Photo fashionfairpdx.com

I recently had to go some a department store and was amazed at all the kids I saw getting clothing for the back to school extravaganza. It sort of cracked me up. I am in the field of studying behavior and so I love to watch the behaviors of these kids as mom gingerly tries to talk them into a bargain shirt or a color that they do not want and it got me thinking…

When I was a kid, my sister and I used to go shopping at the Old Miller Surplus store for some of our school clothes because they had what every kid our age wanted. Yep, they had the Millers hip hugger bell bottoms. You could not go anywhere else to get these. It had to be Millers. We both got two pairs to get us through the year. My parents insisted we wore dresses several times a week to school, but we would rush home and slither into those bellbottom jeans and feel like a new person. Maybe we were.

These pants were named bell bottoms obviously because the bottom of the pants were shaped like a bell. In fact, they were originally designed for the Navy as part of a uniform to make it easier to roll their pants up. Who knows and who cares, there was a new fashion and I loved it!

They say that these pants made a fashion comeback and were part of the hippy movement, but I always felt it was simply a fashion statement, I was a want to be hippy and my sister was the furthest thing from a hippy, yet she wore those jeans with style and flair. Blue bell bottom, tie dye T shirt, Roman sandals and attitude was what it was like in the late 60s  and early 70s for me.

They say the bell bottom was associated with hippies because when the protesting of the war happened so many protesters were wearing bell bottoms. It made them stick out.  I once heard a story that a few protesters went to a surplus store, purchased the Navy bell bottom pants to wear in the protest, and everyone started to follow the trend. Fashion designers got on the band wagon and the bell bottom was a hit. Who knows? Who cares?

What I do know is that bell bottoms were a hit alright but not just about blue jeans. I quickly learned that you could make your jeans look worn out and sew cool patches on them and take it to one more level of coolness. Then rock stars started to wear the “psychedelic” bell bottoms and soon bells were not about blue jeans but purples, oranges and pink flowered and stripped and plaid pants started to arise everywhere. I will admit I did have a plaid pants that I wore with what was called bell bottom shirts. That is another story.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Mammas and Pappas started to sport the psychedelic belled pants. It was official now! The bell bottom was now about a culture. My generation was telling everyone to take their silly Sears dresses and stick it. My generation was speaking out loud and clear using fashion as one of the statements.

There are some fashions I am glad we will never see again, and some fashion that cannot leave soon enough. However, the bell bottoms I will welcome back with open arms. It meant we did not have to be so conservative and still look good.  I would greet these belled shaped pants anytime. I can live without the polyester floral designed ones, but surly, I would embrace a nice pair of blue bells again.

picture www.8note.com

I recently read an interview with former Monkee Davey Jones. He was talking about yet another reunion of the Monkees celebrating 45 years. Of course their last tour 10 years ago ended with Peter Tork quitting stating he could not deal with Mickey Dolenz and Davey Jones abusive drinking. How can this be? Those good little boys that had teens screaming I remember the birth of the Monkees 45 years ago and it got me thinking…

The Monkees was a sitcom that aired from 1966 to 1968. This boy band had young teen girls screaming for more. Four young men, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones became the Monkees who were initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner and took the world by storm.

The four were the front men to this comedy series which first aired on September 12, 1966. Interesting fact, the producers interviewed over 430 young men hoping to become part of the Monkees. Stephen Sills almost had the part, but his teeth were bad and Peter Tork finally took the role. I keep thinking thank goodness Stephen Stills did not make the audition as he is one of my favorites to listen and could not imagine him being a Monkee.

The Monkees was nothing more than a manufactured band with 4 young men who were carefully selected at auditions. In fact, real musicians were hired for their albums such as Carole King who played keyboards, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart played guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, and Neil Diamond did some vocals.

These four men eventually began to play some instruments good enough to begin to tour in front of screaming young teens. I am pretty sure no one thought they would become so famous and have so many hits like I’m A Believer, Pleasant Valley Sunday, Daydream Believer, Steppin’ Stone, Valleri and a song about the draft Last Train to Clarksville. They outsold out sold both The Beatles and Rolling Stones combined. How’s that for a manufactured boy band?

What I recall the most about the Monkees was my sisters crush she had on Davy Jones. Her room was filled with posters and pictures of this English lad. She had a small piece of red clay on her closet door that was exactly 5 feet and four inches because that was how tall Davy was. Now that is a crush!

Then it happened. My sister’s dream came true. We were off to see the Monkees in concert. I think I was in 7th grade and the excitement in the car was crazy. We entered the stadium and I recall lots of young teens with camera and mothers in tow. Then the lights dimmed down, and hey hey we’re the Monkees came on stage.

What happened next amazed me. Women were fainting and there were men at the end of each isle and our job was to pass the limp bodies to the end of the row so the young teens could be tended to. I laughed. I was a young tween who wanted to be a hippy not some boy crazed girl and I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants. I was laughing because how could these young girls possibly see their idol when they were unconscious? They waited forever to see them, and then they were taken away. I still laugh today. I don’t recall much of that concert except for screaming girls who were pulling their hair and crying and being unable to hear much over the screams.

I suppose I would never trade that experience because over 40 some odd plus years, I recall that concert and the excitement, the anticipation, and then a wall of fainting women as if it were yesterday.  Oh indeed memories!  Though I tried, I was not a big Monkees fan. I liked a few songs and actually I like listening to some of their songs today more so than when they were popular.

So hey hey Monkees fans, Davy, Mickey and Peter might be coming to a town near you soon and you might get a chance to see them 45 years later. I doubt if you will have to pass unconscious women to the end of the row though so don’t worry.

Picture from nydailynews.com

I was watching a little TV the other night before heading to bed and during a wave a commercials, I saw a man talking with a monkey. In my head I was thinking about the movie Planet of the Apes, and then the commercial said it was Planet of the Apes and how it all started and it got me thinking…

In 1968 I was ten-years-old when I watch the Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans. The plot of the movie is some that some astronauts land on a planet where the apes are in charge and humans are the slaves. Of course they find out that the planet really is earth and they unknowingly did time travel and well, the rest is history.

I must admit I was a little spooked by it. After all, I was ten and the idea of apes running the planet seemed pretty real to me. At that age, I thought monkeys and apes were a little more intelligent than man in the 60s and 70s. Still I recall a few nightmares as a child which doesn’t surprise me since the earliest scripts were written by Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone.

For its time, Planet of the Apes was pretty technical. The customs were great as was the makeup. In fact, it was nominated for the Oscars best costume design. There were not a lot of people dressing like apes back then; however, it never won an Oscar.

What was interesting about Planet of the Apes was it was such a hit. In fact, these films were such a hit that there were sequels and then it was turned into a TV series and then a remake and the list goes on.

The breakdown of Planet of the Apes goes like this; Planet of the Apes, 1968, Beneath the Planet of the Apes aired in 1969, then there was Escape from the Planet of the Apes in 1971. In 1972 came Conquest of the Planet of the Apes followed by Battle for the Planet of the Apes in 1973.

At this point, network people were thinking these movies were so big and had such a following that in 1974 they did a TV series and then Return to the Planet of the Apes was an Animated Television Series, in 1975. I can’t think of any other movie in that time that lead to five other movies, two TV series, and over 40 years later another movie about how it all started.

Arizona plays a nice role in the making of the first movie The Planet of the Apes as scenes were filmed in Page, Arizona. In fact, in 2001 when Tim Burton did the remake of the Planet of the Apes, he used Page Arizona once again for the same settings in parts of the film.

I am not sure how or why these Apes movies were so big. Maybe it was the time. We were at war, there were demonstrations, we suffered the loss of great figures due to assassinations, and the times were filled with turmoil. Maybe these apes needed to come and act as weapons of mass distraction. It worked. Sequels. TV series, action figures, comic books made these movies the number one grossing films for that period of time.

Yes I remember being that ten-year-old girls watching Planet of the Apes for the first time and being part fascinated and part frightened. It will be interesting to see what changes the new show will bring. I loved the makeup and the clothing it was cheesy and fun. I hope the new one doesn’t make it so realistic that it loses its campyness.

For me, I think it’s time to sit down, and do a Planet of the Apes marathon and go down memory lane.