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Halloween, 1984: Gizmo and Gremlins

Published October 30, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Movies/TV , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Horror Movies/TV 2 Comments

Halloween Doom 1984

The Gremlins costume is a Ben Cooper, but I have no idea why it says STAR. It should say STRIPE, the only Gremlin named in the movie. At the time, even though I adored Gremlins (kids were literally running out of the theater, scared shitless—it was awesome), I would have been all over that Dr. Doom costume. In ’83 and ’84 my pursuit of comics was approaching mania.

UPDATE (10/12/15): Thanks so much to Shawn Robare for pointing out that the Gremlins costume does indeed say Stripe. My reading of “Star” was an optical illusion.

Here’s the Ben Cooper Gizmo costume.

img301 Halloween 1984

There was also a full body Gizmo costume. Here it is in action.

Halloween Gizmo 1984

And here’s the McCall’s pattern, if you want to try and track it down. Notice the box with the painted air holes (not included).

Halloween Gizmo McCalls 1984

(Photos via bobcat135/Flickr, Sean/Flickr, Needleloca, and Etsy)

The Real Mustaches of New Jersey, 1980

Published October 24, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Shopping Malls 3 Comments

Mustaches 1980

The photographer is Joel Sternfeld. I found the shot at The High Line Blog.

If I had the facial hair, the muscles, the jeans, and the balls, I’d be one of these gentlemen for Halloween.

Kid Playing Atari 2600, 1982/1983

Published August 20, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Movies/TV , Atari , Knight Rider , What Our Rooms Looked Like 8 Comments

Playing Atari 1982

The kid is Dan Amrich, and he still has his carts. He didn’t keep the Knight Rider shirt and the KangaROOS. That would have been weird.

ROOS are still around as part of the bullshit “retro” craze. They’re referred to as “lifestyle” shoes, and here’s a choice quote from Wikipedia: “They were notable for having a small zippered pocket on the side of the shoe, large enough for a small amount of loose change, keys, or more recently, condoms.”

Hipsters bother me.

(Photo via Dan’s Flickr)

Empty Shopping Malls, 1985

Published August 16, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Shopping Malls 10 Comments

Mall 1985

Mall 1985-2

Mall 1985-8

Mall 1985-3

Mall 1985-6

Mall 1985-7

Mall 1985-9

Mall 1985-10

Mall 1985-4

Mall 1985-5

I’ve said before that I’m comforted by images of malls as they used to be. But these shots are haunting too. I hear the echo of my footsteps on the tiles, and it sounds like the end of the world.

Nostalgia is just a longing for the cozier home and less troubled life and times we thought we had when we were younger. But when we were younger, we desperately wanted the perfect freedom we thought came with adulthood. The expression “You Can’t Go Home Again” is not quite true. You never were home.

So, if an old mall is an emulation of an ideal home (or ideal neighborhood), my wanting to wander and linger inside of it is just a longing for the idealization of a home (or neighborhood) that never really existed. Does that make me a ghost?

All of the photos above come from Jeremy Jae’s unmissable Retro Vintage Architecture and Interior Design Sets.

Our ’80s Bedrooms

Published August 13, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , What Our Rooms Looked Like 7 Comments

80s Bedroom-3

80s Bedroom-2

1986 01 SFHS 22

There’s a Flickr group called My ’80s Bedroom. You’ll dig it. New wave, punk and post-punk, heavy metal, skateboards, surfboards, Atari, acid wash, big hair, bad mustaches, cut-off Levi cords, Swatches, Ray Bans, The Monkees, Star Wars, Judge Dredd, wood paneling, Gumby—it’s all there. I may add to the collection if I ever get a chance to rifle through all the photos at my mom’s house.

Those of you from Southern California will enjoy the KROQ sticker on the “bleach-splashed denim notebook” in the last photo.

Go here to see more shots of what our rooms looked like.

(Images via grilled cheese, Allan Kingdom, and Tattoo Dave)

Atari Game Club Brochure, 1980

Published July 31, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Atari , Home Consoles , Video Games 6 Comments

Atari Brochure 1980

Atari Brochure 1980-2

Wait a minute. Membership is $100, unless you buy a cart ($21.95 to $39.95), in which case your membership is free. So why would anyone pay the $100? Is it supposed to be some kind of reverse psychology? “Wow, look at all the cool free stuff I get if I can convince my dad to give me a check for Breakout!”

BASIC Programming is one of the selections in the purple tier.

I remember that Space Invaders shirt.

UPDATE (1/19/14): Keith Golon wrote to tell me that it’s not $100 for a membership, but $1.00 Now that makes sense. If you look closely, you can see the decimal. Thanks a million, Keith.

(Images via rbgamehunter)

Tron `Yori’ Shirt (Pilgrim for Girls, 1982)

Published July 26, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Tron 3 Comments

Tron Yori 1982

Tron Yori 1982-2

Just a Tron Yori shirt I thought was pretty awesome.

(Via Circa Classic Vintage)

Iron Maiden Concert T-Shirt (1982): ‘The Beast Tames Texas’

Published July 17, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Music 2 Comments

Iron Maiden Tee-2

Iron Maiden Tee

All Denim, All the Time: Jordache Ad (Circa 1987)

Published June 17, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Ads , Video Arcades , Video Games 2 Comments

Jordache Ad

Despite the Pac-Man machines, I put the ad at around ’86 or ’87, when acid wash/stone wash and zippers hit it big with the sort of yuppies-in-training who wore Jordache.

The arcade background is curious, at first glance. Pac-Man (1980) and Ms. Pac-Man (1981) were old news by this time, and the rich kids hung out at arcades only to be seen by other rich kids. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty playing the games, and when they did stoop to put in a quarter, some arcade rat would smack his coin into the corner of the marquee and talk smack until the screen said `Game Over’.

Ultimately, the ad defines the arcade environment as a social advancement opportunity instead of a place of amusement and competition, and to this end it features a video game Jordache’s non-gaming clients would recognize. That game was, and still is, Pac-Man.

Miller’s Outpost would virtually abandon designer jeans shortly after this to concentrate on its home brand, Anchor Blue, and Levi’s.

(Image via The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit)

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