That's So 70s - High Rise Pants (Part 4)

Happy New Year everyone!  And what better way to ring in the New Year than by taking another look at those icons of 70s fashion - high rise pants.  Okay, well, high rise pants don't really have anything to do with celebrating New Year's day, but hey, who cares!!

Kathy gets the New Year started off right with one of her uber-cute poses from Spiegel.  I do believe that those bell bottoms are wider than the waist!

Hey, why don't we just stay with Spiegel for the entire post??  After all, they had some groovy 70s fashions, such as......

Yessir, in the hey days of the bell bottoms, Wider was Better.  After all this was the era of big cars wider, lower, longer, faster) so why not the same for pants??

And let us not forget the cuffed bell bottoms such as sported here by Kathy and Jill.

The one thing you could say about 70s fashions, is just about the time you had them figured out, they would come up with something even more outlandish such as those pants in the upper right here or below.... (1)

I'm not sure what I like more - crazy pants or that hat!!  That's what I loved about 70s fashions - they never lacked for throwing caution to the wind (of course that experimentation eventually lead to that horrid, black hole period of disco, but that's another story).

Aside from the pants, what you have to notice here is the Charlie Chaplin shirt, with the.....wait for it.....wait for it....matching Charlie Chaplin high rise platform shoes!!    Nope, I'm not making this stuff up folks.  They really tried to sell that.

Yes, the 70s were certainly a time of fashion turmoil.  It all seemed so fun and exciting.  Where or where did it all start to go so horribly wrong, you ask????

"Man-tailoring" why, oh why?!?!??!  We don't want that!! We want girls to look like, well, GIRLS, NOT BOYS!!!  Arrrggghhhh!!  Next thing you know, there was disco, which was the beginning of the end for Western  civilization!! (1)


footnotes:

(1) Be sure to check out those small inset pics of Kathy!

Christmas Time (Part 3) is Couples Time (Part 8)!

At least it did back in the 70s, where those groovy His n' Hers coordinates invaded even the sacred spaces of the Christmas catalogs.  At least they were sacred to all the children who wanted more pages devoted to toys and less to clothes!  But put aside all those snazzy Barbies, Tonka trucks,  and GI Joes 70s  for now kiddos.  It's time to check out how the adults got in the Christmas mood!

Well, I'm not sure how "Christmasy" these outfits are.  Kathy and friend aren't too bad in those sweaters, but the other couple - I simply can't explain that.  By the way, Kathy seems to be stuck in mid-stride here.

HO, HO, HO.  Uhhh better put a hold on that.  Neither of these styles evokes the spirit of Christmas (past, present, or future).  The hats are for the neighborhood Christmas party I guess (perhaps after lots of eggnog?!?!).

So, where or where are the Christmas themed versions of the His n' Hers fashions??

Not here, no way!  I'm not sure what kind of "Christmas Warmth" they're talking about here - neither the eagles nor the disco-style shirts remind me too much of Christmas!!

Well, this is a little better.  At least there is some evidence of the Christmas spirit here as we have some decorations and presents.  Hmmm, that guy with Kathy is getting a little chummy wouldn't you say??

Yep, in the 70s, no matter the time or season, couples had to be on the go and they had to dress alike.  It was kinda of a cult thing really as noted by Dennis the Menace below... 

You're indeed correct Dennis - they're not twins, just crazy adults from the 70s trying the latest His n' Hers styles for Christma (check out the cartoon on the left side)s.  If I were you Dennis, I'd stick to the toy section. Speaking of which...

Okay, no couples theme here, but I had to throw in this pic of Kathy and Pat Miles with the Micky Mouse watches and clocks.  Now THOSE do bring back memories of Christmases past!!

To all my readers, may all of you have a wonderful Merry Christmas and a great New Year!!


footnote:

All of these pics are re-blogged form Wishbook.Web.

The Big Book Catalog Series - Part 3 1971 (2nd Half)

Well, let's continue our look at the Big Book catalogs of the 70s with the second half of 1971 - the Fall / Winter editions.

Check out this lineup.  Yeah, it's awesome for those of us who appreciate those 70s Big Books!! Somehow these catalogs had a thing about models on the run (Penneys and Aldens).  So we better get going....

Kathy and Karen can simply NOT decide whether to go mini or maxi here.  The early 70s earth tones mated with the late 60s grooviness just bleeds through here! (1)

More of the groovy early 70s! Dang! (1)

A smiling Colleen with Kay in jeans!  And not just any jeans but jeans with earth tone colors and bell bottoms!

Colleen in some sort of knickers. Pretty "groovy-baby" stuff if you ask me!!

Penney's had some fantastic 70s fashions also as seen here with Kathy.  Once again, they can't decide on the skirt length.  Ahh, yes, this was the era where the mini was starting to lose its status as the last word in skirt lengths (this was not a good thing by the way).

Hey, this is supposed to be the Fall / Winter editions.  What's going on here?  It looks like spring. Still Kathy and Karen look great - with wigs or without!!

Yeah Karen looks super cute here, but I had to include this pic for the hat - kinda a throwback to the 60s.

I'm not sure they should be commenting on a girl's "wining number" when she is standing on a scale. It's one of those subjects that guys learn not to bring up - not at all, ever, EVER.

I've always had a weakness for girls in curls, and here these gals are definitely bringing the curls along with some happening early 70s fashions from Spiegel.

More knickers modeled by Colleen.  It must have been a thing back then - a thing that apparently didn't catch on...

Kathy and Kay with some sharp looking "pantsdressing" (is that even a real word??) from Aldens. (1)

Nothing says "70s Party Scene" quite like pants suits from Aldens (especially the puffy sleeves version sported by Kathy).  Okay, this scene is not quite what one thinks of when picturing the parties of the 70s.  Still, it is pretty awesome if you ask me. (1)

It certainly is interesting to look back on the early 70s and the changing fashion scene then.  And what better way to reminisce than with the totally groovy, awesome Big Book catalogs!


footnotes:

(1) These pics are courtesy of Blue Senshi.  Thanks!

Random Weirdness: 70s Photo Shop - Magic or Madness, Part 3!

Yes, it's time to, once again, explore the wonders of 70s photo shopping technology.  And once again we will have to pass judgement on whether these efforts produced magic or madness.  Please remember that this was a time way before all the computer technology that we enjoy today.  Back then, photos hopping required real photography skill (unlike today).  So sit back and enjoy the magic and the madness!!

Yep "It's cold outside", but I'm not sure we're actually outside here.  Looks like a photo shop fail to me! Despite Kathy looking as cute as can be, I have to say this is madness for sure!!

Well, this pic has Kathy and Karen in classic, uber-sexy poses.  Okay, okay, the background is weak. Still, these gals more than make up for the strange superposition of dress style and background.  So you have to agree this photo shop pic is magic!!

Well, Kay and friends are doing their best to save this photos hop effort, but to no avail.  Despite their best efforts, the contrast is just too much for even them to save.  Sorry, the deer sweater and strawberry dress just cannot go with a farm themed background.  Madness for sure!!

Wow, this is either really great photo shopping or ,ahem, they ARE actually outside.  It doesn't matter either way.  That ginormus tie thing that Kay is wearing just wants to make me say "That's sooo 70s!" On that alone, I have to say this is magic!!

See the title is "Top it All Off" and they have a mountain scene behind the models showing us some fine sweaters.  How very clever!! Well maybe not.  I have to give this one the "madness" vote.

Once again, wither the technicians did a great job, or, more likely, Kay is actually outside.  Still that suede combo outfit is magic for sure!

Ahh corduroy from the 70s!!  What a perfect way to end this post.  However, they laid on teh earth tone colors just a bit much for me.  We'll have to say this final photo shop attempt is madness!!

K Club Special (Part 14) Kathy and Cay!

As ya'll know, the K Club officially (1) consists of four catalog models of the 70s whose first names begin with a hard "K" sound - namely Kathy (Loghry), Karen (Bruun), Kay (Campbell), and Colleen (Corby).  But before there was Kathy and Kay, there was Kathy and Cay (Kathy Jackson and Cay Sanderson). (2)

So for this "K Club" post we are going to look at the original Kathy and Cay....

Kathy Jackson was a bit before my time.  Still she was super big in the late 60s and early 70s like in this Breck ad.

Or in this Seventeen cover (what is she doing wearing the British flag?!?!?)

Yeah, she was super sexy too!!.  Dang!!

Of course Cay was also big in that same time frame and sexy too...

Cay in big 60s hair with Colleen!!

Super Cay!!

Not that Cay ever had a problem getting a date, no way!!

Natch we remember both from their Big Book catalog appearances...

Kathy in Aldens,  (With those "groove-a-delic" colors, you can just see Austin Powers moving in for the kill, yeah baby!!)

More Kathy Jackson in Aldens!!

Kathy is smokin' in classic 70s goovy styles from Penney's!!

Of course, Cay held her own, fashion wise...

Yeah "Poplins A-Plenty" for sure with Cay!!

Cay with Wendy Hill, Colleen, and, yep I do believe that is Kathy Jackson in the wig!!

Cay and Wendy again!!  (The flower is a cute touch, by the way)

Cay in 76 on the cover of Redbook!!

Kathy and Cay definitely paved the way for Kathy (Loghry) and Kay (Campbell) in the mid to late 70s.  Those were awesome times, before the internet and cable fame.  Still, these models rocked it hard and deserve their rightful place in the "K Club"...


footnotes;

(1) I use the term "officially" very loosely of course.

(2) Yeah, I know that Kay Campbell's catalog modeling career overlapped their careers by quite a bit.  It is really a personal, subjective viewpoint that I say that.