Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Yuppie Safari, Anyone?

Back in the olden days, Banana Republic was marketed to yuppies with aspirational safari/world travel fantasies. It was A Thing, complete with hand-drawn catalogs. Well, bless my mother's hoarder heart that she saved some of these catalogs and then offloaded them onto me. Enjoy.  -A

A: Can I interest you in a flight suit?



M: Dude, some hipster is wearing that right now.

A: You know who wore this best? David Bowie in the Dancing in the Streets video.




M: Truly

A: I’m pretty sure my mother wanted that and we definitely had the Turkana belt.

M: Man that belt is amazing

A: The leather pouch fit exactly nothing.

M: You could keep your Dexadrine in there.

A: I distinctly remember being annoyed that it wouldn’t fit a pack of Camel Lights.

M: Things a Turkana belt can hold: One quarter, two Dexadrine, your tears.

A: BUT I’M GOING ON SAFARI.

M: You’re a goner.

A: MY DISPOSABLE CAMERA DOES NOT FIT.

M: You’ll just have the memory of that lion.

A: I’ll just put my stuff in my Israeli Paratrooper briefcase. All good.



M: Ben Franklin…approves?

A: (Truth: I had that bag and carried it all through high school.)

M: He doesn’t strike me as a shorts kind of guy.

A: Banana is really stretching to tie Ben Franklin in with those middle-aged dad shorts. I mean, what?

M: Maybe our founding fathers were into cargo shorts.

A: It would explain a lot, actually.

11 comments:

  1. I wore that Turkana belt all through high school. Think I ditched the pouch.

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  2. I love this so much. I remember back in the late '90s I interviewed with Banana and had to visit a store in Virginia to meet with their District Manager; the store had yet to be remodeled and was a full-blown safari with taxidermied heads, fake jungle, open trunks holding sweaters, bamboo walls. It blew my mind, I finally understood where the hell the name came from and how far it had come.

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  3. yes yes yes yes yesssssss! I used to LOVE getting that catalog! I had the most gorgeous burgundy turtleneck dress ordered from BR, with a leather belt that I would commit crimes to have back ... I wanted all that safari shit, I bought the fantasy completely. The old themed stores (like Alison describes) were sofa king awesome -- a real mall destination, back when there were only like ten of them. Anytime you're bored, you can go ahead and post more of these! And more Bowie gifs. Lots more.

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    1. I have three catalogs, so lots more to come. And I very distinctly remember my first trip to one of the original Banana stores (Alison: It was in Tyson's Corner, I think?) and it was AMAZING. Like, a Jeep drove right through the store and they just left it there! Giraffe heads! Mosquito netting! Heh.

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  4. gleemonex said it first but yes yes yesssss! I was just telling a younger co-worker what BR started out like, she gave me quite the puzzled look. I still have my old BR checkbook cover.

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  5. I fondly remember a suede button front skirt and the original Banana in the West Village!

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  6. I 100% remember this! There was a row boat in the store I used to go to. Every summer I'd buy a t-shirt from BR, it always had a safari themed image on the back. Oh, how I loved them!

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  7. I recently ran across a random late 90s Anthropologie catalog and had all sorts of fashion flashbacks. But this BR catalog is just too perfect!
    Did anyone else immediately think of the J Peterman catalog?

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    1. I didn't know J. Peterman actually existed back in the day, so during the whole run of Elaine's employment there on Seinfeld, I assumed they were goofing on Banana Republic!

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  8. My mom had that paratrooper briefcase! As a teacher, she would carry home a lot of papers and "implements mightier than the sword".

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