Style, Thy Name is A Lie

These are members of the Princeton Drama department.

1971_CampusExpressions

They were hired by an ad agency to strike fear in the hearts of parents everywhere.

Had men actually dressed like this, human reproduction in the early 70s would have ground to a halt instantly.

Oh sure, the women look fairly normal, chic hippies. The guy in the background is actually a hairdresser, and Buck there in the red was a bull rider.  But Rambo and Shaft – well, they never existed in real life.  Who would date that? Who would ever take seriously a man in orange pants, tank top, cowboy hat and swishy macramé belt?  And a man in a purple jumpsuit with a purple hat and no shoes could only get one job…and I think we all know exactly what that job is.

I would love to get the statistics on how many of these “outfits” actually sold.  Were there men in Kansas working the fields in brightly colored jumpsuits?  Were there men on Wall Street dressed like jaunty pirates?  I think not.  If there were, I’d sure like to see them today.  If you were one of them, please…please leave a comment…and send pictures!

photo: retro=ads.net

Comments

Lidian said…
I would like to know those statistics too. I have a feeling that there were very few men who dressed like this in real life!

What a great ad!
Was there ever a time when young men were going for the pimp-daddy look? I sure don't remember that. Where do you come up with these amazing ads? Thanks for the Saturday morning laugh. Now I can start my chores with a smile on my face and a song in my heart....Shaft, can you dig it?...
Wow, does this ad bring back some memories! Of COURSE people dressed like that back in the 70's--at least in San Francisco they did. I've just posted a photo on my blog of my friend Walter back in the day. I can assure you that dressing this way was plenty sexy to LOTS of women and that we were all doin' the humpty dance big time!!!
Barbara said…
Seriously Christine? In purple jumpsuits???

I guess SF was different - I was in Sacramento and saw none of this...
I would bet money that no one in North Carolina wore that jumpsuit in the 70's. However, I have a couple of gay friends who would gladly pull that jumpsuit on today and look quite dashing in it! The beauty of that closet door opening!
Anonymous said…
That dude in the purple jumpsuit is TOTALLY pimp-a-licious!!!!

Sara In AZ

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