Oh, bop, do do do do do do do do
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion
Oh, bop, do do do do do do do do
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion
La-la la la la la la-la
As David Bowie once memorably sang. Now I never really did much fashion as a teenager because:
a) Total lack of interest
b) Total lack of disposable income*
c) Wales
But I was the tribal sort, I was a rocker. I had a denim jacket with patches and badges on, studded leather belt, four Faster Pussycat T-shirts, tight jeans and Hi-Tec baseball boots. Now the jeans and boots could be sourced locally as could some of the badges, but where does a kid in deepest, greenest rural Wales get the rest of his tribal gear? well, same place I used to get a big chunk of my music too, mail order. Kerrang! was always a good source of rock shit to buy and it’s undoubtedly by buying something that way, I got hold of this little beauty I hold in my hand right now.
I was looking through a bunch of old writings and what-not the other day when I unearthed this beast. A HM Gear catalogue from around 1988, at a guess. It’s in pristine condition too and I’ve no idea why I kept it, the stuff I was looking through was dated way afterwards, but it was a happy find for me. It took me back to long hours of pouring over the goodies within, I definitely equipped myself with a ‘concho/links’ wristband (the narrow one) and a ‘concho/links’ belt from here – I really liked those; hell what’s not to like there? I also bought the LA Guns patch for my jeans too, to go with my Motörhead one. I also had the Faster Pussycat ‘The Itch You Can’t Scratch’ and ‘100% Pure Pussycat’ T-shirts too.
But what’s really great are the clothes, now I can’t remember the band Wraith but the guys do a good job modelling all the latest must-haves for us. I never did get myself the Painter’s Blouson jacket and the Lace-Up Lycra jeans. I suspect that’s the only reason I never managed to ensnare the kind of fox who’d wear Zebra Stretch Lycra jeans, or the Black Widow Top & Leggings combo – Yowza!!
My kids haven’t stopped laughing about this for days now. I think it all looks quite sweet. Definitely one for the time capsule, I’ll now go and put the sacred HM Gear catalogue inside the cover of Faster Pussycat where future generations may enjoy it again one day.
595 Down (with the kids).
*once music purchases had been taken care of.
Does the Smithsonian know you have this cherished scroll? My God, you must keep this protected until the anthropological dept can properly preserve this in an airtight glass case.
I bet that guy really isn’t a fan of Anthrax. Calll it a hunch. Did they use MTV Europe VJs for this fashion shoot?
Shhh. They’ll hunt me down in cold blood for this treasure, I’ll have to move safe house again.
It’s a band I can’t remember at all called Wraith and you’re bob on about Anthrax.
Mums the word….for maybe a pair of those spider fish net stockings and a copy of Wraith’s Greatest Hit.
Done! You asked for it:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZCjbkZhaWs&w=420&h=315%5D
Well worth it.
Wow, BEAST catalog! If you ever made it to Sudbury, Ontario in 1988, you would have been outfitted with all the best head-banging gear. ( Now I know where the stores got all the leather and lycra – HM Gear!). Big hair and a Poison shirt was the landscape, and I fought the look hard and somehow made it through the late 80s.
Seriously, though, it was tough being an Alternative gal in Northern Ontario – no Doc Martens…nothing without lycra…no natural fabrics…sort of like today, ain’t it? lol
I have always dreamed of turning 1537 into a fashion blog!
So no animal print outer garments for you then? Surely everyone has rocked the Lycra Zebra look at some point?
Fashion tends to be cyclical, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these looks back en vogue soon – which would mean if you sported the zebra number, right now you’re either way behind or slightly ahead of the times!
So what would you pick from this ensemble then?
ensemble is right – so many mix n’ match options! I’d say when in doubt, go zebra
Don’t fret, I was a straightforward denim man as well. My eccentric piece of clothing was the Native American moccasin boots. I saw those when I was stationed on Okinawa and fell in love with them straight away. Of course, I got a lot of shit off people for them when I got back to the USA but then it was 80s Reagan America at the time. Besides, looking at those prices, I couldn’t have afforded those things anyway.
Native American boots in Okinawa?
I know, strange isn’t it?
Lawd ha’ murcy! You clearly kept hold of this beauty so you could order the Painter’s Blouson jacket and Lace-Up Lycra jeans, no?
Absolutely! I reckon I could still pull that look off. How about you out of these goodies?
Easy. Reckon I’ll go for the tassled Brando jacket and snow washed jeans. Rock it like it’s 1984.
It’s never too late for the lace-up lycra pants.
Hahaha, I’m much more of a textured PVC snakeskin jeans man myself. I haven’t got the legs for the Black Widow dress anymore.
Not wishing to be indelicate here but I’m willing to bet there’d be some serious chafing going on downstairs.
That chafing is how you know you’re wearing them correctly.
Nothing worse than a bad case of Heavy Rock Chafing (HRC), its why I no longer wear the full regalia.
Bwa ha ha this is brilliant.
True story: none of them were allowed to smoke, for that photo shoot, because the combined hairspray involved would blast them all to Neptune if it came into contact with flame.
Haha, so true! I’d have LOVED fluffy hair like that at the time.
Nope no way not me, man. That was back when I actually had hair, and I would never have gone that far. I played a lot of basketball and if I’d have had any sense even then I would have shaved my head.
I can so see you in the zebra number.
You really want to get that seen to mate!
I bought a lot of t-shirts from a company called Rockabilia in high school. I think that was most of my wardrobe. If the Hot Topic generation only knew the struggle.
I know, we had to fight for our right to party. Kids today … Pah!
I don’t know about fighting, but we had to pay shipping and handling.
Bonerama!!
What a find…never seen a catalog like this before! Not this extensive anyway! A one page ad in a mag, yes, but this…!
Haha, its like I’ve found the Dead Sea scrolls of metal. There are also pages and pages of badges advertised in tiny print and about 5 more b+w photo pages of T-shirts.
I was really surprised to stumble across it.
I see you as a Tassled Brando jacket and PVC Snakeskin texture jeans kinda guy.