Club Obi Wan

Today I "discovered" in my wardrobe a couple of vintage Banana Republic items I forgot to have: a shirt and a vest. They are from the '80.
Shirt is not exactly SA, and has some extra pockets here and there... but it's not so bad.

I miss the great gear that Banana Republic made back then. They had so many cool items - jackets, pants, t-shirts...ah those were the days...

I think I'll sit back in my rocking chair and reminisce.

Someone here offered to post some BR catalogue pages scans. I can't remember who...

I practically have a fetish for this stuff. In fact, today I was wearing this:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM1860.jpg

Not surprisingly, the Banana Republic Guide to Travel an Safari Clothing, published back in the day, has a picture of Indiana Jones next to the hat ( a really, really good hat, by the way...). It's just kinda funny that it looks nothing like the ToD Bridge Scene hat he's wearing...
I have a few shirts and jackets and such that are very similar to these, and am on a quest to scoop up as much vintage BR as I can.
I wore this old BR hat to the record store today, and as the young girl rang me up, she looked at my hat. "I like your hat." I replied, "Thanks." Then, she seemed to struggle to find the right compliment: " It looks very....Indiana Jones." I said thanks again, because I knew she was being sincere, then told her I'd gotten it at the Banana Republic back when they used to be Safari theme outfitter. She was shocked. "I didn't know that! I had no idea."

I would love to see some pics of that Guide...

It's amazing how the world changes with time. I just checked out the Banana Republic website. Where the original vision of BR suggested clothing for travel, safari and camping, now it seems more professional clothing and dressy casual attire. And Indiana Jones is pursuing aliens and spaceships!

Hey Strones! I have the exact same vest, and a few different safari shirts (even one in blue) from the "old" BR. Nice stuff! Made with a very comfortable cotton material. I'll try to post some pics in the next couple days. I also have one of their great Pith Helmets. (See my avatar)Excellent for hot days at the beach!
-raider 57

I even still have some of the original t-shirts.
And they are not even showing wear!!! (not too much anyway)

Strones ,

I'll be working through the day tomorrow, but in the ( USA ) evening time, I'll scan some of the more Indy-esque pics to keep on topic, and some of the others that are just interesting. There's actually a coupla pics of the inside of the old shops ( with the jeep and/or the airplane ). One of them was clearly shot at the height of the ToD popularity, because the front of the jeep display is covered in fedoras and A-2 type jackets. It's pretty neat.

Thanks Kiltie, can't wait!

raider 57 wrote:Hey Strones! I have the exact same vest, and a few different safari shirts (even one in blue) from the "old" BR. Nice stuff! Made with a very comfortable cotton material. I'll try to post some pics in the next couple days. I also have one of their great Pith Helmets. (See my avatar)Excellent for hot days at the beach!
-raider 57

Don't forget to post some pic of that stuff!!

Indiana Strones ,

As per your request:
First off, here is some of my gear - the most Indy is up at the top.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM2435.jpg

And just some other stuff I have:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM2436.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM2437.jpg

Here are some of the corresponding catalog pages. The hat first - notice it's a ToD picture, yet the caption states ROTLA:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/006.jpg

And pages that reflect some of my other junk:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/008.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/009.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/007.jpg

And finally, here are some of the inside of the old store. The first one is clearly from the height of the 1984 Indy craze:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/011.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... y-Copy.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/010.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... -Copy2.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... 1-Copy.jpg

Most of the store pics were either very small, or split the page, thus the poor quality. Well, there you go...Ejnoy!

Hey, beautiful pics!! Thanks for the great job! I would love to have one of those BR catalogs!

kiltie, thank you SO much!
That was a great little hike down memory lane for me - and, I'm sure a lot of others who frequent this site.

All the Best,
Mitch

Ran across a site that reminded me of how great BANANA REPUBLIC used to be circa 1980-88, a cornerstone of any trip to the mall. Sorry to resurrect such on old one.

https://www.secretfanbase.com/banana/ca ... nter-1984/

Thanks for sharing those pics. I miss those great stores!

Man, yeah. I miss those days. I used to keep all the BR mail catalogues back in the mid 1980s. Threw them out long ago...

That’s practically all I wore from 1980 - 1990. I still have a lot of it (and tell myself I’ll get back into it again some day.) I still use one of their Linnea Viaggio shoulder bags when I need the space and the duffel bag was my regular carry on for 25 years. The Outback Photojournalist Vest remains one of my favorite pieces and if I could find a couple of Naturalist Shirts in my size I’d snap them up in a second.

What I liked best about BR was their off-the-wall assortment of surplus military gear. This was just about the time the Cold War was ending, and there was a lot of recently obsolete Eastern Euro stuff, vintage WWII gear that had been stuck behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years, phased-out NATO issue-- that sort of thing, sprinkled in among the safari wear. On top of which, they really had fun with the ad copy-- breathless accounts of quests to find a hidden trove of Burmese army-issue pith helmets! Every catalog was an adventure.
Then the inevitable happened, they got GAP-ified.
RIP, BR.

As an 80s kid, BR holds a special place in my heart and mind as well. I used to schlep their Israeli paratrooper briefcase as a bookbag.

For anyone interested, the founders wrote an easy read about the company:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/ ... 1451683509" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pier 1 Imports was another fantastic 'once upon a time' shopping experience before their image overhaul. Got my first Indy-inspired Mexican leather bullwhip there!

Wow, talk about a bygone era! I remember setting foot in a BR around this time as a small child, and was immediately enthralled with all the cool stuff for sale. I think I even used to call it the "Indiana Jones Shop" when I begged my mother to make a shopping detour from her usual route between Macy's and Sears. . Advance a few years and I also remember returning once I was old enough to have pocket money and the ability to get myself to the store without a guardian, I was bitterly disappointed to see the store was changing. Supplies dried up, fashion taste changed, and all that cool stuff Indy would have used was long gone. Compare that old catalog to today's BR website and what you see now is bland and soulless.

Perusing the 1984 catalog also reminds me just how much of that stuff a current day reenactor would give their eye-teeth for! In my WWII reenacting days I would never have imagined the clothing and equipment could have been bought at the Mall of all places!