K Club Special: Kathy!!!

 Yep, It's that time again - time for a K Club Special on Kathy herself....

And what would be more emblematic of her career??? Well how about a pic from the Junior Bazaar section of Sears along with two more of the more popular catalog models of that era: Kay and Colleen! (And yep, there's that one hand holding the other pose again!

Hands in pockets this time for Adens!

However, in teh inset pic, we are back to that pose again!!

This time Jill has the hands n pockets look, while Kathy, well, she's looking fantastic here!!

Casual dresses from Penneys along with Karen and an unknown model.

Back to Sears!!

Once more Junior Bazaar.  This time with a tunic top!!

And now for a special treat.  These pics were published by Dede Pittman on the Facebook page "Popular Fashion Models of the 60s and 70s."

Kathy, Colleen, and Karen were featured in this pictoral.

What else can I say, this is Awesome!!

Excellent tank tops.  I sure wish I could locate this "Regal" catalog.  Never heard of it before!!

Random Goodness: Knits are Nice!!

Knits are nice!!  Especially those groovy knits from the early Penneys Big Book Catalog!!

 Lots of 70s grooviness going on here with the shirt and giant tie!!

 Much more subdues here, but still very nice!!

 Knits from Dacron polyester!  Of course they keep their shape!!

 "luscious because they're acetate"  Hmmm, not sure that's a selling point, but back in early 70s, maybe?!?!

Let's finish with some knits made of Orlon acrylic, whatever that is.  Apparently they were proud of that fact back then.....

The Big Book Catalog Series (Part 5) 1972b!

This post probably should be titled "Catalogs that have issues."  Why?  Well the two Big Books that we'll examine this week are the Aldens and Spiegel 1972 Spring / Summer editions!

So what's the problem you ask?  Well check out the cover of the Aldens catalog.  Yep that's a water stain on the cover (if you missed it, you were probably distracted by the guy's leisure suit.)  Note to self  "Do not buy a catalog with obvious water damage on the cover."  And yes, that's Karen on the cover of Spiegel - with zebras on her skirt!

Let's start with Aldens.......

Nothing wrong here.  Kathy and Karen look perfect in this pic.  Except, that, well, although this pic is from the Aldens 1972 SS catalog, it's not from MY catalog.  It's courtesy of JJ's Playhouse (Thanks).  

JJ's pics are fine.  However, when I try to scan from this catalog it comes out like this.....

Yuck!  I tried everything: putting a big heavy book on top, putting a solid backing behind the page. Nothing worked.  After all, it's difficult enough to preserve old printed material when it hasn't been exposed to water.  (And it's not like these catalogs were made with the highest quality materials anyway.)   Still, Kay and Dottie are looking good in these yellow coordinates!

Kathy and Karen in a classic pose, and despite the crinkly wrinkly copy, they manage to make these bargain basement shorts look smashing! 

The worst thing about the water damage is that it mainly affected the front part of the catalog, which, naturally is where all of Kathy's pics are located.  So let's move on to some the sections less affected...

I don't publish a lot of pics from the men's section of the these old catalogs, but in this case I'll make an exception.  Yep, these are some "turned-on" youth.  However, no matter how turned on they are, I doubt they are going to attract many ladies in that attire! 

Two items of note here: the ecology shirt (heck, I forgot all about those!), and the mesh shirt (that's one 70s style I never wore, thank goodness!)

I've had enough of trying to get decent scans from that catalog.  Let's move on to the Spiegel 1972 SS edition.....

Ahhh, that's so much better.  These juniors (unlike the guys from Aldens) know how to dress to get noticed.  Check out Kathy's dress.  Yep, those are elephants?!?  What was it with elephants back then?  They seem to show up on clothing from time to time.  Did I miss something there?

Not sure what to say about this pic.  It's like Spiegel was trying to be hip and modern and still trying to stay upscale and classy - strange mix.

Well these guys are ready to hit the scene in style (which includes the classic denim jacket.)

Up front I mentioned that my copy of both these catalogs had issues.  The water damage with the Aldens catalog is obvious.  So what's wrong with the Speigel copy?........... 

Do not adjust your monitor.  That's the way the page actually looks.  Must have been a printing error or something.  Fortunately it only affected a few pages.  Despite all that, Shelley still looks great. 

Well, after all of these problems scanning these pages and dealing the printing errors, I need a break.  

Good thing I outfitted my den with all the "with-it" styles from Aldens: fake wood furniture - check, weirdly futuristic plastic furniture - check, red shag carpeting - check, well stocked bar - check, pretty blonde sharing a drink - uhh, well, we're working on that one.  

K Club Special (Part 9) - Karen Bruun (Part 2)

Well, it's time again for another in our "K Club" special posts.  And for the second time, we're going to focus on Karen Bruun.

Karen had the almost perfect look for modeling in the late 60s and early 70s.  The huge smile, the classic femininity, the almost-too-easy sexual appeal, that just made you felt like she was the most perfect gal you could imagine.

Karen was Miss Teenage New York City in 1968 where one of the judges was Cybil Shepard.  Cybil spotted her and Karen became a model with the Ford Agency.  She was also Miss Staten Island in 1969.

Karen was everywhere in this era.  For example, in ads like these. (re-blogged from MiniMadMods60s).

And here with Colleen. (re-blogged from MiniMadMods60s).

Of course, we know her most form all the groovy-istic catalogs of the 70s!

Karen had that quintessential look.  She could simply "own" the camera effortlessly.  Take a look at those eyes again - hard to find that!

Once again, those eyes!  Dang!!

Karen could also pull of the classy look like here in Spiegel..

Or she could pull of the cute girl-next-door-look in ponytails and a bathing suit.  Wait a minute!  Is that an arrow...oh, right, we did that that before in a previous post.  It's an ANCHOR, yes I'm sure now that it's an ANCHOR, oh of course, how silly of me to think otherwise.

"What's Next?"  Well how about Kathy and Karen in cutesy tails, together!!  It seemed that Kathy and Karen almost always appeared together .  They were like a tag-team of perfect 70s catalog modeling or something.  Wow, they (and all the other models of that era) were so great.  It's so much fun to look back on them still!!

Like on the first post on Karen, I have to add that she is no longer with us, and will be missed by all her friends, colleagues, and all of us who grew up during that era admiring her work......

That's So 70s: Fashion as Couples Therapy - Part 3!

See last weeks poll results at bottom (1)!
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Shows you what I know!  What started out as, I thought, a single post on the subject has become one of the most popular subjects yet on this blog.  Well I SHOULD have known, dag nab it!  After all, nothing quite says 70s fashions as much as "His N' Hers" matching outfits!  So let's get to it!

I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free....Okay, since it IS the 4th of July week, let's start off with a little flashback to the summer of 1976 - which was the big Bicentennial year.  I remember that as a "sort of" big deal (2).  However, and I make this comment purely as an apolitical, dispassionate observer, when I peruse the catalogs of that year, what  I see is a rather subdued (by today's standard anyway) set of offerings on the event.  This pic here is about as "rah, rah" as you can find and even this focuses more on heritage than pure "USA, USA".  Like I said, not making a judgement either way, just saying...

Serious stuff aside, now this is more like it.  Kathy is with a guy who has pigs on his shirt?!?!?!? Say what?!?!?!  I can't really tell what the picture is on Kathy's shirt, but I really don't want to know at this point .  The gal in the upper pic is Jayne Modean who was a big model in the mid to late 70s and, I do believe, that this is her first appearance in this blog - congrats, I guess?  As far as the three guy "couple" n the lower right, no comment,  not that type of blog.

I'm sorry, but this pic disturbs me greatly.  Why is the couple in the groove-o-delic shirts holding a baseball bat?  Otherwise, it looks like an ordinary 70s "key party" scene except for that odd fact - images of the cult movie "Eating Raul" somehow come to mind.  Like I said - disturbing, subliminally disturbing.

While we are on the "fun-a-delic" theme...

Fun Fare! Yeah Baby!  Check out the happenin' hats, vests, and booties here!  Yep - that's so 70s!, but wait there's more!!!!

You want "rustic", yep we can "Make it Rustic" and Kathy can pull that look off too!  The lesson here is that, if a guy wears flannel, expect to be single - even in a catalog.

Finally, to round out this summer edition of couples fashions....

Eke gads, summertime stripes to the max baby!  Let's roll to the beach in these smashing sand n' surf fashions with mega stripes!  Let's shoot the Bonzi Pipeline in style baby!


Footnotes:

(1) Well, in a bit of a surprise (At least from my perspective) the results of last week's poll are thus: Sears walloped JCP, winning 2 of the 3 rounds with the third round ending in a draw.  Congrats (35 years after the fact) to Sears.

(2) I know, I know, you can't delve into any kind of comment that is remotely political without pissing someone off.  However, these comments were made PURELY in my role as a historical blogger - you can read your own political prejudices into them, whatever.  If you MUST know my political affiliation, it is this - a pox on all of them (okay NSA, I mean Skynet, I mean The Borg, just kidding - really, just kidding around here, just a silly little blog, no harm no foul, right, RIGHT, I know resistance is futile, AHHHHHH!).

70s Summer Wear Showdown: Sears vs. JCP

Ahh, yes, summer is now in full swing.  Back in the 70s, one could always count on the summer catalog from all the major department stores to display the latest in casual summer fashion.  Now, I'm not talking about the Big Book catalogs that came out twice a year (Spring /Summer and Fall / Winter).  No, in addition to those, retailers like Sears, JCPenney, and the rest also put out smaller seasonal catalogs for the summer and Christmas to sort of fill the gaps, if you will.

So, I thought we'd take a look back at some of the offerings from these "little book" catalogs and check out all the happening summer fashions from the 70s.  And to spice things up, I thought we would make it a little contest between Sears and JCPenney!

The contest will work like this.  There will be three rounds.  At the right side of the post, you can vote for the winner of each round in a poll.  The poll will run for one week, and then we'll see who the winner is!

Let's start with round 1!
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First up to serve is JCPenney.  What will they open with?

Some very nice knit tops which, naturally, make "striking statements".  Not bad from JCPenney, not bad at all.  How will Sears respond to that opening salvo?

Wow, Sears decided to counter with a blinding "White with Brights" display featuring Kathy, Karen, and Colleen.  Geez, this is a tough one to pick.  I didn't say this was going to be easy!

Now for round 2.

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To make it fair, we'll let Sears go first this time.

Okay! Sears has decided to get down to business and show a bit more skin with the halter and short skirts.  It looks like Sears is taking this contest seriously!  JCPenney what do you have to match that?

Interesting counter!  JCPenney has decided to stay upscale a bit with stylish "middie" skirts topped with some scarfs to add some dramatic contrast.  Perhaps we are seeing the battle for skirt lengths being played out here.  JCP's strategy is bold - it may work great or backfire completely.  We'll have to see how it works out for them.

The competition is really heating up!  Let's see what the two competitors can come up with in the third and final round!

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First up for round 3 is JCPenney

Zowee! JCPenney has really let down their hair with a trio of summer fashions featuring Kathy in a very attractive halter and Colleen and Kay in summer casual pant outfits.

What will Sears do to match that move?!?

Sears has decided to pull out all the stops with Kathy modeling four different kinds of short summer dresses! This third and final round is shaping up to be the most difficult to choose yet!

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Summer in the 70s certainly produced its share of fascinating fashions as these two summer catalogs show.  The competition should prove to be a close one.  I know I'm glad I'm not the judge!

That's So 70s: Let's Get Into Physical!

"Hey Grandpa, back in the early 70s, did you and Grandma do all those crazy aerobic tapes?"

"Dear child, no, no.  Jane Fonda's tapes didn't come out until the 80s, besides we didn't even have VCRs back in the 70s."

"What's a V-C-R, Grandpa?"

"Uh, never mind, I'll explain that later.  Anyway, the Mad Men days of the 60s with their 3 martini lunches and offices filled with tobacco smoke were giving way to a more health conscious America.  Dr Cooper's book Aerobics had just come out, and Americans were interested in shedding the pounds to look good in the discotheques!"

"Uh, What's a disc-o-tech, Grandpa - some kind of cool computer game?"

"Oh boy, kid, did YOUR generation miss out on some living!"

"Grandpa, I bet like everything else in the 70s, the fashions for exercise wear were CRAZY too."

"Well child, actually no.  People were still new to the whole idea of exercise to get in shape, so they were doing that mostly at home.  The fashions were actually fairly lame."

"Mostly exercise fashions were taken from the world of dance, so they consisted of plain leotards.  It wasn't until the Flashdance craze of the 80s that exercise fashions really started to take off..  Like I said, the average person was just beginning to warm to the idea of exercise to get in shape.  Prior to that the only people that 'worked out' were athletes."

"Exercise in the early 70s still emphasized gentle, stretching moves and the fashions reflected that.  Of course people were trying to amp up their workouts.  After all, they had to get their Aerobic points (1) in each week."

"Naturally, people turned to their Big Book catalogs to supply them with groovy (and obviously well made!) stationary bicycles!"  "They even came with illustrations on how they simulated rowing a boat or riding a horse!"

"Grandpa, what's a catalog?"

"Kid, you're really getting on my nerves."  "One of the things that really took off in the 70s was jogging.  Before Aerobics, the idea of running just to run might land one in a mental institution.  I still remember when my dad took off running around the neighborhood one day (in tennis shoes and black socks no less).  We thought he had lost his mind!"

"Even for running, the fashions of the 70s were basic - plain warm up suits without any company logos on them."  "However, just like today, people were looking for shortcuts to get in shape and the Big Books willingly offered them."

"I remember they sold these bumpy roller things that looked uncomfortable as heck.  Also they really pushed these belt machines where you would just stand there while the inches melted away."

"Grandpa, did they work?"

"Yeah, sure, they worked great for Sears and JCP.   They made a ton of money off of them!"  One could even buy a home sauna!"

"Now child, I must add that not all health products offered in the Big Book catalogs were sane.  Some of them were wrong, just so wrong..."

"Just so wrong, wrong, wrong......"


footnotes: (Yes even for exercise, we have them footnotes!)

(1)  For those of you that may have forgot, Dr Cooper's book "Aerobics" prescribed a minimum number of "points" that a person had to get each week to be considered "in shape".  As I recall from memory, for a guy, it was the equivalent of running 2 miles at a 8 minute a mile pace, three times a week.  Of course for other activities such as cycling, etc. the numbers were different.  The numbers faded from view, but the term "Aerobics" stuck like glue - dance aerobics, step aerobics, water aerobics, and on, an on....