"No more washee, washee! Melican man wear celluloid collar and cuff!"
If you find yourself held hostage, there's a newly patented invention (
No. 12,059,045) that may help you escape to freedom. It's an underwear-concealed survival saw.
The flexible saw can be concealed in almost any undergarment ("undershirt; boxers/briefs, camisole or brassiere"). It's possible to retrieve the saw even while wearing handcuffs. Then you can use it to cut through zip ties, ropes, wood, or even light metals.
The underwear-concealed saw bears some resemblance to an oddball invention we've previously posted about:
the collar saw of Carl Kusch.
Don't bees have intimate relations with (swimsuit women) flowers?
Or is she?
A creation of University Arts London student Mimi Yoo. She explains:
my main goal was to create something that defies easy categorization. Imagine people pass by on the street, they often make quick judgments on others based on a few seconds of observation, and I wanted to play with that notion. So I chose one of the most recognizable forms as symbols of clothing: a T-shirt and pants. Using these common and visually simple forms, I played with expectations. From the front, it looks like there's a T-shirt where you'd expect a T-shirt to be, making it seem like the person is wearing it. However, physically, the body and the T-shirt are not directly connected. Similarly, for the bottom, I placed very noticeable pants shape inside a transparent skirt. Visually, it immediately appears as pants, but functionally, it is closer to a skirt.
via
gastt Fashion
This is definitely what I'll wear if I go bowling in the future.
Also, I'm not sure what the "International Bowling Fashion Show" was. The details in the clips below are all that I could find.
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1964bowling.jpg)
(l) Ashley News - July 23, 1964; (r) Newark Advocate - July 11, 1964
Back in the old days, cans were opened by pulling on an aluminum ring, or "pop top," that would come completely off the can. Now these have been replaced by stay-tabs.
Most people threw away the pop-tops, but a few turned them into wearable art. The leader of this movement was Gonzalo Chavez, aka Pop-Top Terp.
From Time magazine (Sep 21, 1970):
In his San Juan workshop, Designer Gonzalo Chavez, 36, a native New Yorker who calls himself Mr. Terp, has been painstakingly assembling pop-top rings into glittering dresses, vests, stoles, belts, miniskirts and maxiskirts—all resembling the mailed armor worn by warriors of the Middle Ages to ward off sword blows. Collecting the rings from rubbish heaps behind San Juan bars, Chavez files down their rough edges and crochets them together with silver thread...
The first pop-top garments were almost as stiff as their medieval counterparts. But Chavez has made them much more supple. "They fit like a second skin," he claims. "As you wear them, they change shape a little and mold themselves to the contours of the body." Rings differ too. Budweiser's rings are light and flexible, Miller High Life's are "soft," and Pepsi's provide a heavier, stiffer garment.
In 1975, Pop-Top Terp published a book,
Pop-Topping, that gave detailed instructions on how to make your own pop-top clothes. But since pop tops have now vanished, it's become a guide to a lost form of art.
You can read it online at archive.org.
In 1968, TWA introduced "foreign accent flights" on its domestic service. Travelers could choose to go on a French, British, Italian, or American-themed flight. The stewardesses were dressed in uniforms inspired by the respective countries. For instance, on the British flights the stewardesses wore an "English serving wench" outfit.
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1968foreign01.jpg)
Time - Apr 24, 1968
More info from TWA Museum Guides Blog:
Begun on April 1, 1968, "Foreign Accent Service" was TWA's attempt to leverage its international image to attract passengers to its domestic U.S. flights. Certain longer-haul flights (such as New York - Los Angeles) were themed to create a foreign, cosmopolitan atmosphere. It could have been French, Italian, British or American (an inquisitive young visitor once asked our guide what was "foreign" about the American theme). To "brand" that experience, hostesses were outfitted in one of four appropriately themed uniforms, made from paper (that's right, paper). Hostesses donned the uniform prior to the flight and disposed of it when the flight was over...
These "wear once and dispose" dresses were designed as wrap-arounds, secured with velcro fasteners. Hostesses typically carried a pair of scissors and tape to adjust the length. The promotion was short-lived. Logistical problems involving coordination of the dresses with the flight's theme developed and supply problems meant later uniforms had to be constructed with a lighter-weight paper, which was more prone to tearing. Some senior hostesses were reluctant to wear the dresses, including legendary flight attendant, Ida Staggers. Ms. Staggers, hired in 1936, was not pleased with this promotional role. Despite a large financial outlay for logistics and advertising, the program died quietly, never making it past 1968.
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1968foreign02.jpg)
Hollywood Studio Magazine - July 1968
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1968foreign03_sm.jpg)
Sports Illustrated - Mar 25, 1968
Part of designer Sinead Gorey's "Phonecore" collection.
More info:
hmd.com