Random Goodness: Young & Lively!!

Everyone is familiar with the Junior Bazaar section of the Sears  Big Book catalogs, but they also had another section called Young & Lively.  I'm not sure what the difference was, but it was pretty cool too.....

 Gabardine Greats indeed!!

 Nice hat!!

More hats!! That must have been a thing back then.  Somehow I don't remember those kind of hats being a thing.

Some very nice dresses to end on.  The Young & Lively section was certainly a winner!!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

But it's always warm inside those groovy 70s winter fashions!!

That coat looks HUGE on Kathy!! And it looks like she's having to brace herself against the other model to keep from falling.....

Still got that million dollar smile working though!!

That looks much better!!

That looks VERY warm!!

That looks absolutely suffocating!!

 When in doubt about protection from the cold, go for wool!! No artificial fabrics here!!

"Warm as Love" and you gotta LOVE that hat on Karen!! Talk about warm and just in time for Old Man Winter!!

The "Doesn't Slip"

Yes Sears had the "doesn't slip" section of the Big Book catalogs, er,  covered...

Well, sort of covered, if you know what I mean.....

 Yes, yes, you know what I mean now....

So this model has to hold up a pair of panties, how, how, awkward is that ???

Chickens??? Really, Chickens???

Yeah you could buy anything from a catalog from the 70s.....

I...I...don't know what to add to this, but yeah, one could buy actual chickens from a 70s Sears catalog (albeit a farm catalog, but nonetheless, chickens??!!????!!!???)

I can hear the operator now "please NO international orders!!"

Random Goodness: Brrr, It's Cold!!

The Tops Have it, but.......

Brrr, It's Cold Baby!!

A Farewell to Summer 1976 and 2015

I always get a bit melancholy at the end of summer.  While not an official holiday, the end of summer always seems to be a time for reflection, a time to look back at how we've grown and changed.  (1)

For me, the summer of 2015 was bittersweet.  Another child left the nest to be on her own.  While at the same time I've seen my parents' health decline rapidly.  So the summer of 2015 was a turning point in many ways for me.

And 1976 was a big summer for me also.  It was the summer where I got my first job in the oil field working at a mid-size manufacturing plant that built pumping jacks like in the picture above. (2)

And yes that is Christi Brinkley on the cover.  She had a brief catalog modeling career. (3)

Does she ever age?  Summer always has had that casual, laid back feel to it.  T-shirts and shorts are timeless!

Yes they are timeless indeed!!

A rare pic of all four of the "K Club" models on one page.  While they often appeared together, for some reason a pic of all four is unusual.  I only know of four pics like this total, and none with only the four K Clubbers. (4)

So that deserves some closeups....

I triple shot of Kathy!  Great Tops indeed!!

And some more, now there are Sun Tops!

Of course, we can't take take a look at summer without checking out the backyard scene....

Dad's getting into the bicentennial spirit here!

Nothing says backyard elegance quite like the bug zapper!!

Kathy in 1976.  I do believe that is the proper way to end this look back on summer, especially with the seagulls flying off unto the sunset! (4)

footnotes:

(1) A fiery West Texas not to far from where I was born.  If you're in the area, the sunsets out there are absolutely incredible.  I was born in the oilfield, and I'll guess that's where I'll always be!

(2) Yes, an actual manufacturing company, and where did all of those go?

(3) And a small, very small hint of the bicentennial in the background with the fireworks.

(4) Pic is courtesy of Blue Senshi.  Thanks!

Hot Pants - Still Kicky (Part 2)

Yippee!  Hot Pants again!  Last time we looked at Hot Pants, we entered some kind of weird time travel loop where the past wrote the future and the future wrote about the past!  You can blame Aldens catalog for that with their "Hot Pants - Kicky" theme.  So now we venture into the breech once more with offerings from the other Big Books.  What adventures in Hot Pant-ness await this time?

Yippee! Kathy in some stylish blue hot pants ensemble from Spiegel.  Definitely a groovy blast from the past that is still mod looking in the present!  You gotta love the white go-go boots and nifty knit hat!    I'm not sure what Karen is wearing.  Those are pants, but with animal prints on them, they are definitely not "hot". Based on her expression, perhaps she just came out of a time travel loop from a previous post?

So Spiegel started us off pretty good.  However, I bet JCP and Sears had some "kicky" hot pants also!

Yippee again! Kay in hot pants, and knit ones to boot!  Speaking of "boots", it looks like the model on the left lost most of hers!  

Yippee again!  Here,we have Shelley Hack in "short shorts" and a halter.  While short shorts probably deserve to classified in their own category, I'm not sure it is worth quibbling about.

In the mid-70s, short shorts were not just reserved for the "Juniors' section. Oh no, no, no!  Here Joan McMonagle and Joanne Vitelli model some really classy shorts!

Well, those are short pants. However, they are pushing the edge as to what can be considered "hot pants" or "short shorts".   Perhaps here we have an example of that transition in fashion trends where the short shorts begin to fall way to longer shorts. (Sigh, not all fashion developments were for the better, unfortunately).

Okay, okay, Kathy is in a smashing outfit that kinda of looks like a uniform and not in hot pants.  What gives?  Well Karen is wearing hot pants, so well that is close enough.  Besides Kathy is still kicky hot!

Well that about wraps up this edition of Hot Pants - Kicky".  Oh wait, not enough 70s fashion craziness for you?  Not enough bizarro hip and happenin' groovy 70s-ness for you?  Well let's see what we can do about that!

Wow! (Yippee, I guess?). From right to left we have: Karen (in a wig)  in some kinda of German-themed Hot Pants, Kathy (in a wig also) wearing some kind of wild patterned dress, next we have red short shorts (in a nautical theme, no less, complete with white boots/sandals), and finally Karen again wearing something actually fairly lame.  If that doesn't get your 70s fashion freak going nothing will!

Well, anyway, everyone seems to be having a good time.  And isn't that what 70s fashions were all about?

Sizzling Sears Swimsuits - Part 2!

Oh boy, they're back and just in time to help chase away those mid-winter blues (1)!  Whether by the beach or by the pool, Sears was the name in swimsuit fashion in the early 1970s.  And of course, Kathy was one of their top models to show off the latest styles that every young girl of that time so desperately wanted to have.

First up is a some suits from the 1970 spring / summer catalog.

Kathy is sizzling at the shore (except for that wig) in her Two-Part Swimmer that skirts the "beach blanket circuit".  I'm not really sure what exactly that means, but it is trimmed in "rick rack" which I assume is the white frilly stuff.  You can almost hear Frankie and Annette singing "Beach Blanket Bingo" in the background.  Other suits featured include Big Girls' Pinafore, Clever Little Two-Piecer, and Dotty Little Dipping Dress.  Such descriptive superlatives to sell swimsuits!

Beach baby, beach baby, give me your hand, give me something that I can remember... echos in the background as Kathy couldn't look cuter in pigtails (thank goodness the wig is gone!) and in her "double dip of flowery polyester knit in splash-happy print" swimsuit.  No wonder she was a fave of the photographers - she could make anything look hot!

Next is some suits from 1972.

Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learning how, come on and safari with me... Kathy keeps a watch out for the next tastey wave in some kind of purple swimsuit with shirt-style top.  She seemed to like that pose a lot!  Maybe it is highlight her famous "side shot" look, or maybe she is just shielding her eyes from the sun (hey, photographer, I know you want the sun at your back but these models are going to go blind staring into the searing white sun while you try and get the perfect pic!).  In the bottom pic of Kathy, she is attempting to hold that golden smile of hers while trying desperately not to squint too much.  Who said modeling was easy!  Meanwhile, Colleen ALMOST cracks a smile.  Why so serious Colleen?

Finally we have a pic from 1973.

Tired of the beach scene?  Then hang out by the pool with Kathy, Karen, and Colleen while they stare blankly off to the left at something out of frame (in unison, no less).  Kathy uses the pigtail look once more to turn on the cuteness in her printed velor bikini.  Again she gets to show off the flower print design - this time with a halter top (oh man, don't get me started on those!  Halter tops were designed to drive guys absolutely wild, and boy did they ever!).  Meanwhile Colleen gets to model something called "Leno Wave Stripper Dipper".  Huh?!?  I think they went overboard there on the cutesy names.  I'm not sure any girl (or especially her mother) would be interested in buying something with the word "stripper" in it.  Colleen does not seem too excited about it either based on her expression.  Smile already, would ya!

Well I hope this look back at Sears Swimsuits from the past has put some sizzle back into winter.  Soon it will be Spring, but unfortunately the Big Book catalogs and their stylish swimsuits are long gone.  However, with the blogosphere we can keep their memory alive to enjoy again!


Footnotes (can't stop using them).

(1) Okay, there's no lobster this time to make fun of (yea that was a great prop!), but hey, there are still some pretty spiffy swimsuits to check out!

Sizzlin at the Shore in Sears Swimsuits

Attention Loyal Blog Followers:

As you may have noticed, I have been posting regularly each Friday.  However, next week I may be a couple of days late.  After all, I do have a regular job to pay the bills you know and that sometimes requires me to be out of pocket for awhile.  But don't worry, I will post, just late.  And now on to this week's post......

Since autumn is almost over and everyone has the upcoming winter season with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays on their mind, I thought that it would be the perfect time to look back at - Swimsuits!  Okay, not too seasonally oriented, but, hey, that is the beauty of your own blog.  You can post whatever the heck you feel like at the moment.

In addition to the two Big Book catalogs and the Christmas catalogs that retailers like Sears and JCPenney offered, they would also publish a little summer catalog between the Spring / Summer and Fall / Winter tomes.  Although small in size, these guys packed quite a punch for not only did they feature summer fashions, they especially featured swimsuits.  It was like having a second edition of the SI Swimsuit issue delivered right to your door - and featuring all your favorite models to boot! (1)

The first photo is titled "Great Moments in Sportswear" with the added tougne-in-check phrase "and proving that the most fascinating sea life isn't always under the sea".  They must be referring to the lobster prop (oh, you thought it referred to the models?).  This is somewhat unusual because normally there aren't any props in these catalog photos, or even much of a background.  This makes sense.  They didn't want to divert attention from the clothes they were trying to sell.  Actually the lobster, and the scene has a fakey look - like it was done in a studio and the lobster was photoshopped in later.  It would be interesting if anyone knows this to be the case.

The best explanation for the origins of this photo is that it was late in the day of a long, hard photo shoot and everyone on the set got a little crazy.  Then one of the stage hands had an idea: "Hey, Bob let's take Larry the Lobster from the lunch buffet and scare the girls with it, hee, hee.  No wait, they aren't scared, they're excited.  I forgot, they're half starved models.  Larry is in mortal danger! Run away Larry, ruuunnnn!!!".  Kathy definitely has the inside position for the upcoming scrum over this tasty morsel.  Colleen is totally out of position and her expression reflects her concern.  I would LOVE to see an after photo.  I guess "Great Moments in Sportswear" means moments when a poor lobster is ripped to shreds by a gang of hungry models who haven't eaten anything but celery for two weeks prior to a photo shoot!

Yes, I know "Why a lobster?"  After all, lobsters don't come out of the water to attack people onshore, except maybe in a really bad SyFy movie (hey that's an idea - This Saturday, A SyFy Original Movie: Mega Lobster vs. Crocosarus).  That's why I think this was a spur of the moment shot without alot of forethought put into it (kinda like your average SyFy movie).   

Next up is a typical swimsuit photo from the Sears catalogs of that era.  You'll notice from the descriptions that they are made with something called Arnel Triacetrate.  Not sure what that is - sounds like a preservative used in processed meats or something.  They must have thought it was a selling point because they kept mentioning it.

Kathy scans the horizon waiting for her ship to come in.  I think that it definitively has already!  The suits that she and Karen are wearing don't look at of date at all.  The plastic flower on Kathy's suit serves no functional purpose whatsoever except to come off after the second washing.

Meanwhile the suits that Colleen is wearing seem to say "Ahoy mates, come aboard" for they include handy, easy-to-follow directional arro.... Oh wait, those are ANCHORS!  I meant to say ANCHORS!  Yes, those are ANCHORS for sure!  What was I thinking?

Oh, come on, give me a break!  Did you REALLY think I wouldn't comment on something like that?  I bet every kid back then got it but half the moms didn't.  Imagine their shock when they found out: "Don't you think my little Suzy looks great in this new swimsuit?" "Uhhh, Irene, you do realize what those anchors look like?"  "No, what?" "Whisper, whisper"  "Oh dear! I'm sure my little Suzy doesn't know that" "Uhh, yea, right, sure, whatever you say". 

I threw in the next photo to complete the set.  It features three members of the K Club in a typical pic from a Sears Catalog of the era. 

Once again, the suits are not totally out of date.  In fact the one-piece with the cutouts (modeled here by Colleen, sans anchors) is back in style.  Maybe there is hope that other early 70s styles will be back soon.  That would be so groovey!


Footnotes: (A blog with footnotes, how cool is that!)

(1) As an historical note to loyal Kathy fans, Kathy made an appearance in the 1970 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.  It was only one photo, but noteworthy.  It could be the subject of a future post, but I'm a little hesitant.  SI could be one of those outfits that gets all "touchy, feelly" over the copyright thing. 

Sear Catalog Fall / Winter 1972

The year 1972 was a turbulent one.  Tricky Dick was elected to his second term in office.  The Watergate scandal hadn't broken out as big news yet.  Negotiations were underway in Paris to end the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.  The news of that day was dominated by every twist, turn and rumor of the goings on in Paris.  The treaty would be signed in just a few months in January 1973 to get us out of that tar pit.  Nixon had just closed the gold window the year before, and for the first time in human history, the world economy ran on 100% pure fiat money - the final verdict of that experiment is still out.

In the midst of all this chaos the big book catalogs (weighing in at over 5 pounds each!) could be counted on to arrive in the mail twice a year from the major retailers bringing perfect fashions on perfect bodies with perfect poses  - tranquility in the midst of storm.  And on top of the list was Sears.  While some companies targeted the upper or lower ends of the economic spectrum, Sears targeted the big middle.  So everyone got the Sears catalogs - rich, poor, urban, rural, etc.  It truly represented the fashions of the day.

And the year 1972 was in the peak of Kathy's career as a catalog model.  Here are some classic picks from the Sears Fall / Winter catalog of that year.

Yes Sweater Knits do give you that "young and lively" look  perfect for a night out rocking the club scene!  The sweater cap (hat?) on Karen is classic.  What girl would actually wear that and mess up her hair?  Of course perhaps you put it on to cover up the fact that you hadn't done your hair.  Kathy's pose is pretty odd.  I guess they are trying to show off those awesome clog shoes.  And why is her hand behind her head?  Perhaps it is to show prospective buyers that the sweater doesn't show underarm stains?!?

I love the girl on the left.  Is she running at the same time she has her arm under Kathy's arm?  Those photographers must of had something on their minds there.  Another sweater cap on Karen - they must have been trying to push those.

One thing they did a lot in these shots is to have on model look at the another while that model is looking away.  In this case Kathy is looking at the girl to her left (and laughing) while that girl is looking down laughing.  What are they laughing at?  I guess the idea is to create a shot so that the buyer can fill in the details.  So the message is buy these wildly colorful dresses and life will be all happy and full of laughs - clothes will make all your anxiety and problems go away! 

Other than the colors, these dresses seem pretty conventional.  Oh wait, I almost missed the weird collars on the dress on the right.  Are those supposed to be seagull wings?  More awesome clog shoes on Colleen.