WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LATEST MEN'S FASHIONS?

These days men's fashion really sucks. How did that come about? Everything is shapeless and looks like it came from a one-size-fits-all store. I don' t mind skateboarders' fashions because they're funny. You have to admit that wearing parachute-size pants almost below the buttocks is hilarious. No, what I object to is the urban gangsta look. Gangsters should look debonair and swashbuckling. I can't imagine Bogart taking any of these guys into his gang.



What's with the dress-length t-shirts and the tuke (spelled right?) caps that cover the ears, even in the summertime? Well, at least they're flamboyant and that's something. What I really don't understand is the middle class suburban variant exemplified by Chicken Little's clothes. What's with the tight green Arnold-Palmer T and the shapeless, oversized shorts? Click to enlarge it; the shorts look like the bird has a load in his pants. What man who wants to attract women would dress like he was wearing a diaper?

 Ditto the buccaneer shorts that the kid is wearing in the tiny picture. Oops! Blogger deleted the picture but you know what I'm talking about: long, wide pirate shorts and thick, rippled sneakers that look like astronaut boots!

Girls won't wear this stuff. They ransacked the past and came up with tight 70s bellbottoms and bare midriffs.

HALLOWEEN DECALS FROM THE 1950S

Unfortunately these won't look like much unless you enlarge them and even then they're not reproduced big enough for the full impact to get across. I can't figure out why some graphics make such a bold statement when blown up and others don't.

ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT A DECENT MUSCLE SHIRT!

I've always wanted a set of muscles like the ones on the Doc Savage covers. That and a whole closet of torn t-shirts. The problem is that working out is boring, or at least it seems that way to someone who doesn't do it. There must be another way... And this is it! It's a little elaborate, maybe a tad expensive, but this guy is on the right track I think. A suggestion: loose the padded pants. They detract from the realism. That top combined with natural, skinny legs would be a killer combination!

Every year I hope the Halloween costume industry will put out a good set of fake muscles but they never do. Look at the tacky shirt this kid (above) is wearing. The muscles look like curdled milk. Oh well, maybe next year.

STILL MORE HALLOWEEN MASKS

I love these two masks of womens' faces. They're both funny, vivd and full of energy. I especially like the bukram mask of the girl with black eyebrows. Bukram is a great medium. It allows for mass production but it retains the feel of a customized piece of folk art. There's a web site that has detailed instructions on how to make bukram masks. I may take a stab at it sometime. The monochrome mask with the big teeth is kind of ugly but I offer it here because a frontal view on an upshot face is an interesting juxtaposition. The cardboard witch and the Opper-style cartoon characters are nifty examples of good design that's made to sell for pennies. The witch looks like it was influenced by Nabi theories.

HAVING TROUBLE WITH BLOGGER AGAIN...

Please bear with me till I get this straightened out!

THE SHOCKING DECLINE OF BOSOMS

Bosom is a Victorian word that you don't hear too often nowadays. It denotes breasts which are not just big but are...expansive. Do Dolly Parton and Jane Mansfield have bosoms? Yes, I think so but I can't say for sure without examining them. A real bosom requires a certain amount of chest area above the boobs. I'm not a bosom fetishist, mind you, I like all kinds of breasts, but like all men I follow any news about this area with keen interest.

The last famous bosom that I know of was owned by Elsa Maxwell, the famous hostess of the 40s and 50s. That's Elsa in the caricature and the cooking ad. Hers was a noble Milt Gross - type bosom. I wonder what she looked like when she was young, something she's definitely not here. When Elsa departed the world she took bosoms with her. No, wait a minute. I forgot about Aunt Bee.

PUMPKIN CARVING IDEAS

Here's (above) a technique I haven't seen before. The pumpkin is stripped of all it's skin and the pulp is sculpted by itself. When it's lit with a candle the face is eerie and luminous.

Elsewhere on the page the black pumpkin is a nice reminder that pumpkins can be painted. The green cabbage head below is interesting. It seems that early Halloween theorists toyed with the idea of using vegetables other than pumpkins to represent the holiday.