That's So 70s - Corduroy!

What am I thinking: two "That's So 70s" Posts in a row! But you have to admit that nothing, and I mean nothing, screams 70s fashion like corduroy.

Something about corduroy really caught the imaginations of the fashion world in the 70s.  Those tightly wound cords of fabric running side by side just seemed to capture the essence of the age despite the onslaught of man made fibers.  The term comes form the French "corde du roi" which means cord of the king.  And you can see why in the following pics.  The fabric seemed to be the perfect regal answer to the 60s!  

Yep, this magic fabric could be molded into any shape or color as seen here with Kathy - pink corduroy skirts, vests, jackets and pants.  Why I do believe that even that snazzy hat that Kathy is modeling could be as well!! 

But by far and away the most common use was in pants.  What Back-To-School shopping trip was complete without at least two - possibly more - pairs of corduroy pants (usually in different colors)?  Yes sir, High Schools and Middle Schools across our fair land were awash in a veritable tsunami of brightly colored corduroy clad students on the first day of class!

Part of the corduroy magic was the soft, plush, almost velour like feel of the material, which was perfect for either your average High Schooler trying to impress the ladies, or a pimp - take your choice. (Thanks to JJ's Playhouse for the pic!)

Good grief!  Now even the pages of the catalogs are in corduroy!! And apparently, this total immersion in the fabric is having profound effects on our models as Kathy and Kay have some kind of neck-breaking pose here!! (Thanks to Blue Senshi for this pic!)

However not even corduroy could escape the 70s penchant for coordinates as seen here.  Corduroy came in different types.  Here it is pinwale.  A wale is a row, and corduroy is defined by its wale number which is the number of rows per inch. The standard is 11, but pinwale is typically 16 so it has a finer feel.

Okay, I got all technical.  Sorry about that. I think we should return to some smashing 70s corduroy fashions to clear our minds......

Yep, this was the hey day of 70s corduroy.  Basically, anything that could be made with corduroy was made with corduroy at some point.  Here we have everything from jumpsuits to sweaters in the stuff.  While maintaining that semi-regal air, corduroy also had a bit of the laid back casual look to it, which made it perfect for the 70s.

Editors note: I don't know how many times I misspelled "corduroy" while writing this post.  Can I FINALLY get it right the first time without the spell checker?  Let's see "courdoroy".  Rats, dad bern keyboard!!

That's So 70s - So You Think You Can Sew!

One of the small (very small) pleasures of the old Big Book catalogs was the excitement of discovery of the tiny pics of our favorite models in sections further back in those 1000+ page tomes.  And one of those sections that consistently produced results was the "Roll Your Own" sewing section.....

Yep, this is what I'm talking about - lots of 70s-style patterns and tiny pics of of Top Models (here it is Karen and Kathy) AND some tongue-in-check sub-title "Sew Soft, Sew Cool, Sew Easy-Care These Many Pretty Ways"

Welllll, what to say?  First, is the obvious "What the heck is a top model like Kathy or Karen doing here?!?!" It would be like today a supermodel, let's say Adriana Lima, in a Home Depot circular on a riding lawn mower (on second thought, that would be pretty hot!)  Second, it was obvious that folks sewed their own clothes a lot more back then.  There is a noticeable decline in the size of this section from the beginning of the 70s to the end. (1)  Finally, some of these pics are pretty cool!

Obviously, they would rather sell you the finished product than the raw materials.  After all they could send that off overseas to a sweatshop where people are paid virtually nothing to sew garments all day.  Nah, that'd never happen.....

Totally mod Bell Bottoms Man!! And Kathy does them righteous like!! Check out those patterns, the possibilities are endless!!

What!! Here's Shelly Hack in the back sections of a Penney's catalog!  Whatever you've gotta do to move the stock, man!!

Of course one of the great things about sewing your own is that you can really let your animal side out like here - lions, tigers and bears, oh my!  Check out those groovy go-go boots matched with the animal print mini skirt!

Speaking of mini-skirts from the early 70s.....

Sighhhh.  Those were some groove-tastic, good times weren't they!  

Like I said earlier, these sections often had the goofiest sub-titles "More Ways to Play the Mating Game" Hmmm, something tells me that the author of that was a guy, just a wild guess.  And yes, that is Kathy on the far left where where the middle crease is..  One thing about these sections further back in the catalog is that is darn near impossible to get a good scan if there is something along the crease, and for some reason it seems that there is a lot of Kathy pics there, always irritates me.

Okay, I can't end on a sour note.....

Big, bright smiles from Kay and Dottie - that'll brighten your day!!  "Companionable?!?"  I bet you can't say that word(?) without smiling, chuckling, and saying to yourself  "That's Soooo 70s!"

footnotes:

(1) Probably someone should do an actual academic study on this.  Someone, like an Historian Blogger perhaps?? Oh wait that would be me.  Uhhh, I'll get right on it, promise, no really, well maybe later....

Scintillating Sears Sleepwear - Part 4!

Hmmm, what subject of 70s catalog awesomeness haven't we explored lately.  I know!  Why not some more Scintillating Sears Sleepwear to keep us awake all night?

Starting us out with the super cutest "Sleepy-Time Fashions" is Kathy and friend.  Strange, I feel ready for bedtime, but I certainly don't feel ready for sleepy-time!

Wow! Talk about lighting up the night!  Kathy and Colleen lead the way with sleepwear (okay, "nightwear", whatever) in neon-bright colors that are sure to keep anyone from feeling sleepy!

So let's tone it down a bit with some more soothing pastel colors.  No matter, Colleen and friends keep the heat turned up for sure!  Hmmm, you know it's strange, but I STILL don't feel very sleepy!

Cozy Cover-ups are perfect for keeping the night time heat turned on high.  Kay appears to be, uh, what, jogging? I'm not sure why - maybe to keep warm?

Well, once again we're back to "nightwear" instead if "sleepwear", but hey, who's quibbling? (okay, I am, but that doesn't count)  Here we have Pam Erikson, Kathy, Kay (twice) and Pat Miles showing us the Softer Side of Sears.  However, what you call them - nightwear, sleepwear, lounge wear, etc. - they're still scintillating!

I think they went a little overboard on the rose pattern outfits here.  With blinding "Nylon Tricot" coordinates, like these, is it any wonder I STILL don't feel very sleepy?

Oh boy, I could really get into a lot of trouble here with some sort of snippy comment like "That's typical, can't make up their minds"  But I'll refrain from that as to not offend any of my readers.  Wendy Hill, Colleen, and Kay are the little devil-angels giving us the crossed signals here. Yep, I'm definitely not going to be very sleepy thinking about that! (and who can blame me?)

Thanks to JJ's Playhouse for this last pic by the way!

Random Goodness - Spring Dresses and Such!

I noticed that the last couple of posts were a little light on Kathy pics.  Since this is THE Kathy Loghry Blogspot, we must rectify that issue immediately!  And what better way of doing just that than with some really nice pics of Spring dresses from the 70s catalogs!

So, for a change, I'll refrain from all the snarky comments this week and let the pics speak for themselves...

"Aren't You Glad Dresses are Back?"  I didn't realize that dresses ever went away (okay I gotta get my snark on a little).  After all the early 70s were the hey day of the mini skirt (oh boy how DO I remember them!)  These aren't exactly minis, so I guess they are referring to regular length dresses.  And Kathy is the perfect model for this task!

A classic 70s catalog shot of Karen, Kathy, and Colleen - all looking off in different directions. Kathy's dress has a bit of the "gull wing" collar thing going on - soooo 70s (okay, okay, no more snark I promise.)

More really nice dresses, this time from a catalog very early in Kathy's career.  Note the hat that Kathy is holding to her side.  Now go back to the first pic.  Holding the hat to the side must have been a Kathy specialty.

Kay from the same early 70s catalog.  Not much to say here except "Irresistible'.

Another classic pic from Sears.  Like we've discussed before, the models back then had this soft, easy sensuality about them that you just do't see today.

I included this pic just for the psychedelic tie on the pink dress in the upper left.  Although dresses were making a comeback, the influence of the 60s could still be felt!

Speaking of ties, what's that thing on Colleen's dress?  I can't say that ever really caught on (okay, I just can't help myself, better end this post now)

Body Suits / Body Shirts / Whatever - Part 5

Ya'll know by now that I can't go too long between posts on body suits!  After all, they had the perfect 70s fashion combination of fashion oddness, fashion versatility, and of course fashion hotness!

Our regular readers may recall that in the previous post on body suits, I posted the black and white version of this pic (a reader's request).  That is when John of JJ's Playhouse e-mailed me and said "Hey, don't you remember that I sent you the color version some time ago?"  I admit I was a little embarrassed about the whole thing.  After all, how could I have forgotten about this pic with Kathy and Mick Lindberg?  (Thanks JJ's Playhouse for the pic, by the way)

Speaking of Mick Lindberg....

Whether Sears or Penneys, Mick seemed to be one of the go-to models for bodysuits.  And you can see why here, very cute!

One thing about body suits is that you just never knew where they would show up.  Here they are with some very nice thermal long johns.

Or here they are actually with swimwear!!  Very strange.  Why not wear a bodysuit to the beach?  Also here we start with the whole "body suit versus body shirt" confusion.  Make up your mind what they are already, won't ya!!

Great.  Now they have morphed into something called "Body Stockings"  When will this ever end?!?

Now we have the short sleeve and long sleeve version of "Body Shirts".   Kathy certainly makes the long sleeve version look very nice!

Karen Bruun and Dottie Harris show us some very upscale "Bodyshirts" here.  Note that the confusion extends to the spelling.  Is it Body Shirts or Bodyshirts?

I had to throw this  pic in just for the body suit that Kay Campbell is wearing which has that big bow-tie thing going on. Somehow, that doesn't seem to go with the idea of body suits, but that's just me (you probably wouldn't want to wear something like that to the beach, by the way.)