Catalogs #18: The Greatest Year in Women's Fashion History

Spoken as someone who spends altogether too much time looking at old catalogs, I'd have to say that 1974 is my favorite year in women's fashion.

That's right - no need to re-read that line; you read it correctly the first time. In the entire history of women's clothing, since Eve first donned a fig leaf, nineteen hundred and seventy four is the best.

It had the best of all possibilities. The mod look was out, and so was the hippy look - let's face it, they were cool, but got old quick. Both these styles morphed into the glorious fashions of '74.  The colors weren't neon-LSD anymore, but still had a bold flavors of the mod.  Plus, you still had the hippie earth tones. Indeed, this was the year when brown ruled the earth.

Polyester has been a much maligned fabric, but for sheer practicality it cannot be beat. It is wash and wear - no wrinkles to be found. (For those polyester haters, please note that all Underarmour clothing is pure polyester, as is basically all athletic clothing today. Cotton sucks.) As an added bonus, polyester clings to your body like nobody's business, and the clothing in '74 could be quite tight.... making most garments basically a practice in exhibitionism.  Gilligan like.

The fashions of the latter half of the seventies were nice; however, much like the mod attire, the gaudy disco styles got tiresome.  The clothes of '74 were the perfect balance. You might even say that, if fashions were to stay the same for perpetuity, this is the year I'd choose for them to stall at.

Sadly, women's slacks entered the scene in this year; however, it was a small price to pay for the highest hemlines in history - this was the minis last year of popularity, and it was high, high, high.

So, without further ado, check out some catalog pages from the year that 1974.

Killer Lobby Cards #6

This rated PG sequel to The Land that Time Forgot is pure cinematic cheese; don't come looking for a Merchant-Ivory production here. As much as I like to see E. M. Forester's literature translated for the big screen, I can't help but prefer lighthearted 1970s schlock. This movie delivers, if for no other reason than cavegirl Dana Gillespie's wardrobe.

Mini Skirt Monday #102: More Cheerleaders

"Gimme an 'M', gimme an 'I", gimme an 'N', gimme an 'I'..... What does that spell?" Happiness.

It's amazing that something so inexorably linked with pretty girls actually began exclusively with men.  Cheerleading has its origins at Princeton when it was 'guys only'. By the 1940s, females started infiltrating the business, but the miniskirt was still a couple decades away. Typically, the gals wore tucked in blouses or button up shirts with wool skirts that extended well below the knee.

Pleated cotton skirts were introduced in the '60s, and the hemline began its gradual rise, culminating in the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders of the '70s. The look became much more 'athletic' and pushed some sexual boundaries as well; sometimes utilizing the miniskirt's first-cousin - hotpants.  

And so, here we are in 2012.  The uniform has remained largely unchanged, and for that we're thankful.  Unlike the rest of the world, the cheerleader's hemline never fell back down. It stayed up, and thus it deserves a special place here at Retrospace.  We've done a cheerleader post once before; but with a whole new shipment of vintage pics, it's high time for another. Enjoy.

Comic Books #37: Horny Archie Comics

I know, I know. I probably publish more than my share of Archie posts..... but I just can't get enough of them. They are the cowbell to my inner Bruce Dickinson. In many ways, Archie comics are the ultimate resource for that retro flavor. The fashions, the attitudes, the pop culture references - they're cocaine infused candy for the retro-obsessed.

One aspect of the teenage life that was perfectly captured in these Archie comics was the blinding slap-happy horniness of adolescence. A common thread throughout the decades was that the boys of Riverdale High are straight-up 'unzipped' - i.e. when a pretty girl crosses their line of sight, the wheels come off... 

Vintage Men's Mags #22: The Swinger's Alphabet

As of this writing, I've been posting at Retrospace for about three and a half years.  I'd guess about 80 percent of my posts dwell in the seventies.  However, I also have a love for the Mad Men era, the days of Hi-Fi's and Hi-Balls; the primetime of the swingin' bachelor and the Brylcreamed dad forever holding his Scotch and water.

Granted, I didn't live through these days, so I don't have the advantage of recollection, as I do with the seventies. However, I do possess an awful lot of paper materials from this period. Subsequently, I feel I'm best able to reach out and touch this era via Vintage Men's Mags posts.

A 1956 issue Escapade (v01 n06) contained this little alphabet from sent straight from Coolsville. I wish they'd gone all the way to Z; but, I guess that'd be too much of a good thing.