Comments on: Overall Chic

By: desertwind

desertwind — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:38:49 +0000

The white painter overalls were the thing in ‘73 when desertwind graduated high school.

Lord, my Ma hated those overalls.

And, little could she have imagined that Punk Rock was (thanks gawds) lurking around the corner! Hee hee.

By: Meg Q

Meg Q — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:45:12 +0000

Wrestling shoes - remember Jennifer Grey wearing those in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? That was probably the apotheosis of that look.

By: Meg Q

Meg Q — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:42:41 +0000

Ha ha. Thanks to the Manolo for the fashion flashback. I remember very well in high school wearing the Guess? overalls and spraying the bangs with the StiffStuff (the bangs were not too outrageously big though - I was, and mostly still am, a “preppy”). I left the parachute pants to my younger sister - she had at least 1 pr in black and another in orange, which was our high school’s main “color”, to wear on football Fridays, “spirit days”, etc. (We grew up in small-town Texas.) She also wore knickers, and a Members Only jacket (though not at the same time!).

Frankly, we rarely got to see videos, because we didn’t have cable - our family was well-off but our father thought that having to pay for television was an abomination before God. (He and Mother finally got cable - digital cable! - in 1999, after they moved into the city.)

By: Jenzilla

Jenzilla — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:11:19 +0000

In the 80s, I preferred the slick Duran Duran style to the urchin look. I had a badass fedora. And parachute pants. Three pair. Though I didn’t have sense enough to not wear those things, I did realize enough to not allow anyone to take my picture while so dressed. No visual record to be humiliated by, only the memories!

By: Nora Charles

Nora Charles — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:32:26 +0000

I too succumbed to the lure of 1980s fashion as the young teenager and in the land Down Under braces are making making a comeback with the young fashionistas. As a thirtysomething it is amusing to see.

PS Thank you Manolo for the lovely memories through the film clips.

By: Bridget In Oregon

Bridget In Oregon — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:24:46 +0000

I think I’m most grossed out by the Dexie Midnight Runner’s hairy armpits. Why did we need to zoom in on THAT? Like the street urchin look wasn’t bad enough?

By: class-factotum

class-factotum — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:16:54 +0000

When I saved my hard-earned babysitting money in high school ($1/hr) so I could buy a pair of the coveted overalls from the Sears catalogue, my mother, who grew up on a farm and didn’t even have indoor plumbing until she was 12 (try *that* in northern Wisconsin!), was horrified. “We wore *those* to the barn!” she sniffed. She was appalled that I was not only willing but eager to wear overalls in public.

By: themanintheseersuckersuit

themanintheseersuckersuit — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:15:50 +0000

The lesson here is that after the many years the Johnny Ray still appears the sharp dressed man, time has been the more cruel to Dexy

By: leiarenee

leiarenee — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:43:10 +0000

In defense of the Bananananaramamama, they were apparently moonlighting as auto mechanics, who, like farmers, can wear overalls whenever they fancy. Though that doesn’t explain the appalling-ness of what they wore after work….

By: VeddyVeddyBadAng

VeddyVeddyBadAng — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:11:34 +0000

I wanted a pair of wrestling shoes in junior high in the worst way…

They looked so darn comfy!