Editors' Blog Blogger Bio

Ring the Bell...Bottoms!

There's a picture of my mother standing proudly in front of some official government building with an endless staircase. She's holding my hand. I think I'm standing upright but I'm barely visible, since I'm about 2 feet tall and completely lost behind her voluminous patch-work bell-bottoms. I'm pretty sure, even if my outfit is not visible, that in that picture I am also sporting some mini version of that infamous trend.

As a teenager in the 1980's, I would often use the picture as evidence against my mother if she commented on my ripped jeans or cut-off t-shirts. I would make some snide remark about not needing fashion advice from a woman who deemed it fashionable to wear bell bottoms.

Last year, in an attempt to free myself from the pervasive and not particularly flattering skinny-jean-trend, I picked up a pair of wide-leg jeans. Sporting my cool and somewhat subversive jeans I met my mother for brunch. Her look of disbelief and disgust spoke volumes, and if there was any doubt she asked, "Are those awful things back in style?"

Oh how the tables turn! My wide-leg jeans were just bell-bottoms in disguise. She was right. I didn't run away in horror, I liked the idea.

There's something off-putting and yet nostalgic about the re-emergence of a trend if you were an active participant the first time around. There's a sense that you know better, why make the same mistake twice? But was it ever really a mistake?

Last week in Milan, the bell-bottom trouser looked fresh and modern in silk chiffon coming down the Prada Spring '08 runway (see pics above). Paired with a long button-down vest ,it instantly made me think of golf and particularly Judy Rankin circa 1978 (left).

I know I'm in the minority, but I LOVE the way the professional golfers of the 70's looked. Back then, they were just sporting the latest trends, not taking big fashion risks. But there's something refreshing about the fit of their clothes, the fun colors and patterns and the funny-cool shape of their pants. It's refreshing to look back and not be blinded by the excess use of logos. The players back then didn't look like walking billboards.

I have no false hope -- I don't expect that Tiger will rock the checkered bell-bottoms that Johnny Miller made famous. I know that it's not very likely that any guy will ever wear a pair of bell-bottoms, I'm just hoping that maybe in a year some intrepid female golfer might. Someone young and bold with a taste for fun-fashion like Mollie Fankhauser.