Cringeworthy Men’s Fashion Ads From the 70’s You Can Never Unsee

[KittyWampus]

Many more at the link… if you can stand it:

http://canyouactually.com/mens-fashion/#blog

[hobbit709]

1. then there's this.

[3catwoman3]

14. I wonder if the model regrets posing for that ad.

I actually saw an item like that in the store window of a sex shop in the Pigalle area of Paris in about 1975.

Can't help but wonder if these trousers were designed for actual insertion of the organ being emphasized, or if the attachment is just decorative?

[Monk06]

17. The model was Eldridge Cleave hisself and yes the meat was inserted in the pocket

How you go to the bathroom Well maybe you just pee through it

But when you go down to the Fox Bars you want people of admire your bulges

- Yortuk and Georg Festunk the Czeckoslovakian playboys who as we know are wild and crazy guys

[kentauros]

2. The two in the upper-right image

look like they belong in Logan's Run

[Beartracks]

22. Hey, I thought the same thing!

Especially the guy on the right.

================

[GreatGazoo]

37. Bottom right, guy on right = Steve Martin as one of "two wild and crazies guys !"

Let's swiiiing !

[msongs]

3. avoided that stuff in favor of hang ten, levis, and beach wear nt

[lunamagica]

4. But nobody worre this, right? I mean, in real life?

[KittyWampus]

7. well, in the 2nd group it says 50% off…

so maybe not too many people?

The leisure suits at the link definitely got worn though. I do remember them.

[murielm99]

21. I don't remember any men

wearing this stuff back then. Bell bottoms and flowered shirts, yes. Shirts with big, long, pointy collars, yes. And those awful leisure suits! But I don't recall seeing any of those ridiculous get-ups from the ads.

[Warpy]

24. No, the ads were pretty extreme

but I do remember seeing some of that stuff in tacky dance clubs in Boston and other, even worse stuff, made by weavers and crocheters and if there were ever evidence of true love, it's that occasionally men went out the front door in that stuff.

Fashions for women weren't any better and it was also the pit of bad taste and impracticality for home decor.

All I can mark the bad music, bad fashion and overall bad taste up to in the 70s is the fact that so many people were doing drugs, lots and lots of drugs. It was the only way to get through the Nixon years.

ETA: If you want a really awful 70s flashback, "Space, 1999" is on You Tube. I binge watched it last year and tried to remember when hair like that was considered normal and that much bad science wasn't laughable. Mostly, I was just slack jawed in amazement that I made it through that decade alive.

[1939]

55. Avocado appliances in the kitchen

and pink and blue fixtures in the bathroom

[Warpy]

56. And baby shit yellow acrylic carpet as far as the eye could see

ensuring both static electricity zaps and spectacular rug burns when they landed you on your arse.

[Nay]

41. I lived through those years -- the form-fitting shirts in the B&W ad? Yes. Plenty

of guys wore those. Some were body suits like those, others were just tucked in. Also, the last ad, on the left, is of bellbottom pants and shirts that all men wore.

And yes, men did wear leisure suits. I especially remember the powder blue ones.

That other stuff? Nah. Never saw it.

[rusty quoin]

5. Ha ha.

I looked as much as I could. I wore Greg Brady pants in junior high. You could not hide a boner in them.

That said, it was a horrible time for men's fashion. Thank god for the skinny ties and straight legs that came afterwards. That certainly looks dated today, but it rescued us from the past you showed.

Oh, BTW, when the Members Only jacket came out, I was not a member.

[SheilaT]

6. As someone who crochets, I must say

I am impressed by the crochet ripple poncho. And the colors! Pure 1975!

[KittyWampus]

8. Yes, in knitting it's the same pattern name. One of easiest to do/remember.

[Nay]

43. Yeah! Harvest gold and avocado green! And then some orange and brown!

I made a crocheted ripple baby blanket for a friend in harvest gold and maroon!

[Joanie Baloney]

9. It's so difficult...

But my current favorite is #30.

:shudder:

-JB

[TygrBright]

27. Which? The groovy onesie? Or the harem boys? n/t

[Joanie Baloney]

32. I think it's more of the composition

The 2 photos, side-by-side, kind of tell a story. A disturbing story to be sure. But a story.

-JB

[surrealAmerican]

39. It's easy to misunderstand those "onesies" ...

... but they were an effective way to keep your shirt tucked into super-low-rise jeans - not really made to be worn alone.

[jaysunb]

10. I confess to strong participation :)

My grands have a habit of posting pic's of me in that era on their TBT Facebook pages.

[longship]

11. Well, the best of them are the upper and lower left.

The rest of them are absolutely horrible.

[tblue37]

12. My grandmother ahd an afghan on her couch that looked exactly like the knit poncho!

[Adsos Letter]

15. We had a couch that looked like that!

Vinyl, of course.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. Orange yellow, brown was a common yarn color combination

[TygrBright]

28. I had a bedspread in those colors in my college dorm room. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. When Living Rooms Went Brown: “Earth Toning” of American Homes in the 1970s

http://flashbak.com/when-living-rooms-went-brown-earth-toning-of-american-homes-in-the-1970s-33482/

[KittyWampus]

35. OMG that couch. My eyes hurt. I remember. And some families had that avocado green

mixed in there as well. BLECK

[Liberal_in_LA]

46. Avocado green and harvest gold

[OregonBlue]

49. I remember when my mom re-did her entire living room to look just like these ads. I thought it was

awful then and looking at these photos, I was right.

[tblue37]

42. Not just the colors, though--the stitch, the design, everything!

Even the pointy scalloping at the edge. THIS is exactly what it looked like:

[Liberal_in_LA]

47. Yes. Everyone used the same patterns

[DemonGoddess]

30. I've crocheted

blankets that look like that poncho

[Doctor_J]

13. I was in college so luckily I could not afford any of this stuff

Maybe some flared Levi's

[Prism]

16. I kind of want that onesie

It has a kind of "wear it at your next halloween party" insanity.

[elmac]

18. I can't remember wearing anything like that

or maybe I just blocked it out.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. Lol

[BootinUp]

23. LOL. I remember. Was just a kid

and my mother was in charge of the wardrobe. I used to hate some of it.

[TygrBright]

25. I just wanna know what the guy in #12 was doing with that chicken! n/t

[MADem]

26. This thread is freaking HILARIOUS and deserves many more recs!

This is gut-bustingly funny!!!! Boy, this crap doesn't improve with age, does it?

[KittyWampus]

36. Guy on the left is doing his best Robert Wagner.

[MADem]

54. Isn't he, just?

[Ex Lurker]

38. Prince could pull it off

if it was in purple.

[MADem]

53. He DID--some of those outfits look like they came right out of closet, LOL! nt

[villager]

29. I think we disagree on much. But on the "unseeability" of this. nt

[MFM008]

33. lived through this horror

50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s...........................

[Binkie The Clown]

34. Just think guys, 30 years from now you can tell your grandchildren

that looking like you lost your shaver and had to go to work with a 3-day stubble was "cool". They will just feel embarrassed for you.

[CanSocDem]

40. Yeh...

...and standing there with your tight pants and too small sport jacket, you can tell us how cool you look.


.

[greatauntoftriplets]

44. I dated a guy in the early 1970s who once wore bright yellow slacks.

That was the beginning of the end.

[CanSocDem]

45. You're lacking context.

Before these fashions the style was deliberately subdued. Haircuts were very short - even sideburns were discouraged until Elvis Presley made them acceptable. The only dress shirts available were white and all the suits were dark blue or grey.

The Beatles were a big influence but it was the completely unhinged attitude of the hippies that gave our generation its' style. They introduced 'color' into our "blues and grays", and the idea of comfort over utility in the clothes we wore. They explained how we would feel better if we dressed in less restrictive clothing and expressed ourselves openly and honestly.

In the mid to late 60's, I was astonished to see very masculine black men in high-waisted, tight fitting bell bottoms and puffy sleeved shirts walking along the street on high heeled, platform boots with a grace and style that 'blew my mind'. Somebody said at the time that these guys were so sure of their sexuality, they weren't afraid to appropriate a female appearance.

Above all we learned that underneath all the bright colours and personal expressions of style, there was a desire to challenge the conventions of the day, and unless you're one of those anti-boomer types, you'd have to admit those 'challenges' have served the public interest.

.

[OregonBlue]

48. I remember those times so well. Saw some of this in the Seattle area but when I moved to

California I have to admit, there was a fair amount of it in LA and San Francisco. Vests were in but these knit vests are just too funny. Looking at it now it seems unbelievable how bad the fashion was but at the time, it seemed very fashion forward. LOL.

[Aristus]

50. I look at the guys in those ads, and all I can think is:

Those poor guys! They're trapped in the '70's!

[lastever]

51. whatever

i'd wear it.

[Rex]

52. Then there was the 80s...

[ThoughtCriminal]

57. As I remember it.

Wore blue jeans every day. Except when I had to wear a suit, it was a grey three-piece for the latter half of the decade. Didn't care for disco, so I never went into that fashion.