Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (1985)

  

Bret Easton Ellis was still a college student when his debut novel, Less than Zero, was published in 1985.

The novel's central character, Clay, is also a college student in New England.   He’s come home to Los Angeles for Christmas, where he reconnects with his high school friends. He falls back into a familiar routine of partying, going out to lunch, shopping in Beverly Hills and seeing movies. Everyone is very wealthy and does a lot of drugs. In between these pursuits, Clay has conversations with his ex-girlfriend Blair and others from their clique along these lines:

“Where are your parents?”

“My parents?’

“Yeah.”

“In Japan, I think.”

“What are they doing there?”

“Shopping.  They might be in Aspen.  Does it make any difference?”

Clay's friend Julian however, has parents who are a major problem. Julian's appetite for drugs, and therefore his spending, have gotten so out of control his parents have frozen his credit cards and checking account. So he asks Clay if he can borrow a rather large amount of money.

This debt, and how it’s repaid, leads to the very disturbing conclusion of Less Than Zero.  

I found this book difficult to enjoy and “get into,” especially at first.  The characters have a lot of non-sequitorial, vapid conversations. I understood that the author was trying to “show” the characters’ superficiality and non-connectedness.  And I saw that the author threw in disturbing tidbits here and there to show an unacknowledged moral crisis. But that very vapidity made it hard for me to keep following the story.  The book did become somewhat more engaging as it went on however, and I had no problem finishing it.  

So what was my reward for completing this book?  I suppose I got a glimpse of what I assume is Bret Easton Ellis’ impression of teenage L.A. in the mid-80s.  A kind of historical snapshot with some solid 80s flashbacks. Clay wears Wayfarers, refers specifically to the Elvis Costello “Trust” poster, and his younger sisters shop at Camp Beverly Hills. 

(Trust came out in 1981.  Elvis Costello’s song Less Than Zero is on an earlier album called My Aim Is True.)

(should I track this one down and make it?)

But did I really need to know that these kids are so dead on the inside they watch violent bootleg pornography in order to feel alive?   It’s a rhetorical question I’m not sure I ever wanted to ask. And that’s not even the worst thing these kids get up to, by the way.

Needless to say, this wasn’t an amusing book.  But there was one time, and one time only, when I laughed a little while reading it.   Blair and her father are discussing the next movie he’s producing:

“Daddy, you know I’ve been asking you to put Adam Ant or Sting in the movie,” Blair says.

“I know, I know, honey.  Clyde and I have been talking it over and if you really want it that bad, I think something can be arranged.  What do you think about Adam Ant or Sting in Star Raiders?” he asks Alana and Kim.

“I’d see it,” Kim says.

“I’d see it twice,” Alana says.

“I’d see it on videocassette,” Kim adds.

“I agree with Blair, “ Blair’s father says.  “I think we should seriously look into Adam Ant or String.”

“That’s Sting, daddy.”

“Yeah, Sting.”

You can’t really blame Blair’s father for getting Sting’s name wrong.  After all, Sting (or String as Blair’s father calls him) released his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles in June of 1985.  Probably at the exact same time that Less Than Zero was published.

(I owned this album--on cassette--in the 1980s and remember it fondly.)

Of course prior to going solo, Sting was in the mega popular English band the Police.  Not that everyone didn’t know who Sting was BEFORE he went solo. After all, the Police’s 1983 album, Synchronicity, contained the biggest hit of the year in both the US and the UK.  But in 1985 Sting probably hadn’t fully carved out his own identity apart from the Police quite yet.

1983's biggest hit

Do I recommend this book?  A better question might be, should I have watched the 1987 movie instead?  Robert Downey Jr. is supposed to give a riveting performance as Julian (perhaps a prescient one considering his real-life descent into drug addiction):

And the movie version has Andrew McCarthy as Clay and James Spader playing yet another character you love to hate.  Between these two (the yin and yang of 80s teenage cinema), Jami Gertz as Blair, and Robert Downey Jr. walking that line between acting/reality, the movie is bound to be an 80s flashback worth experiencing!

Claiming my blog on Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Please pardon this post. I've joined the site Bloglovin.' My blog was hanging out in the bloglovin' cloud before I claimed it as the creator.

Bloglovin' is a website that gathers tons of blogs in one place. I've also found some interesting new blogs to follow on it (you can search for blogs by topic) and the site keeps all the posts from those blogs organized for me. When I log on I see what's new.

I had to create this post in order to claim my own blog at Bloglovin'. I promise my next post will be 80s themed FOR SURE!

Kwik-Sew 1932 (1989): Black and White Stars and Stripes Sweatshirt

It was an easy decision to purchase Kwik-Sew 1932.  

The line drawings are awesome. The shoulder pads are so big the models look like linebackers!  But their big earrings and short haircuts are way cool.

I initially thought I would make View A.

(I both love and hate this. Only after making it would I know which emotion prevailed.)

At the same time I was ruminating on this pattern, I was doing some casual internet research on a short-lived British clothing company called Bodymap.  Founded in 1982 by friends Stevie Stewart and David Holah, they earned many accolades and were considered very avant-garde. But they were a bit too “out there” for some buyers.  Their oddly titled fashion shows (such as The Cat in the Hat takes a Rumble with the Techno Fish) and non-traditional models (they embraced all ages and body-types, and often the models cross-dressed) put off some of the fashion “establishment.”   But everyone else thought they were cool and they experienced great success.

Bodymap seemed to be about layering prints and textures.  A lot of their ensembles had an unstructured look and were made out of inexpensive, accessible fabrics.   Holes were placed in unexpected locations. Some pieces were oversized while others seemed to emphasize the contours of the body.  They worked predominantly in black, white and cream and stripes seemed to show up often:

Sadly, Bodymap was a bright star that soon fizzled.  Amid financial struggles, they closed down in the late 1980s.  

Although I don’t remember the Bodymap brand, I can see their influence in a lot of 80s looks and trends.  The layering of several different types of clothing at once (baggy, tight, ripped, stripes, tribal, shots of bright color) was definitely a look back then.  

Boy George in the Karma Chameleon video, 1983

I really liked a lot of Bodymap’s elements. Soon, those elements were inspiring me to see View B in black and white stars and stripes, and the rest is baggy sweatshirt history!  

Kwik-Sew 1932 is also a Kwik-Serge pattern, which means it is designed to be sewn on either a regular sewing machine or on a serger.  

I have stated on this blog that my mother has owned only ONE sewing machine her whole life: a Singer Touch n Sew gifted to her by my dad in 1966. But that isn’t 100% true, because for a brief time she owned a serger.

A serger is a sturdy little machine with 4 spools, whose threads are guided through a TV antenna-looking thing into a series of complicated channels and hooks.  The threads zig zag around inside the machine for a time before converging at the throat plate, where two threads enter two needles and the other threads enter some other metal thingamajigs.  

The E-Z Lock Serger that nobody wanted

As you push your fabric under the presser foot, a very sharp little knife, also at the throat plate (visible to the eye and rather near your fingers) chops off the edge of the fabric as the threads are loop-de-looping over the edge, so the end result is this:

You have a “professional” looking finish, much like what you see inside many RTW (“ready-to-wear”) items, especially knit tops and sweatshirts.

While many home sewists love sergers, the EZ Lock never really caught on with Mom and she gave it to me.  It didn’t catch on with me either, so I gave it back to her. Honestly, the machine looked complicated (and slightly scary).  It hung around in her house for another few years before I took it back again. I was ready to get serious about serging.

I learned the intricacies of threading the machine (large tweezers are required), and got used to the loud mechanical chopping and stabbing going on at the throat plate.  After a few practice runs, I was ready to start sewing my sweatshirt. And it did come together nicely. For the most part.

However, when it came time to sew the ribbing at the neck and sleeves, I had a problem getting the thread tension right.  My practice pieces connecting the sweatshirt material to the thicker ribbing were looking either very loose or very tight or some undesirable combination of both.

The tension on each of the four spools of thread is adjusted via the four corresponding color coded dials (the manual is helpful here in order to know if you are manipulating the upper loop, or the lower loop or whatever).  Although I fine-tuned the hell out of those dials, I never really got the thread tension on the ribbing the way I wanted it. I decided not to get tense about it (ha) and figured nobody but me would see inside the sweatshirt.  It was good enough (yet pride prevents me from sharing those inside shots with you).

Although there was a learning curve, this sweatshirt came together somewhat easily.  I got the black stars on white french terry sweatshirt fabric here. The striped fabric is a ponte knit, and the black ribbing is meant for cuffs and neckbands.  I skipped the shoulder pads (only because I didn’t have any!)

I had a certain pair of vintage earrings hanging around in my Etsy shopping cart.   I pressed the buy button when I could no longer resist the (possibly too matchy) matching opportunity the black and white stripes presented.  Plus I loved the shot of hot pink!

vintage 80s earrings from TreeMagicVintage

Should I keep the matchiness going and put on this hot pink bucket hat?

Black, white, pink, stripes....

This sweatshirt would be great layered over striped leggings and a mini skirt. You don't see me wearing that however because I can't stand how leggings feel on my body and might also make me feel like an age-inappropriate Pippi Longstocking. Baggy jeans folded over and cuffed (remember how we did that to "peg" our jeans?!) will have to do!

I’ve already worn my comfy sweatshirt a few times out and about.  I had wondered if the stars would look too cutesy or “twee”. I have decided they do not, and wear my Bodymap-inspired sweatshirt with pride!

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman (1985)

While flipping through my mother’s copy of Family Circle Magazine last summer, I came upon an article by Andrew Postman addressing parents’ concerns about children and the encroachment of “screens” in family life.  

“This all feels so familiar to me….” writes Andrew.  “A few decades ago, my father, Neil Postman, was America’s best-known “critic” of television and its effect on culture.   His 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death suggested that the dynamics, “grammar” and economics of television were turning us into a perpetual audience...”

The moment I read that sentence, I got a flashback to the 80s.  Yes! I remembered that book! (Not reading it though.  Probably too busy watching TV). It made a huge splash and deservedly so.

The copy I got from the library is the 20th Anniversary Edition of Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.  The book, published in 2005, includes an introduction by his son Andrew discussing present day media that is already out of date: the iPhone was not introduced to the public until 2007. 

His father’s book on the other hand, is timeless.  On page one he states: "Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death."

Neil Postman continues: "Other culture watchers and worriers...have observed and recorded the dissolution of public discourse in America and its conversion into the arts of show business.  But most of them, I believe, have barely begun to tell the story and meaning of this descent into a vast triviality.”   

He lays the groundwork for his argument by discussing just how enormous an impact means of communication have on the content of a culture.  Why is it so enormous, even history-altering? Because the content of what is expressed by any means of communication is regulated and dictated by those means.  To illustrate this point, Postman uses the example of smoke signals: “While I do not know exactly what content was once carried in the smoke signals of American Indians, I can safely guess that it did not include philosophical argument.  Puffs of smoke are insufficiently complex to express ideas on the nature of existence, and even if they were not, a Cherokee philosopher would run short of either wood or blankets long before he reached his second axiom.”   

The author then takes us on a tour through time, examining those moments in human history when those means--our mediums of communication--changed forever our culture and its contents.  When the written word was invented, culture changed. When the printing press was invented, culture changed. And our present day media overwhelm, with its endless flood of disparate images and sound bites, all started with the invention of the telegraph in the 1830-40s.

The telegraph collapsed space and allowed information to move faster than humans could carry it.  In the 1800s, the average American was not only literate but routinely read and listened to complex subject matter.  Via the printed word (and public talks), coherent, relevant information was shared, discussed, utilized. It served the people.

On the other hand, the telegraph "gave a form of legitimacy to the idea of context-free information,” writes Postman.  “That is, to the idea that the value of information need not be tied to any function it might serve in social and political decision-making and action, but may attach merely to its novelty, interest, and curiosity.  The telegraph made information into a commodity, a “thing” that could be bought and sold irrespective of its uses or meaning.”’

And basically, it’s been pretty much all downhill from there.  The invention of the photograph soon thereafter “was the perfect complement to the flood of telegraph news-from-nowhere that threatened to submerge readers (of newspapers) in a sea of fact from unknown places with unknown faces...it provided the illusion that “the news” had a connection to something within one’s own sensory experience.”

Sound familiar?

Telegraphic sound bites and de-contextualized photographic images laid the perfect groundwork for that most American of pastimes: Watching TV. American television bombards viewers with millions of images, juxtaposed haphazardly within an endless variety of unrelated subject matter.  And the subject matter, writes Postman, “requires minimal skills to comprehend and is largely aimed at emotional gratification” and amusement. Indeed, entertainment is “the supra-ideology of all discourse on television.”

All of it?  Even the news?  Yes. Especially the news.  Good-looking and amiable newscasters share fragments of tragedy and barbarism, then smile and urge us to “join them tomorrow!” Jaunty music is cued, the commercials start and the tragedy is forgotten.  In this universe of strangers and fragmentation, nothing is connected; depth of meaning is lost.

Hopefully by now, you’ve gotten the drift of this convincingly argued and elegantly written book.  There is much to learn from it and reflect upon, and here I have only scratched the surface. Neil Postman, by the way, was not TOTALLY anti-TV.  He understood that it could give comfort and pleasure. He didn’t have a problem with it as a vehicle for straightforward entertainment.  

What really upset him was how people did not see that the news shows and “educational programming” (oh yes, he takes aim at that sacred cow, Sesame Street) are “stylized dramatic performances” staged largely to entertain.  The format of television dictates that this be so. No matter how good the intention, the ingesting of any “serious” or educational programming cannot hold a candle to actually reading (and writing). No, it is far better for those who make the commercials that we turn on the TV (or scroll on our smartphone) rather than open a book.

Vogue 9227 (1985): Navy Dotted Tan Pants with White Top and Red Belt

While leafing through my July/August 1985 copy of Vogue Patterns Magazine, I noticed this pattern:

The pants were paired with their “Ultimate Big Shirt” (Vogue 9324) in a photo spread called Easy Fast Fashions for Summer. Needless to say, I tracked both patterns down online!

Vogue 9227 pants with the "Ultimate Big Shirt"

In September, people shift gears from summer to fall and school starts up again.  In Chinese Medicine, this transitional period is acknowledged as a 5th Season called Late Summer. (Back in the 80s, we called this time Indian Summer).  The days are getting shorter, the leaves are starting to change but it’s still 80 degrees outside!  

We have been experiencing that transitional feeling a lot lately in New York.  Cooler days are intermixed with very warm ones; it can be hot in the sun but cool in the shade.

I decided these pants in the ankle length version would be a good choice for early fall (as opposed to the mid-calf length which screams Summer).  I had a navy dotted tan midweight cotton that I got at Walmart a few years ago. It’s the kind of fabric that will be comfortable on all but the coldest of days.  In other words, perfect for right now!

Tan and Navy are a classic combination.  Those of us who were alive and shopping in the 1980s may remember that Tan and Red also had a moment, especially in the early 80s.

Vintage terry cloth dress (no longer available on Poshmark)

Was it because those Thom McAn hiking boots with the red laces were everywhere back then?

After you lace up your boots, don't forget your tan puffer vest!

Hits of Navy and White sharpened things up; puffer vests and jackets often came in these color combinations.

I find this palette of colors to be vivid yet earthy, and all are good choices as we move from summer into fall.

I had no major snafus in the making of these pants (it is “Very Easy” after all) and I lengthened them by 1.5 inches.

Never a believer in the No White After Labor Day Rule, I paired the pants with a bright white top I had made from this very useful 1981 McCall's pattern. 

I made the shell top, View A

The fabric is a some kind of semi-opaque crepe.  

The matching bright white lucite cuff is 80s vintage and was purchased here.  

The red belt is also vintage 80s, purchased here.

Another shoe that was big in the 80s were moccasins, particularly those made by Minnetonka.  Their iconic moccasin with the Thunderbird beadwork debuted in 1955. Enduringly popular, they became “a worldwide favorite during the 1980s Urban Cowboy trend” according to their website.  In 1986 they released their “driving moc” which immediately gained traction among the Preppy set.

The red suede moccasins I’m wearing are not Minnetoka, but are similar in style to their “driving moc” and are made by Michael Kors.

Eventually I let it all hang out and cast the belt aside:

I love how the shirt and pants have matching hemline slits!

These pants would look cute with a cropped navy blue sweater and ankle boots when it gets cooler and the moccasins go back in the closet.   I’m sure boot weather is coming soon, it just doesn’t feel like it quite yet!