Comments on: Is That Bikini Video–and the ‘modesty’ movement–really about nostalgia?

By: Rachel Marie Stone

Rachel Marie Stone — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 10:09:28 +0000

I love your post referencing Offitt’s book. He does tend to have an axe to grind, but ‘natural’ remedies/therapies are HUGE business, though they are often positioned as the ‘purer’ less-corrupted alternatives to Big Bad Pharma.

By: misscaramichele

misscaramichele — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 23:19:11 +0000

It’s so easy to long for any time not NOW. Now is hard, and boring often, and the past (or the future) sound or look like so much more fun, or easier, or better, or whatever.
I am constantly reminded that things have never been “better” things were always just things.
One of the great things about now, from my perspective, is that it is possible to have things from earlier periods in my home and wardrobe. I’m a nerd about these things, and if I’d lived in the thirties, I wouldn’t have had the fifties, and so on.
I must also confess that I have a vintage swimsuit which I found for a song, and I plan to wear it all over the place, but because it has style, not because it’s “more modest.”

By: dad

dad — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:12:26 +0000

Thanks, Tim– you’re a good sport!

Two other key elements in the 50s retro movement also took place prior to the 1973 release of American Graffiti:

The original (and, in my view, much better) version of “Grease” opened in Chicago in 1971, and New York in 1972. I saw it (with the original cast!) at the Royale Theater that year,

And prior to that there was a 1970 TV commercial for 7-up that featured a greaser character from the 50s called “teen angel.” This got a lot of play at the time, as I remember seeing it a lot.

What I didn’t know until a few minutes ago, however (truly Google was made for geeks!) was that actor in said commercial was none other than Mandy Patinkin, just starting out!

By: ELSEWHERE: The “Evolution of the Swimsuit” and Nostalgia for More Modest Days

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 18:19:54 +0000

[…] Are your friends passing around that Q video where Jessica Rey talks about “The Evolution of the Swimsuit“? Now, I like a classy vintage-inspired suit as much as the next girl, but there’s good reason to take Rey’s argument with a grain of salt; the video, after all, amounts to an advertisement for her company. A group of ladies at Christianity Today offer a variety of helpful critical perspectives on the video, and Rachel Marie Stone expounds on her contribution at her personal blog, arguing that nostalgia requires selective memory. […]

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:12:42 +0000

Rachel’s Dad, I can’t believe I’ve been out-geeked on late 60s/early 70s pop trivia. Well-played!