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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1991)
Brady Bunch duds # Cool ’70s clothes being bastardized Backinthe’70s,wcreallyknew how to dress. I started kindergarten in 1973 and I vividly recall the clothes my mom bought for me at Sears. 1 got two pairs of Toughskins— with reinforced knees for the rug ged 5-year-old life I led — that would ensure my place near the top of the fashion food chain. Both were plaid and had more colors than a rainbow. There is little that compares to a pair of pants with j colors in it that don’t even exist. My new jeans also flared just enough near the bottom so that I would be sure to be mega-cool. My mom wouldn’t let me have a real big bell-bottom flare, I guess, be cause she thought only hoodlums and pot smokers wore those pants. I also picked up a couple of Winnie The Pooh shirts made of some unknown synthetic material. It was the kind of shirt that would melt, not burn, if thrown into a fire. I cannot describe the pride I felt as I walked to rny first day of kindergarten with my mom. I couldn’t wait to see the disappointed looks of my classmates as I strolled in with a drop-dead set of duds that would force all of them to a lower position on the social coolness ladder. 1 was more than stunned when I approached Calvert Elementary school and saw a kid with even cooler clothes than I had. Curtis Cline was strutting to ward the school with the most awesome set of jeans I had ever laid eyes on. They were Star Spangled Banner jeans. The top of his pants, just below the bell, were blue with white stars on them. Just below his crotch, red and white lines ran vertically to the cuff. Jim Hanna I looked down lomynot-nearly cool-enough plaid Toughskins and saw my social life crumble before my eyes. To this day, I still have little or no fashion sense and I think the Curtis Cline affair had a great deal to do with that. But I digress. My point is not to detail emo tional scars from the past but to celebrate the clothes we wore back then. Give me the old days. Give me tight, long-sleeved, maroon shirts with zippers that run half way down and have big brass hoops to pull them up and down. Give me collars that extend several inches off the side of my shoulder. Give me the soothing feel of polyester on flesh — no more natural fibers. The cyclical nature of fashion has brought the clothes of the ’70s back onto the scene. The wild col ors, the psychedelic patterns and the rhinestones of my extreme youth are starting to catch on again. But am I happy? Of course not. Today’s pseudo-70s fashions are miserable rip-offs. They’re ’90s versions of ’70s clothes and it’s just not cullin’ it. Fashion designers today seem to be enjoying an inside joke when they put out their bastard versions of the old greats. You can see their tongues poking the insides of their cheeks as their models stroll down the runway with sensationalized versions of classic dress. Back then, we weren’t kidding. We honestly thought we looked good in velvet halter tops and denim leisure suits. It hurts to see the symbols of my childhood paraded about like gags in a joke shop. I just wish we could let our sacred past rest. Let’s not try to re create the vogue of old. We’ll never be able to do it better than we did back then and every attempt we make seems to degrade the resting spirit of our fashion forbears. Damn, we looked good back then, but respect demands that we let the past be the past. If we want to celebrate those garbs of yore, let’s watch “The Brady Bunch” reruns. Hanna is a senior theater arts major and a Daily Nebraskan senior arts and en tertainment reporter and columnist. Company recycles for future environment By Connie Sheehan Staff Reporter_ While the health and beauty prod ucts themselves may be green, with out proper recycling, the overall benefit of using such a product is reduced. Tom’s of Maine’s recycling pol icy is fairly extensive according to Catano. The toothpaste is packaged in alu minum tubes and the company is currently phasing in recyclable paper for all cardboard packaging. The company docs not use poly styrene and docs not use PVC’s since they become toxic when incinerated. Plastic bottles, made from 60 percent recycled HOPE, or the plastic found in milk jugs, will soon replace all shampoo bottles. The company headquarters recycles all cardboard, computer paper and returnable bottles. The offices also use recycled letterhead, envelopes and newsletter, she said. The Body Shop has been known for its unique approach to minimal packaging policy, Hcrling said. The Body Shop provides products in various sized plastic bottles with no outside packaging. The bottles arc rcfillablcatany Body Shop store. The company is currently refilling over 2 million bottles a year in the United Kingdom. The company also has switched to reusable cages for distribution, sav ing over 500,000 cardboard boxes a year, she said. All Paul Mitchell product bottles arc recyclable according to Mayer. The bottles arc made from the same plastic and the type of plastic is marked on the bottom of each bottle for easier sorting at recycling centers. Revlon’s New Age Naturals’ pack aging is advertised as recyclable at “appropriate recycling center.” Cosmetics Continued from Page 10 herbs, plants and foods to cleanse and protect hair and skin, she said. Prod uct names like Banana shampoo and conditioner, Cucumber Water and Coconut Oil Hair Shine reflect the variety of natural ingredients. The range of products include shampoos,conditioners, skin creams, toners and cleaners, fragrances, soaps, a men’s line and a full make-up line. The Body Shop encourages local communities in developing countries to grow ingredients and make prod ucts for the company, she said. The company soon will be releasing a line of products made from sustainable ingredients from the tropical rain forests. Like Tom’s of Maine, The Body Shop also supports human needs and environmental programs. Three million people worldwide signed the 1990 petition against ani mal testing, Hcrling said. And 1 mil lion people signed the United King dom petition, Stop the Burn, against burning Amazon rainforest. Roddick also is active with Green Peace and recently joined 30 volun teers renovating Romanian orphan ages, she added. The company was founded on simple principles — close to source ingredients, no animal testing, no advertising, minimal packaging — which comes down 10 respect for people and the environment, Hcrling ex plained. Perhaps two of the more common names in hair care aren’t known for their environmental policies accord ing to Lisa Mayer, owner of the Hair Care Place, 121 N. 14th St., Univer sity Square. Paul Mitchell and Avcda arc both all natural hair product lines, Mayer said. Many of the products in the Mitch ell line contain natural Awapuhi, a Hawaiian ginger root, growm on company-owned solar powered farms in Hawaii, Mayer said. "Paul Mitchell is basically the pioneer of non-animal testing and using all natural products,” Mayer explained. "When Paul Mitchell wasalivc.he was an avid member and donator — who worked on the board of the Save the Planet Foundation,” explained Angie Alexander, stylist coordinator. Now his co-founder and CEO, John Paul Jones Dcjoria, continues the company philosophy. John Paul personally donated about $100,000 to help produce an album, ‘Tame Yourself,” a collection of origi nal animal rights songs by groups like Erasure, Indigo Girls and Edic Brick ell, Alexander said. The Avcda company holds basi cally the same concepts and was es tablished about the same lime as the Paul Mitchell company, Alexander said. Alexander, a graduate of the Horst Institute in Minneapolis, explained how the institute’s founder and crca: tor of the Aveda line, Horst M. Rech clbacher, carried his philosophy into other areas. “Anytime we had a school func tion, it was all vegetarian,” she said. Horst was influenced by his stud ies in the East and it was here he learned about aromatherapy, she said. Aromatherapy is basically clinical research combined with ancient tra ditions to create pure, distilled flower and plant essences. Earth Science of California also produces a wide range of skin care and hair products using such ingredi ents as almonds, avocado, apricots, cucumbers, aloe vera, honey and carrots. Even Revlon has recently entered the natural line market with the addi tion of their New Age Naturals. Revlon advertises the line as all natural con taining flowers, fruits, nuts and herbs. Green beauty and health care prod ucts can be found in some department stores and most health rood stores. However, some brands may be available only through catalog and phone sales. One good source for locating green products is the back advertisement section of environmental magazines. Those can be found at most health food stores and some book stores. amtmitmmrfnmMmnmmmBmm in — n ir rm m ibmimw whw i it ■ ■ mmmmmammmmmmtammmmammm ' HiLites 3712 So. 14th Street (14th & Calvert) Highlight and Cut Matrix Perm f ^ On Special for $25 Now $40 Regularly $35 Reg. $49 421-2690 __U "I fell in love with a modern woman. Only a diamond this exquisite could reduce her to old-fashioned tears.” The Diamond Engagement Ring Is 2 months’ salary.too much to spend for something that lasts forever? rr5%:r: I all wedding hands* | jewelers I ,|;,cW'?£3S('mfon| Gateway Downtown L. — .l —J 467-2509 12th & '()' 476-8561