Originally published at: Abandoned Republic is a website that archives vintage Banana Republic Catalogs | Boing Boing
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Somewhere buried in my papers, I’m pretty sure I have one of the first BR “catalogs”, which was just some sheets of paper stapled at the corner, with descriptions and no illustrations.
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I remember getting those catalogs - not sure how I came upon them out in the hinterlands. I bought a couple of items from their collections of surplus. I had a Spanish military shirt that I wore to death through college and geology field camp.
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I remembered that I was obsessed with Banana Republic catalogs as a teenager in the mid-1980s.
Same here. I’ll always regret not having ordered one of those old-timey leather flight helmets that they sold.
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And yet the J. Peterman catalog forges on…
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I still have mine, with matching scarf.
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Wow, this is amazing. I have a really busy day today, but I can’t wait to browse through these.
I remember the flagship store in San Francisco up till they were bought by the Gap. It was crazy cool.
My mom was a huge fan of their catalogue in the 80’s.
At one point - I can’t remember the year - I got a German officer NATO overcoat. It was slate grey and all wool. I wound up at some point giving it away… : (
That was a huge mistake, but we do stupid shit when we’re young. Though admittedly it was overkill for living in the Bay Area, even on the coldest day.
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The flagship store in SF was amazing. I remember going there when I was in middle school, shortly before they were bought out by the Gap. I really wish I had bought the 1940s British battledress jacket I tried on but at the time I lacked the $14 or whatever they were asking for it, being a penniless 8th grader. Seemed expensive at the time.
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Wow, they really blanded up that brand.
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Still a vaguely racist company name, though. They should bland it up a little more, maybe.
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Yeah… they got rid of every trace of visual interest, but kept that name? What the hell?
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I visited the STL store (at Union Station, iirc) in early '86, after I got out of the Army. Got the Sov and Khaki catalogs before I moved to NY for university. I lost my Israeli airborne satchel one drunken night. I had to pay the uni library for the Vonnegut five-volume omnibus that had been in the bag. Weird night. Ended up with Jack Chick comics in my pocket the next morning.
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The countries that have been branded with this appellation would not be wrong in referring to the US as a “gunstitutional republic.”
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The whole concept of “adventure” clothing, especially as presented by classic BR, is really hard to separate from colonialism at all. On the one hand I like classic, functional clothing that wicks moisture and has lots of pockets, but on the other hand, I would really rather not pay homage to a murderous, exploitative system of white European supremacy.
(Classic BR certainly did itself no favors with some of the caricatures in its graphics, either.)
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A lot of “safari” wear is also upper class cosplay of what they think is good clothing for trekking through jungles because none of them have actually done it. It’s a lot of heavy fabrics and silly hats that the locals wouldn’t wear for good reason.
It’s like how prepper types think they’re going to walk around in the apocalypse with 50 lbs of gear, including a chest plate, Kevlar vest, gas mask, three guns, four knives, three different multi-tools, etc. You’d last about a quarter of a mile before you started taking all that shit off.
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Wow.
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