Random Weirdness: 70s Gaucho - Part 3!!

What better way to end a most interesting 2016 that with a look back on 70s gauchos!!  Like so many fashions trends of the 70s, gauchos made a brief, albeit intense, appearance on the scene in the mid to late 70s.  Why that is the case is a mystery to me.  It's as if someone in the industry said "Push gauchos, now!"  And the people responded with a big yawn.....

Well nothing to yawn about here!  Kathy looks great in these snappy gauchos.  Hmm, this pic looks cropped.  Well that's true - had to save the rest of it for a post on a different 70s fashion subject!

1977 was the heyday of the gaucho.  So much so that  they popped up everywhere like here on the cover of this Jewel Catalog (and in corduroy no less!). (1)

And just because gauchos are normally associated with a more Western theme, that didn't mean that the Big Book catalogs couldn't put that special 70s groove-tatsic touch on them.  Yep, plaid green gauchos say "Easy Living" to me!

Oh brother, now we have a collision of 70s styles with a gaucho jumpsuit!  I didn't know whether to use this pic here or with the next post on jumpsuits!  Oh the troubles of a 70s catalog blogger!!

In almost everyone of these pics you'll notice that the gauchos come as part of a set of coordinates. And no two models were better at showing off those snazzy 70s catalog coordinates than Kathy and Karen!

Originally gauchos were cowboys that worked the grasslands in Argentina. (2)  That didn't mean that one couldn't accessorize them for either Country Wear or........

Every Wear!!

Even Wards got into the gaucho craze!!  The gaucho craze of 1977 certainly didn't catch on like hot pants or the mini skirt, still it peaked right when I was in school, so I had to pretend to like them.   

Another cropped pic (gotta save the rest for another post!)  Still with an eye-popping yellow gaucho like this, it's hard to see why they didn't catch on??

Okay, okay, in this closeup of Kathy from the previous pic, we're not sure is she is wearing gauchos, but who cares!

footnotes:

(1) Astute readers will notice instead of Visa we had BankAmericard cards, and instead of Master Card we had Master Charge cards!

(2) The term "gaucho" actually refers to the person.  The pants that we call gauchos are actually called bombachas.

Maybe those guys were pretty cool after all?!?

Random Weirdness: Gauchos - Part 2!

Gauchos - they're not just for cowboys anymore.  At least they weren't for the fashion craziness of the late 70s.  They hit the Bog Book catalogs big time in 1977 and then quickly faded away (perhaps they weren't suitable for the discotheques?)

Several of our readers have stated that Kathy could make anything look cute.  And this pic of her in the gauchos proves that!  Still, these gauchos are not really in the disco style.

Did I say that gauchos weren't right for the disco?  I stand corrected!  Just make them out of purple velvet and  BAM! you're disco ready!

Gauchos were to hot pants what the maxi was to the mini.  Why, oh why, do that?!?  Pam shows us some flashy striped gauchos while Shelley keeps it hot in the short pants!

Once again we have the contrast of the hot pants versus the gauchos.  I must admit that Kathy made them look good!

Like I said, gauchos in the 70s weren't just for the rodeo.  They came in all styles - even the more formal variety.

Even Spiegel carried them!

Sometimes called split skirts, sometimes they were referred to as boot skirts, and sometimes as culottes.  No matter, they were everywhere for a short period of time.

Gauchos are near and dear to me because they came on the scene when I was a young lad.  Naturally all I could think was "What happened to the minis and hot pants?"

Still the gals looked great in them like here with Shelley in coordinated khaki.

And here in coordinated blues as Kathy and Barbara show us here!  Yep, I may have missed the mini skirt era, but I'll always have those fond memories of the gaucho era!!

Random Weirdness: 70s Gauchos - Part 1

Well it's been a while since we've had a post of the "Random Weirdness" series which, as you probably remember, focuses on some of the odder little fashion corners of the 70s.

And what odder little trend is there than gauchos which appeared in the mid-70s like a meteoric streak across a dark night, filling the sky with its brilliance.  Gauchos hit like that - BAM - and were everywhere at once, and then just like that meteorite, vanished just as quickly fading into that misty memory hole of the 70s,...

These boots were made for walking...So what were gauchos?  Well they took their inspiration form western fashion and turned them into, well, you just had to see them.  Like here with Karen, Pat Miles, and Kathy.

Early on in the trend, they were often referred to as "boot skirts".  And like here, you can see why. They really allowed a gal to show off the footwear!

Here, JCP tries to keep it a them a little closer to their country roots.  Well, at least they tried!

Courdory gauchos?  Why not, and why not combine combine 70s fashion trends into bizarre chimeras like this.  I mean the possibilities are endless......

Oh no, Gaucho jumpsuits!  Or are they "gauchsuits" or "jumphos"?  Surely that is it for these combinations?  Isn't it?  I mean what else could they do with them...

Formal wear gauchos that's what!  Now the ladies could show off their formal, knee high patent leather boots with style!  Finally, finally, we must be at the end of this bizarre cul-de-sac of 70s fashion.  Right?





Nope, not when you can add big floppy coats and scarves!  "Tailoered femminity" indeed, gauchos just scream that to me!