Cozy Lounge Wear - Part 4!

Well with the temperature still hovering around 90 degrees, one might think that now is time for one last sizzlin' swimwear post before summer ends.  Nah, that'd be too easy.

With lounge wear like this, you might just forget about the swimwear for now,  I said might.   Still this type of "cozy" lounging is pretty enticing if you ask me!

Now this is looking more like your classic robe style lounge wear.  Perhaps I should have stuck wit the swimsuits instead!

 I'm not sure about "cozy" for these outfits.  More like heavy duty cold weather gear here.

The quilts even came in mini skirt style!

The ever popular robes - perfect for lounging even with the hoodie!

Once again with the "cozy" lounge wear.  That seems to be the operative adjective when it comes to lounge wear, even with the onsies!

And these onsies deserve a closeup....

 I'm feeling "cozy" already!

 Yep, "cozy" is the word here!

So was lounge wear all about comfort and coziness?

Nope.  In the 70s, they had lounge wear that could double as disco wear!!  Okay, these outfits aren't quite as "sizzlin" as 70s swimwear, but hey, they'll be plenty more posts of that in the future!

When Life Was Groovy - Back to School (Part2)

I just got back from dropping my youngest off at college which, naturally, brought back a lot of memories from my college days, like.....

The minis!!

And also minis....

 And more minis!!

And, you guessed it, yet more minis.

At this point you may be asking what else I remember from my college experience?

Well, I remember something from thermodynamics about the temperature rising whenever minis like these were out and about!!

Yes, seeing some minis on campus were certainly a welcome respite after a tough exam!!

And last, and not least, I remember....

The minis! and, oh yeah, the groovy pants and funky hats too - but mostly the minis!!

Random Weirdness - Uniforms (Part 2)

I'm sure that everyone that grew up in the 70s remembers the S&H Green Stamps  Yep, they were part of every checkout from the local supermarket (along with other vendors).

For our younger readers, they're a bit difficult to explain. The idea is that you got these stamps for every purchase.  You then laboriously pasted them in these little books (1).  Then once you collect enough of these books you could cash them in for prizes!  Think of them as sorta like coupons, sorta like credit card cash back programs.

Naturally, in order to decide which groovy gifts to select for all your hard earned efforts, one turned to the ubiquitous catalog!!

"Okay, okay what, pray tell, does any of this have to do with uniforms?" you ask

Yep that's right!  An S&H catalog for uniforms!!  And with Colleen and Karen on the cover, I just had to plunk down some cold hard cash to get it!! (apparently, Ebay doesn't take Green Stamps, even for a Green Stamp catalog.)

So that's two of the four K Clubbers,.  What about Kay and Kathy?

That's better!  The gang is all here!! and in all places a Green Stamp catalog!!  It STILL amazes me that back in the 70s, top models would pop in the most unlikely of places like here (which makes my role as Historical Blogger of 70s Catalogs (2) all the more fun!)

Why don't nurses wear those little hats anymore?  And pantsuits!?!?!?  Didn't I JUST do a post on those?

Well I admit that my initial excitement on this rare find is starting to wear off.  These uniforms are starting to look awfully monotonous!!

Yawn! Yes, this is getting a little boring - too much white.  Except for the little hats, I can't say I find much here to get excited about.

Did nurses back then wear nothing but white?  (3)

Almost, but not quite.  Here's some color from Kathy and Karen which deserves a closeup...

Very nice hearts design - especially for a nurse's uniform!!  However, if I had a nurse like Kathy taking care of me in the hospital, I may never want to leave!  "Nurse, I'm don't think I should leave yet.  Perhaps you should run a few more tests!"

Speaking of some fine looking nurses, let's check out some more from the S&H Uniform Catalog....

"Nurse, nurse, I think I'm having some kind of reaction - elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate.  No, no, it just started when you walked in.  I think I better stay a while longer (at least to the end of your shift.)"

And finally, what look back at 70s S&H uniforms would be complete without.....

Candy strippers, I mean candy stripers, oh, never mind!!

footnotes:

(1) And by laborious, I mean exactly that.  I remember my mom spending hours licking those stamps and pasting them in those damnable books!

(2) And yes, that is my official title!

(3)  When my daughter first started nursing school, I took her over to the uniform store, and I was amazed.  I had no idea that all the major fashion designers have clothing for nurses!!  The outfits are a lot more varied now!

That's So 70s - The Pantsuit

If the iconic fashion images of the 60s was the miniskirt and the bikini, then the iconic fashion images of the 70s were, well, aside from the groovy disco fashions, the pantsuit?!?!?

Now that's a real downer.  But as much as I've avoided the subject, the pantsuit came into its own during that time.  So here we go......

Well, that's not too bad, not too bad at all!  Of course Kathy could make even a plain pantsuit look great.  The bad news is that they were pushing these "for juniors too."  Sigh, couldn't we just stick with the minis?

Mostly though they were for women, especially those entering the workforce.  Still these examples had that special touch of 70s groovy flair.

Even Aldens got in on the pantsuit craze !!  Of course they called them "pantsets" which isn't even a real word.

Naturally Speigel really honed in on the whole pantsuit thing.  It really was a staple in their catalogs.

Kathy again with the pantsuits, er, pantsets - this time with that special 70s bell-bottom touch.

Often they came in versatile coordinates so you could have that same groovy 70s look every day of the week!

 However, let's face it, it's really hard to too excited by pantsuits.  Unless......

They you're talking gabardine.  Well, not really even then.

Then we have the very 70s look of the pantsets with the extra long tunic look.  ALl I can say is "That's soooo 70s!"

Even Kathy got into the tunic look pantsets.  However, Karen stayed with the ever popular mini (I can't say that's fair to the pantsuits!)  And no, I have no idea what the giant grapes have to do with anything.

So how could one make the tunic pantsets look sexy?

Easy!  Ditch the pants!!!

K Club Special 28 - Colleen Corby Part 4!

It's Colleen Corby time again. Yes, she is easily one of the best known models from the 60s and 70s. And as a regular in the always groovy Big Book catalogs, she definitely was one of my favs also. However, at the time I had no idea that she was such a big deal.

Well, now let's see why.......

John must have been a player (actually he looks plain creepy if you ask me), but who can blame him with Colleen in those groovy plaids!  Oh no, this isn't going to devolve into one of those "plaid madness posts like here....

Whew!! It looks like we have the plaid madness for now!

Yep, no plaids here!  Just a really nice pic of Colleen form the 60s,   And yes, there was a time when ladies wore white gloves and it was considered stylish.

Oh no, this isn't plaid but it's getting too close for my comfort!

....and there're back, the plaids invade again!!

...but as quickly as the plaids came they (thankfully) retreated.  We need to keep this post focused on Colleen!!

...looks like I spoke too soon!! It's a plaid, plaid world even with Colleen!!

Those plaids just won't go away.  Here Kathy has the (sorta) plaid giant (sorts) bow tie as Karen and Colleen look on.

Not plaids, but checks.  That's just about as bad.

Now we have truffles instead of checks instead of plaids!

Let's get back to the subject at hand - Colleen Corby

Here she is on the cover of Aldens Summer 75 catalog which is a little odd because she didn't appear a whole lot in Aldens, but in this edition she was practically on every other page!

And finally a modeling pic from 1975.  She certainly was a classic and still a fan favorite even today!