Monday, July 28, 2014

Fashion as Couples Therapy (Part 6), Let's Get Into Physical (Part 3)

Okay, now we have a massive collision of categories: Fashion as Couples Therapy + Let's Get into Physical =  The Moral Decline of Western Civilization (Part 1).  Confused ?  Good!, Let us proceed.....
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WARNING: Dear Readers, please be advised that I have had a completely awful week at work.  Therefore I'm about to torque off into a direction that will reveal the hidden, darken corners of my so-called "soul".  You have been fairly warned.........
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Before we get to the standard fare of catalog pics, we must first examine, from an historical perspective, the relationship between "couples" fashions, aerobics exercise, specifically that venerable 70s trend of "Jogging" (or is it yogging, with a soft J?) and the complete moral collapse of Western Civilization.  To wit, I bring you......

SUBJECT: A Comparative Study of the Relationship between "Couples" Fashion in exercise and the decline of Western Morals

THESIS: Couples Fashions trends not only followed the decline of Western morality, they actually were a key factor in accelerating the trend.  To prove this hypothesis, we bring evidence from three time periods: Pre-70s, 70s, and Post-70s.  Please note that the definition of "70s" loosely corresponds to roughly the time period from the late 60s to the early 80s....

Pre 70s Era: Sportswear for the Active Couple......
Note the traditional coupling - the dashing gent provisioning for his elegant lady!  No sweating allowed!! (Re-blogged from The Art of Manliness)

The 70s:  The pivotal historical transition point as "aerobics" begins in the humble form of jogging....
Note the more unisex attire as the definition of coupling becomes more elastic.  These boomers are working up a sweat in search of that elusive runner's "high". (Re-blogged from Paco Camino).

Post-70s: Now, and brace yourself dear readers, for the post-70s apocalypse of aerobics evolution from jogging to the more developed forms...
What the heck happened?????

CONCLUSION?  Couples exercise fashions were, not only a key indicator, they were in fact a an accelerant in the decline of Western Civilization. And it all began with jogging!
Not a fan of jogging (or is it yogging), prefers jazz flute (and unicorns).

Now with that historical perspective, back to the catalog pics.....
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Hey dude, eyes ahead, but on second thought, okay, I get it.  Yes, friends, we FINALLY have a Kathy pic. I know that this is the Kathy Loghry Blogspot and we are 5 pics in before a shot of Kathy, but hey, I got a little sidetracked with that Historical Perspective. (Thanks to Blue Senshi for the pic!)

Oh, give me a break!! Nobody is that happy when they're jogging.   I know, their trainer told them to do LSD of the 70s (Long Slow Distance) and they mistook that for the LSD of the 60s - groovy baby!!!

Yep, they're dressed the part, but with those smiles, I doubt any actual jogging occurred.  Still Kathy and Jayne are looking pretty good!

There, I feel a lot better now.  I ask you where else can you find a post that combined all these elements: Veronica Corningstone, Schweppes, Kathy Loghry, Richard Simmons, and Jayne Modean?  Still, it seems like I left someone out - someone indispensable for a post of this epicness....

 Light My Fire, Light My Fire, Light My Fire....

Yes, I had a bad week.........

Monday, July 21, 2014

That's So 70s - High Rise Pants (Part 3) Aldens Style!!

Well, I just can't end my fascination with the high rise pants styles of the 70s.  For a decade that had the mini, the maxi, and  the flash of the disco era, the high waisted pants of everyday wear seem almost, well, nerdy by comparison.  

And to add a twist, I decided to focus this post exclusively on the catalog pant styles from Aldens.  Where better to find acre after acre of wonderful polyester and stretch nylon pants of the every-day-woman? Where, oh where, indeed!

Well, let's start out with an incredible pic of Kathy (okay, you've probably realized at this point that I almost always start out with a 4 star Kathy pic).   I'm not sure what that white stripe down the pant leg is supposed to do?  I don't recall seeing any of those in the discos of the 70s.  Kay, has a "Bump" on her shirt! Huh?!?

Dottie Harris and friend are giving us the best in 70s high rise pants fashion.  Yeah!!


Hoodies, hats and, high rise pants, what a wonderful combination! Not to mention Kathy looking hot too!!

Aldens was obviously trying to dominate the "big white stripe down the pant leg" look.  However, based on the fact that they ended up going out of business, it apparently didn't work.

Well, finally we get to the standard Aldens fare - the stretch nylon pants.  Even Kathy looks a bit dowdy in that garb.

Newsmakers indeed!  You just gotta love the hyperbolic titles in Aldens.  And you've gotta love those leaves on the brown pants!

Lots of checkered patterns here as Aldens tries to class it up a bit.  You might notice the necklace that Kathy is wearing.  Now go back to the pic above.  Yep, that must be some kind of special Adens catalog sorority emblem that designates membership, or something.  Oh wait, even Pam Erickson is wearing the same in the small insert pic!

Well don't tell Aldens that they weren't "groovy!!  Check out that transistor radio on a strap.  Talk about being ahead of their time!  I bet that seemed really "far out man" back then.  But look what where this has taken us. Now when I go to the gym, everyone has has headphones in their ears.  Sometimes I doubt of all this technology is really progress.  But I guess I'm starting to sound like an old fuddy now.

Yes, Aldens catalog was definitely the "go to" place of the best in 70s high rise pants!  Disco had nothing on the groovy pants styles of Aldens!!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Let it Rain! - Part 2

Well, I'm a little late for a post on 70s rain wear. After all it's mid-July now.  But hey!  We've actually gotten some rain here recently so I thought I'd celebrate!

Well, we start off this post right where we left off from last week - Kathy and Karen (along with some friends.  I think that's Joanne Vitalli on the left).  Even the raincoats mimicked mini-skirts back then!

More mini-skirts masquerading as raincoats! However, these three really look great in them (Thanks to JJ's Playhouse for the pic)

Well, not all the raincoats were of the mini-skirt variety. Here we have some of the longer variety.


These are, well, sorta rain wear.  There is a bit of a blurred boundary between what can be called a raincoat and what is just a springtime jacket.  Wait!  What happened to the pic of Kathy at the bottom?  Did the Spiegel Magic Man strike again with the old cut-the-girl-in-half trick.  Based on the results of his previous lame attempts at magic tricks.  I certainly hope not!  However, I am a bit worried.  This pic is from the same catalog that had the Magic Man, so who knows?!?!

Not familiar withe the Spiegel Magic Man? Check him out here....

http://kathyloghry.blogspot.com/2013/09/random-weirdness-magic-man.html


Whew, that was close!  Turns out that the problem is with those old Spiegel catalogs.  They are too long to get the entire page on a scanner, that's all.

Karen and Pat Miles wrap things up with some fancy looking slickers perfect for a rainy day, or, well, painting?  I'm not sure about that.  After all why would you want to risk getting paint on those groovy clogs they're wearing?

Monday, July 7, 2014

K Club Special (Part 10) - Kathy and Karen!

Of all the models that are featured on this blog, two are constantly seen together in sooo many pics - Kathy and Karen Bruun.  So I thought that a special post featuring some of their classic shots together would be perfect!

Kathy and Karen were "Classics" for sure.  They were seen so often in the catalogs of the 70s.  Based on some of the feedback I've received, they were good friends too.  Here they are kicking up their heels! (1)

Both had that easy-going style to their poses that seemed to just complement each other.  What I want you to notice is how each of these pics is really a classic, beautiful, yes even artistic shot.   You just don't see that today, and to think that these great works were in catalogs! It boggles the mind!

"Heather Go-Great Togethers" Well Kathy and Karen always went great together.  Here they seem overly happy about, well, something as they go skipping down the sidewalk!  You have to admit that you can feel the friendship here - chemistry like that can't be faked!

Heck, even when they wore wigs, there was no mistaking Kathy and Karen together!  It's almost like they are saying "Hey, we can pull off any look, no problem!"

Wow!! Talk about cranking up the cuteness factor!  Kathy and Karen absolutely smolder here with effortless ease!!  Yeah, the boots are hoots too! (1)

So many great memories of these two!!  I had to stop myself and think "Hey, you need to save some of these pics for future posts!"  But still it's wonderful to go back to that special era where models like Kathy and Karen just seem to ooze that easy, causal, yet classy sexiness.  I dare anyone out there to find a single contemporary modeling pic that can hold a candle to these!! (Okay, this pic is re-blogged from, well, somewhere.  Dang it, I wish I'd kept better track of that sort of thing back when I started!!)

footnotes:

(1) Thanks to Blue Senshi for these incredible pics!!