Robb, a suit and tie has been my "uniform" most of my working life. In the early 00s, when being allowed to work from home, I didn't have to wear one everyday. My first job I had to wear one even if it was my day off and I wanted to just top into the office to pick up something!
I have noticed that even retirees and some VERY senior guys in nursing homes wear baseball caps in America. My grandfather and his friends wore them all the time when I would see him in summer. He wore a dress hat whenever he wore a suit though. Culture can seem strange, but it is also a lot of fun to me in many ways. LOL!
I did wear a "stingey-brim" with a small feather in it for a few years, in last year of high school and first year of collage, when I went out, at night. And I carried around a "Ghetto Blaster" also for a couple years.
My first work suit was a three-piece, with a fancy vest [[silk back). It was hotter than Hell, to wear all that in more than 45 degrees or so. So, I quickly dropped the vest and didn't wear my coat unless we had a client meeting, or a meeting with the big bosses. That all drove me to become an independent consultant, and, eventually, to become a free-lance cartoonist!
Last edited by robb_k; 07-18-2018 at 04:57 PM.
Hey remember when being[stylist]didn't matter,we just put on whatever pants and shirt we saw and ran outside to play,i do that sometimes today...but my wife makes me come in and change-i never have any fun!!
If I'm not going to church or gathering that requires more appropriate gear, I'm in blue jeans and a tee shirt. I'm wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless Tee right now and I'm about to go to the store as-is. With that said, I wonder if my parents would have let me bounce off to school back in the day without combing my hair and with my pants hanging low enough to see most of my drawers?
Jerry,you already know the answer!
My friend Cliff that I grew up with, his Mom passed in March. We were standing in the church vestibule before the funeral mass started. All of these ladies came up and hugged Cliff and he goes "I guess my Hai Karate is working". I reminded him that he was showing his age when he said that and we had a little chuckle over it.
Anyone remember Jade East? I remember wearing Canoe to High School and thinking
I was SO cool. I wasn't.
That's too NEW for me to remember! I don't remember much after 1965. I remember that my father used Old Spice back in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I liked the smell of that stuff. It didn't make me sick like most perfumes and colognes. I used an after shave that didn't make me sick, and didn't have a real strong smell, but it felt really cool on my face. I can't remember it because I started using it after I was 20. I don't remember much after that. I used Old Spice from 12-22 or so.
I started shaving with a safety razor at 11, because I had started growing a beard then. I had to bring my ID to the movie house already at 10 years old, to get in for the children's rate for under 12. At that time, my barber shaved my cheeks and neck, as part of my children's haircut for 50 cents Canadian. But, at 11, he told me that I'd have to add $1.00 to it for him to keep shaving me. So, I started shaving with my father's electric razor, but it burned, and didn't shave close enough to get the stubble off. Besides, my father got angry at me for dulling the blades, so he couldn't get a close shave anymore. So, I switched to a straight edge razor. My grandfather had a barbers one edge old-fashioned razor, but it was too sharp, cutting my face all up. I don't know how my barber used one of those on me and didn't cut me. I looked like a mummy with all the toilet paper to stop the bleeding. So, I started with Gillette 2-edged blades. Now I use Wilkenson Sword blades. I could use my Sudanese sword from the 1800s. But it is so sharp that it rip a cut along most of the scabbard that holds it. It MUST have been used by one of The Mahdi's men to kill lots of British soldiers in 1898!
At 17[[1963), after high school graduation, I stopped shaving my beard [[just my lower neck and cheeks), and have never shaved it off. I've had my beard and mustache for about 56 years now.
Anyone remember a really cool-feeling after shave from the early '60s that didn't smell much? I tried Hai-Karate, but didn't like the smell.
Robb, you are killing me. I actually could picture everything in that post. Thanks for making my day.
I shave every three days. My wife didn't appreciate the gray hair in my otherwise somewhat youthful face and asked me to shave the beard although I'd prefer keeping it. I feel like I earned those gray hairs but I cut it for her. She hates it when I shave my mustache, though so I just shape it. Since I don't fade or really wear my hair in a style, I cut it myself by putting my clippers on their lowest setting. It takes longer to clean up than it does to trim. When my low spot becomes a bald patch, I'm going to shave my head.
My ladyfriend tells me if I'd shave off my gray/white beard, I'd take 30 years off my age. But I want to keep it. I haven't seen my face for 56 years. If I see it, I won't look like me. I'll be a stranger, and scare myself, and die of a heart attack. I was traveling through Europe at 17 and a half, with a 20 year old friend, who I knew only with his beard and mustache. One morning, on a train. he went to the WC and shaved them off. When he came back to our cabin, I was shocked. I'd never seen that stranger before. I almost had a heart attack. I never did get used to hearing his voice, and seeing that strange face. No. I'll die with my facial hair intact. It's too late for change, now.
Hey west,i'm working on a short film about a lady who's told never to repeat the name[candy bar]more than once,but she does and the candy bar comes to life and tries to eat her alive..kinda cute ain't it?,no i'm not casting our favorite[superstar]here..she's too big for such a small role,i have a new starlette under contract-and i've given her a top screen name...lascreenia tuu b.ceen,she was discovered running out of grady's one day last week at lunch time and the look of sheer terror on her face convinced me that she's got a future on the polaroid screen,she passed her screen test with flying colors[she actually named all the colors that flu over]a new talent in da hood-stay tuned!!
You know not for nothing, I can't remember the cologne we wore in high school. I know it was that cheap drug store cologne you got at Christmas in a box with some other stuff like after shave. I remember we would get my father, uncle and/or grandpa........"Old Spice" LOL! We didn't even smell it first, we would just buy it because we knew it from the commercials. LOL!!!1
That's it Robb! Old Spice! Remember the commercial had this old sailor or captain in it. I use to grow a beard off and on in the early 80s before I got out of college. Then in the early 2000s I would grow a goatee every few weeks because it was popular. I have kept my mustache for centuries now. LOL!
Cool Waters was the cologne all of my NYC Latino buddies were wearing, so I started buying that before finally settling on Eternity for Men by Calvin Klein.
What was the best men's clothing store for your hood back in the day? In d.c. It was cavelier's men's shop.
In Detroit, it was "The Broadway" downtown. Where all the players and pimps shopped......hehehehehehe!
Last edited by marv2; 07-25-2018 at 08:03 PM.
Columbus had a men's shop called Lee's that was a staple of it's black community for decades. Not sure how long ago it went out of business.
Savannah had Heyman and Sons, “where the price to look nice requires very little sacrifice.” 😆
LOL. The radio commercials for Lee's used to always play the Bobbette's "Mr. Lee". As far back as elementary school and until I was in my 20s, they would end their commercials with "1-2-3, Here comes Mr. Lee...".
South L.A. had "Syd's For Men", where all the stylish suits and hats were bought. It was at the corner of Manchester and Broadway. Chicago had several places on Halsted, Cottage Grove and State Street, on The South Side, and in South Chicago.
Of course if price didn't matter..[which always left me out,hehe]then you went to georgetown where the cheap shoes started at[300.00]there was also another cool men's store[seth martin's ltd.]for the brothers.
We had stores like that that fit my teenager budget called "Karps" and "Jacks Men Shop". Where I live now, there is still one of those stores with the really flashy clothes down on Main Street on Long Island. I can't remember the name because when I drive by it, I look at it like it was a museum. LOL!
CHEAP shoes for $300 when you were young??? You must STILL be young. I remember when $300.00 got you a down payment on a house!
Same price range for me too marv,a pair of[40.00]bally's was the epitone of cool back in the day,that store in georgetown is still there today and those[300.00]dollar shoes are now [700.00]...and i still can't afford em,hehe.
Hey,remember those old sweatsocks that were so thick,but would fall down to your ankles,hehehehe.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa,i used to put rubber bands on mine,hehehe!!
What about trading cards or balloons on your bike so everyone could hear the spokes when you rode down the street? Balloons made it sound like a motorcycle was coming.
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