I stumbled across this Jantzen ad from 1963 and it is too good to not share it with you all.
Jantzen men's swim bermudas 1963 Courtesy eBay
Looks like prints and a sung fit were pretty popular back then. Here are some versions for the modern man.
Note that most of these trunks are red… just because 1) it’s a universally flattering color, and 2) it looks great against the backdrop of the blue ocean water.
Original Penguin Volley Short Swimsuit in Poppy Red. Courtesy Original Penguin
Sundek Plaid Trunk. Courtesy Neiman Marcus
Orlebar Brown Graphic Print Swim Shorts. Courtesy Mr Porter
Limoland Multi-Coloured Swim Shorts. Courtesy Mr. Porter
P.S. The Janzten picture is actually a poster that’s for sale on eBay.
I recently learned about something very, very cool, and something I wish I had known about before traveling to Aruba: prescription goggles! As someone who’s worn glasses and contacts since I was 8 years old and who loves to snorkel, this is very exciting. Prescription goggles and prescription masks enable snorkelers to be able to see perfectly without having to worry about their contacts. I don’t know about you, but I have enough problems to worry about when I snorkel: foggy lenses, staying afloat, fish that want to nibble on my toes. I detest having to wear contacts when I’m at the beach because all it takes is one tiny grain of sand and I have to take out my contact, rinse, and then put it back in my now red and severely aggravated eye. I’ve actually never had a problem of losing my contacts in the water (yet!), but I know that’s always a possibility, and it’s nerve-wracking.
I’m still at the beginning stages of my research, but it looks as though you can get prescription goggle for prescriptions as bad as -10; this is actually better than my vision but it’s close enough! Seeing clearly underwater without worries. This is sounding better and better.
The only hiccup I can think of with this product is this: what do you do if you have to take your goggles off? Or what do you do when you get out of the water? Put on glasses? People like me with really bad eyes are, for all intents and purposes, blind without contacts, and I’m not sure how I feel about bringing a pair of glasses with me to the beach…but it’s got to be a better solution than wearing contacts underwater.
It looks like prescription goggles run around $25-$50, but masks range from $100-$300, so they’re more of an investment. Definitely something to think about as I plan my next snorkel expedition.
Inspired by Sebastien’s Jan & Dean’s Surf City post, as we head into the heat of the summer I’m dedicating a series of blog posts called “Looking Back” to retro swimsuits!
One of the most iconic American images of the bikini is a photograph of Annette Funicello from the 1963 Beach Party movies, a series of summer beach movies with co-star Frankie Avalon. Word on the street is that Annette was instructed to wear bellybutton-covering bikini bottoms by none other than Mr. Walt Disney himself!
The high-waisted bikini bottom is perfect for those ladies who prefer either a) a little modesty, b) a little retro, c) fashion fun, or d) all of the above!
Here are some modern high-waisted versions you can try on for yourself:
Retro Floral Highwaisted Bikini courtesy Mod Cloth
J.Crew New Glamour Top & Shelley Bottom. Courtesy J.Crew
To ignore the classics is a huge mistake. Jan and Dean’s Surf City was the #1 song for two weeks in 1963, was originally titled “Goodie Connie Won’t You Come Back Home” and written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Wilson gave it to Jan Berry and Dean Torrence who finished writing and recording the song in the early 1960s. Here is a fun fact, in 1991, Dean Torrence convinced the city of Huntington Beach, CA to adopt the nickname “Surf City” as Huntington’s nickname.
I was lucky enough to find this video on YouTube of a live Jan and Dean performance of Surf City in 1963. Please note that the opening 5-10 seconds sounds really bad because of the crowd cheering so you may want to go ahead and skip over to 0:05.
