted at least some say in the matter.


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## cuffthis (Jul 13, 2004)

Srynerson said:


> Wait, just a minute, that fellow in the blue outfit looks familiar. Curly/wavy hair . . . moustache . . . hmmmm. :devil:


Bingo, baby. Bingo.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

And then there were the 1920's, the decade of the wide pants.










I'm beginning to think that clothing was goofy looking in all decades, not just the 70's.

Cruiser


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## Thecountofcount (Feb 22, 2008)

@Cruiser:What a nice young lady. Anyone noticed how NOT period she looks like? Could be a picture of today.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Thecountofcount said:


> @Cruiser:What a nice young lady. Anyone noticed how NOT period she looks like? Could be a picture of today.


I really don't know if the photo is an actual 1920's photo or a more current one, but that doesn't alter the facts that the pants were real in the late 20's. This photo is reproduced in numerous web sites devoted to the history of men's clothing. They were called "Oxford Bags" because of their popularity at Oxford University in the mid-20's.

Here is a an ad from the 1933 Sears catalogue.










Cruiser


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## KCKclassic (Jul 27, 2009)

HA! the original ravers!?


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

KCKclassic said:


> HA! the original ravers!?


Bathtub Gin induced sartorial insanity!!


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Every decade had its stupid trends, but the '70s, by far, had the worst.


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## CuffDaddy (Feb 26, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> I'm beginning to think that clothing was goofy looking in all decades, not just the 70's.


There's ridiculous clothing in every decade to be sure. There's also clothing that looks good for a very long time afterward - usually the stuff that was not particularly hip during the decade.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Jovan said:


> Every decade had its stupid trends, but the '70s, by far, had the worst.


But that's only because you've been led to believe that everyone was wearing the type clothing in the JCP catalogue ad posted by the OP. The pictures that I posted earlier of my friends and I was far more typical of 70's attire than what the movies, television, and other pop culture vehicles want to present.

Here's a picture I took at a party of 20-30 somethings in 1979 or 80. It was about 2:00 am or so and several of the partygoers had snuck away to the kitchen to mellow out on the kitchen floor. People did tend to get mellow in the 70's. :icon_smile_big:

Again, this is more typical of how most folks across middle and southern America dressed.










Cruiser


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## Venturian (Nov 9, 2009)

*Valley Threads Class of '79*

Before I escaped from the Valley, we wore...

Wallaby shoes (with the holes properly sealed with duct tape), Levi cords (light blue and brown), a tee shirt, boxers (had to be boxers so they'd show when doing the lowrider thing), and a cotton flannel shirt for a jacket. Big ol comb or a bandana hanging from the back pocket. Oh yeah, and a skateboard. With Road Rider 4's, and Bennets. For tunes- Zeppelin:aportnoy:. No disco. No way.

I'll confess, a girlfriend made me wear velour shirts... But there was a trade off. :icon_smile_wink:


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## ashie259 (Aug 25, 2005)

Cruiser said:


> I really don't know if the photo is an actual 1920's photo or a more current one, but that doesn't alter the facts that the pants were real in the late 20's. This photo is reproduced in numerous web sites devoted to the history of men's clothing. They were called "Oxford Bags" because of their popularity at Oxford University in the mid-20's.
> 
> Here is a an ad from the 1933 Sears catalogue.
> 
> ...


Yes, these are very similar to the bags I was describing as being popular in 1975.

And wasn't Thecountofcount referring to the young lady in the picture you posted from the 1970s? If so, I thought the same.


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## bbcrock (Feb 13, 2009)

FrankDC said:


> I dunno, Cruiser, I've seen enough Brady Bunch episodes and other shows from the 1970's to know these clothes were popular and widespread. Also, as another post pointed out, this is a JC Penney catalog. They're about as mainstream as it gets.
> 
> Tonight I asked some older friends about it, and they said these outfits were standard nightclub wear in the 70's, not something you'd see much of outside that environment. One friend mentioned the Steve Martin/Dan Ackroyd "two wild and crazy guys" bit from Saturday Night live. They dressed exactly like this.


uhhh... there was more to it than even the Brady Bunch suggests- they were a hollywood show.

I remember a few altruisms:
1. Men universally wore short sleeve button down shirts with ties and looked like NASA engineers circa 1968.
2. Men smoked, some smoked cigars and some like my father and another guy on our block smoked pipes.
3. Some adult men, but pretty much all boys wore cords as formal slacks. I remember owning 6+ pairs of cords. Jeans were common as well but had odd meanings. It was still considered a bit gauche to wear jeans to school- perhaps not unlike sweat pants today.
4. I wore many plaid shirts- as did almost every other boy- you see that more in a movie like "Dazed and Confused" than on the brady bunch. If you were really tough you wore waffle weave long underwear shirts under an open plaid shirt. If you were really really weird you'd tie dye your waffle weave shirt.
5. I wore a lot of "original penguin" button down shirts.
6. many of the wildest urban fashions were somewhat racially segregated
7. Nylon windbreaker jackets were HUGE

Instead of watching the Brady Bunch for 1970s fashions, watch Adam 12. I think Adam 12 REALLY reflects the actual society a lot more. One thing I also remember is how many suits and ties my father still owned from the 1950s and 60s. He used to wear a $100 cowboy hat to look like LBJ and did so until at least 1979.


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## bbcrock (Feb 13, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> I lived in Nashville for most of the 70's, a city much, much larger than Marquette MI, and a city with 21 colleges and universities in the immediate vicinity. Definitely a lot of young folks in the area and a lively night life which, contrary to popular opinion outside of Nashville, is far more than country music.
> 
> For example, notables who got their start in the nightclubs of Nashville include a young Jimmy Hendrix playing guitar for The King Casuals; the Allman Brothers Band, then known as The Allman Joys; and Ronny and the Daytonas of Little GTO fame. And then there were the songwriters living in Nashville and honing their skills such as a young Carole King.
> 
> ...


I collect records by local 1960s bands with regional or no hits. there's a CD series called "Psychedelic States" which does a great job of documenting the local Deep South frat house and teen club bands of 1965-69. I happen to be well aware of Tennesee bands from that era, Memphis naturally, Nashville a bit more obscured by the Opry.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Those crazy cuffed Bellbottoms again!!




1973 Sears coutesy of lileks.com


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Cruiser, just let it go. I was going to chime in to say much the same as you, then remembered a response I once read in a lens discussion at Photo.net:

"You know what you saw; too many people know what you _must have seen" _


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

phyrpowr said:


> Cruiser, just let it go. I was going to chime in to say much the same as you, then remembered a response I once read in a lens discussion at Photo.net:
> 
> "You know what you saw; too many people know what you _must have seen" _


I agree, but I'm having too much fun with this; a heck of a lot more fun than I had in that 3 rolled to 2 thread. :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

phyrpowr said:


> Cruiser, just let it go. I was going to chime in to say much the same as you, then remembered a response I once read in a lens discussion at Photo.net:
> 
> "You know what you saw; too many people know what you _must have seen" _


It works both ways; How many of your Boomer contemporaries weren't at Woodstook or voted for Nixon??

None and none!!


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## video2 (Feb 11, 2008)

Oh yeee:


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

WouldaShoulda said:


> It works both ways; How many of your Boomer contemporaries weren't at Woodstook or voted for Nixon??


I wasn't at Woodstock, but that was because I was on a Navy ship at sea at the time and didn't have any way to get there. I was at the Peachtree Music Festival in Rockingham NC in 1972, where along with about 150,000 other people I saw Alice Cooper, The James Gang, Fleetwood Mac, Three Dog Night, Goose Creek Symphony, Poco, Rory Gallagher, Tower of Power, and Black Oak Arkansas, among others. It was hotter than hades until the sun went down. Alice Cooper hung himself at midnight. :icon_smile:










By the way, I voted for McGovern.

Cruiser


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## qtlaw24 (Nov 28, 2007)

Oh fond memories of plaid bell bottoms.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

HA!!

Just as I supected.

Everybody was at Woodstock (Or the next best thing)

Nobody voted for Nixon.

And nobody wore the awful clothes!!


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Here are some guys I went to school with in the early-mid 60's. They opened for such acts as The Lovin Spoonful, The Turtles, Lou Christie, and B.J. Thomas. In the first picture they are shown with Lou Christie. Some of the pants did get a little loud during that period of time, but most didn't wear those pants. In fact, with the exception of a couple of pairs of pants and a couple of shirts, most of the guys tended to dress in a relatively normal fashion which further shows that only a small percentage of guys wore the really wild clothing. And these were promotional shots for their band. Heck, they are even wearing some shirts with button down collars. :icon_smile:




























Cruiser


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## AMVanquish (May 24, 2005)

Cruiser said:


> I wasn't at Woodstock, but that was because I was on a Navy ship at sea at the time and didn't have any way to get there. I was at the Peachtree Music Festival in Rockingham NC in 1972, where along with about 150,000 other people I saw Alice Cooper, The James Gang, Fleetwood Mac, Three Dog Night, Goose Creek Symphony, Poco, Rory Gallagher, Tower of Power, and Black Oak Arkansas, among others. It was hotter than hades until the sun went down. Alice Cooper hung himself at midnight. :icon_smile:
> 
> By the way, I voted for McGovern.
> 
> Cruiser


Were you the one?


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

The Stones, Beatles, Beach Boys, everybody looked and sounded better in suits!!


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## La Fin du Monde (Jun 4, 2009)

Venturian said:


> Before I escaped from the Valley, we wore...
> 
> Wallaby shoes (with the holes properly sealed with duct tape), Levi cords (light blue and brown), a tee shirt, boxers (had to be boxers so they'd show when doing the lowrider thing), and a cotton flannel shirt for a jacket. Big ol comb or a bandana hanging from the back pocket. Oh yeah, and a skateboard. With Road Rider 4's, and Bennets. For tunes- Zeppelin:aportnoy:. No disco. No way.
> 
> I'll confess, a girlfriend made me wear velour shirts... But there was a trade off. :icon_smile_wink:


Amen to Zeppelin! To this day there are few better. I am surprised at how much Jimi, Ozzy, Bob, and Robert, Jimmy, Bonzo and JPJ still shine. So much of today's rock are derivative products.... and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There is Mayfield, James Brown and so on and so on.

I think I can safely say the 70's gave us much better music than clothing.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

I know I'm a 90s child, but the 70s definitely did rock in reference to rock music. I'm 24 but classic rock is still my go to to get away from the junky new rock. I still love 80s and 90s heavy metal though.


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## CuffDaddy (Feb 26, 2009)

And none of them looked as good (or sounded as good, IMO) as Miles Davis,

Max Roach,









Kenny Clarke,









Milt Jackson,

or John Coltrane









Notice that these pics span about a 20 year span, and everything would be at least wearable today. Max Roach particularly looks like he could be giving an interview to the WSJ about the new acquisition his company just made.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Elvis Costello rocked a suit!!



But Led Zep could not have been better even if they ever did wear suits!!


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

I think it's important to note that all of the many pictures that I've posted from the 60's and 70's in this thread have been of ordinary, run of the mill people. Many of them were friends of mine. Heck, some of them were me. Even the bands were for the most part local garage bands. It was an effort to show how regular folks were dressing back then.

While I enjoy the pictures and references to big name stars like Zeppelin, Elvis Costello, and the others, they don't really represent ordinary folk.

Cruiser


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## amplifiedheat (Jun 9, 2008)

Cruiser said:


> While I enjoy the pictures and references to big name stars like Zeppelin, Elvis Costello, and the others, they don't really represent ordinary folk.


Miles Davis even had his sleeves hemmed so as to show the right amount of cuff when playing trumpet.


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Cruiser said:


> I wasn't at Woodstock, but that was because I was on a Navy ship at sea at the time and didn't have any way to get there. I was at the Peachtree Music Festival in Rockingham NC in 1972, where along with about 150,000 other people I saw Alice Cooper, The James Gang, Fleetwood Mac, Three Dog Night, Goose Creek Symphony, Poco, Rory Gallagher, Tower of Power, and Black Oak Arkansas, among others. It was hotter than hades until the sun went down. Alice Cooper hung himself at midnight. :icon_smile:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cruiser, wasn't Rod Stewart and Faces supposed to headline? My buddy and I double dated to it, a blind date for me. Both girls were Smith College Young Republicans, who could kill a joint with one inhale. When I left my friend's house in Pinehurst the next day, his Dad, the 1960 & '64 NC Republican candidate for governor was grinning like mad. Down the road, I discovered he'd covered my McGovern bumper sticker with one that said "Give 'em Hell, Spiro". I admired Judge Gavin even more after that.


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