Random Weirdness: Sporting Knits of the 70s!!

We haven't had a Random Weirdness post in a while, so why not break that trend with a really random pic from a DIY sweater mag....

So why are all the adults staring at the poor kid????

     "Ahh Croquet, how cute!!"

     "Is that even a sport kid???"

     "And why are you the only one without white shoes??"

     "What are you doing playing croquet on a tennis court anyway???"
           "Well why are you playing golf on a tennis court?
              And why do each of you only have 3 clubs???"

Like I said, so many questions, but one thing can't be denied: the 70s had the grooviest sweaters!!

Random Weirdness: What the Heck is Going on Here????

The more I looked at this, the more confused I got.  Perhaps some reader out there can come up with some theories..............................

Okay, it appears that Kathy has her right hand around the guy to her right and he has his left arm around her.  So far, so good. BUT the guy on her left is apparently tried to cut in as he has his right hand behind her AND she has her left arm in an awkward position as if she is trying to push him away. Or perhaps she's giving him an elbow to the ribs.

Overall a very awkward pose.  Perhaps she is trying get rid of both of them??? After all with those white shoes both guys are wearing, who could blame her.  Her expression does tend to say "Get me out of here!!"

Since we are on the subject of his 'n her fashions....

Well, well, well, it looks like the guy on her left in the first pic must have won out after all!!  And the guy that was on her right??  Well he's consigned to wear a, uh,well, a "peasant look top."   VERY masculine I must say!!

So if anyone out there has any ideas that could explain all of this, by all means please feel free to comment.

Wait, we may have a clue in the title of the second pic "...To Keep You Swinging."  Hmmm, it was the 70s after all.

Random Weirdness: The Look Down!

Apparently one of the standard "go to" poses in modeling was "The Look Down."

Here three of the four models are executing "The Look Down" move in unison.  And with The Look Down, normally there has to be a reason, right???  Kathy is holding her necklace, the model in the middle has her hand on her chin, and Shelley is holding some kind of ball?!?!

Kathy again with a classic Look Down pose.  Often "The Look Down" was combined with "The Lean In" and "The Head Tilt."  All three of which are incorporated by the models here.

Kathy, Joan, and another model in another variant of "The Look Down."  Often the models would appear to looking at the same spot on the floor.  Not sure what they are looking at here.

Kathy wasn't the only one of our favorite models to perfect "The Look Down."  Here Karen and another model show us how it's done. 

Kathy and Shelley in another "Look Down, Lean In, and Head Tilt" combo.  Apparently the other model just went with "The Head Tilt" by itself.

Dottie, Karen, and Colleen relax by the beach with some Look Down poses.

And finally, the all time classic Look Down pic. And yes, it's a re-post but I just had to add it.....

That's a committed Look Down pose by Kay and Kathy!!  Perhaps this should be called "The Head Snap" pose instead!! (pic courtesy of Blue Senshi, thanks!)

So What about those other, related poses like "The Look Up" or The Look Away" or perhaps "The Flamingo??"  Well stay tuned to this site dear readers and I bet that we'll explore those as well in the future!!

Random Weirdness: Artificial Fabrics of the 70s!!

One of teh many things that defined the fashions of the 70s was the emphasis on the newly man made artificial fabrics.  It wasn't just that tehy were used in abundance,.  Oh no, they were CELEBRATED as something wonderful.  Ahh, the innocence of that era.......

"Polyester Makes the Difference"  Yes, yes it does.  And no amount of floral arrangements can change that!! (Of course the flowers are probably plastic too!)

What the heck is "Acrilan" by Monsanto (aren't they ones that make Round Up??)  Whatever it is I don;t want it anywhere near me!!

Wear Date double knit of Spectrum polyester and Acrilan acrylic.  Sounds like a complicated way to buy clothes if you ask me!!

Orlon knot, Allen Knit acrylic bonded to nylon tricot. Whew, that's some crazy way to move pant suits!!

"The fabric yo trust"  yes polyester is the fabric America trusts!!

Random Weirdness: The Fabrics Of JCPenney!

One thing about the Big Book catalogs of the 70s, they were always pushing those man-made fabrics!

Arnel Triacetate.  I have a MS in Chem E and I have no earthly idea what that is!! Whatever it is I'm sure it's "groovy baby!"

Flax and Rayon.  Well the flax sounds natural.  The Rayon, er, not so much.

When all else fails, let's go with Dacron Polyester!!  The fabric that clothed America, dang it!!

Polyester knits.  Need I say more?!? Nope!!

Cotton?!?!?! COTTON?!?!?! That's not man made.  How the heck did that slip into this post???  Oh well, Cay, Kay, and Wendy look great in man made or artificial fabs!! (Gotta love the lace up boots, All I can say is "That's Soooo 70s!!!)

So where does all this random man made madness leave us , you ask???

Well with something called "The Mixables."  Sounds like a 70s "key" party gone wrong.....

Yeah, the gal second to the left seems a little miffed at the gal on the far left.  If it was a "key" party, I wonder why????

Random Weirdness: A MuMu By Any Other Name...

Is still a mumu..........

Even if it's called a "Coffee Coat" (whatever THAT is.)  And yes, Kathy can even make THAT look good!!

Random Weirdness: 70s Photoshopping Magic Continued!

And as promised...

Kathy joins the Jewel Tea virtual tour of the USA! And as an added bonus, we have a His 'n Her couples shoot.  Hmmm, the guy on teh left looks like he may be a little jealous.  Not sure jealous of who however - after all they are in San Francisco!

Random Weirdness: 70s's Photo Shopping Magic!

And this time we're going to tour the USA.  Well sort of, thanks to 70s photo shopping magic thanks to Jewel Tea Catalog!

 Nice floppy bow and leg kick!!  Now let's get this virtual tour started!!

 You feel like these models are really in front of the Statue of Liberty!!

Next we're in Washington in front of the White House!!

And now in front of San Francisco Bay!

 Now we are in NYC.  Man these ladies sure do get around!!

And finally Niagara Falls!  Hmmm, they seem a little too close to teh water to me!!

But where's Kathy??  Surely we can't leave her off of this wonderful tour of the USA!!  Well stay tuned!!

Random Weirdness: A little Bit of Everything!

From Sears no less!!  So much to unpack here....

 Pinwale corduroy pantsuits with big fluffy bows and groovy berets to to top it off!!

Oh yeah, not to mention some of the hottest models of 70s. What's not to like?!?!

Random Weirdness: Columbia Minerva is Back!!

Groovy Baby!! It's been awhile so let's check out the always groovy DIY sewing fashions from CM....

And nothing, NOTHING says 70s chic like.......ponchos?!?!?  I'm feeling the Woodstock flashbacks already!!

Random Weirdness: It's Time for MANTIQUE!!

WARNING!! The following material depicts scenes of extreme 70s fashion weirdness.  It may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive readers....

Ladies and Gentlemen, loyal readers, and guests, I bring to you what may very well be the most randomly weird, most groove-ily awesome examples of extreme 70s fashions.

IT'S TIME FOR MANTIQUE.......(1)

Be forewarned that what you are about to see will elicit gasps of disbelief.  Once these images are seared into your mind, they will not be easily erased.  So, if you dare, get comfortable, fix a stiff drink (you're going to need it), and proceed forward.....

IT'S TIME FOR MANTIQUE.......

And nothing says MANTIQUE quite like long tunic vest.  I'm sure these guys were the coolest cats in the club!  What?!?  You were expecting the normal collection of hot 70s babes??  Sorry.  The ladies have been given the week off.  These awesomely cool man fashions deserve a post of their own.  In other words......

IT'S TIME FOR MANTIQUE.......

And nothing says MANTIQUE quite like crushed velvet leisure suits.  Oh wait, I though it was the tunics that said MANTIQUE.  So many choices!!!

Kay appears to be none too pleased about this shocking change for the Kathy Loghry Blogspot. (2) Well, that's too bad, because......

IT'S TIME FOR MORE MANTIQUE!!

"But I don't want to wear a puffy shirt!!"  Sorry, puffy shirts are mandatory in MANTIQUE world!!

That's the look that says "Yep, I'm gay."

Yes indeed!  The MANTIQUE man certainly knows his fashion! After all one can never have too many leisure suits!

Words .Escape. Me.

Saturday Night Fever had nothing on MANTIQUE fever.  And I don't know what to make of that look by the guy on the right.  Perhaps he's scoping out that guy in the puffy shirt.........

This seems pretty tame by Mantique standards.  Oh wait, it's not part of the Mantique collection. That explains that!

What sort of man is a MANTIQUE man? Whether he's killing it in long tunics or crushed velvet leisure suits, he's always in style.  No matter what the season, he always has his babe at his side (except for that guy in the fifth pic, that's another story.)  He's a man confident in who he is and what he wears.  He is a MANTIQUE man!

I'm sure that by now many of my loyal readers are asking "Okay, these Mantique fashions are pretty awesome.  But HOW awesome??  Is there a way to measure that?"

Well yes, yes there is.  Remember our AI post from a couple of weeks ago?  Let's take that first pic and run it though the awesomeness meter.....

EveryPixel.com says that MANTIQUE is 88.9% Awesome.  So its not as awesome as those pictures of Kathy and the gang, but pretty gosh darn AWESOME!!

footnotes:

(1) After putting this post together it dawned on me that perhaps I had the pronunciation of  the word Mantique wrong.  I originally assumed a Spanish pronunciation: man-TE-kay.  But perhaps it is French and is man-TEEK (rhythms with boutique.)  Either way, it's cool.

(2) Was Kay in every freaking catalog during the 70s?!?

Random Weirdness: Greenland Style!

I've had a number of readers over the years ask me "How do you find such obscure catalogs?"  Well, at the risk of bragging a little bit, I enjoy the challenge!  I get a hint which leads to a clue which leads to a focused search, which leads to, well, more groovy pics for the blog!  So I thought that it's be fun to go through how this played out recently.

As with many of these searches, it started with a reader.(1) I exchanged several emails with him, and he offered to send me a head sheet of Kathy (sorry, saving that for another post!)  Well that head sheet had some info about Kathy's then recent modeling appearances.  So I tracked down several of these until one magazine produced.....

Bingo!  A completely new pic of Kathy that I had never seen before!

But that's not all!

Nothing says 70s grooviness like Acetate Seersucker!

But that raises the question "What the heck is this Greenland Studios thing and are there any more of them out there?"  The answer to that is "You Betcha!"

Hold onto your retro hats dear readers!  Apparently Greenland Studios was one of those outfits that pushed all kinds of kitschy, fun crap like here. The mind reels at the shear 70s overload present in one page!

From ship decanters to wooden utensil sets to tiny bonsai trees to dried flowers in a lucite egg, Greenland Studios had everything a modern American family in the 70s needed!   And I just know that if I had seen the "20 prehistoric cavemen and monsters" set, I would've bugged my mom until she bought it!

You ain't livin' until you have the compete collection shown here!

I'm about to have a 70s heart attack here: a gondola lamplight, snow tomatoes, your own cheese making kit, slippers for "milady", and hand blown glass swan vases, just to name a few.  However, the standout here is the "ancient Chinese fortune telling painting on an ashtray."  Huh???

Okay, okay, we better same some of this nonsense for the future.  What about fashions??

Greenland had those too and for the cost conscious buyers!

For that At Home Glamour, every women in the 70s needed a Paisley Torso Wrap from Greenland!

 And we'll end this wild ride though the Greenland Studios insanity where we began - with some pics of Kathy. Lovely!!

 

So the girl is free?!?  Wow, what a catalog,!!  That certainly beats the prehistoric cavemen and monsters set!  

footnotes:

(1)  I get a lot of my leads from my readers.  I's like to thank all of you for these contacts and info!