Bell-Bottoms

So let me take you on a retro tour. Ahhhh the 60's right through the 70's were the Days of Bell-bottoms and Afrodisiacs. Hey if you weren't wearing pants that were flarry at the knees right down, out on the streets or while washing your car-you would probably be called an outcast by your neighbours.

I mean come on people, these were days where even the most scandalous United States President-Richard Nixon was wearing b-bs and probably would have gone afro if it weren't for his position as the most powerful man alive (at that time of course); and if that was not enough, even the local Dailies deliverer would wear this ridiculous and yet intriguing pair of pants while on his bicylcle throwing papers on the path or in the bushes where the dog finds and buries in the ground in the backyard.

But I wouldn't know anything about the above of course except history has a way of repeating itself. I'm talking about back on the island. Now this is where the real flash-back's evident, the old ABBA, Eagles etc. wanna-be's you name it. You'll notice this-one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the time the oldies take to doll-up themselves. I mean Granny Queen Elizabeth II would probably sue bubu and tutu for taking more time to dress up than herself. As soon as they step out of their only-god-knows-what perfumed room, can you only guess that they probably had a week to think about what they were gonna wear that day.

Dressing for church becomes a great hassle for most of them. I once had this bubu who has gone to another dimension (God bless her soul) who one day went to church with a thigh-high dress. And i'm not talking about a knee-length dress-i'm talking about the want-to-turn heads-thigh-high costume (although at that time she didn't think so). Boy, you could only guess the amount of heads she was able to turn from the elders' seat and the village-gossipper.

But we were talking about bell-bottoms. Wow, i'll tell you this for reference but off-the-record as well. Ever watched the video-clip of Stayin' alive by the Bee Gees? Watch it then you'll get this. I once caught my tutu and this is only recently, wearing a pair of b-bs, holding a brush in his hand and staring into the mirror humming something through his nose. He had combed out his hair-which my bubu continuously maintained out of a pair of old-surgery scissors. I had just come out of the the rest room so i decided to peak into their room. As he reached the climax of his humming, i realised that he was singing an old number from the Bee Gees- Stayin' Alive. As he came to the chorus where Barry Gibb tenors 'Ah, ah ah ah.....' i realised that neither i nor the accessories and numerous tablet bottles on the dressing table were the audience, my bubu was all the while on the bed cheering my tutu on to reach the tenor voice as if his life depended on it. He was tapping to his imaginative beat, and the somewhat poor old, worn and torn out pants was swishing against his cuffs like the coconut leaves after the storm. You can imagine the excitement that merged inside me when my parents got home from work...hilarious!!! Talk of the century!!!

So lets come back to prospect. Yes if you look closely and observe the tutu's strolling in town you will notice that one out of ten is wearing that old flarry probably-older-than-i-am b-b's. And as surprising as it may sound, it actually suits them.

So now the world's fashion magazines are taking the 70's style in. The other day i was looking through one of Women's Weekly editions mag. and i happened upon the picture of Katie Holmes. Well low and behold-yep she was wearing a pair of b-b's and boy did she look ravishing. Even Hollywood's favourite teen rock band-The Jonas Brothers wear b-b's.

It's like the in-thing now!!. Not owning a pair of b-b's jeans could be a crime. Or maybe that was a little bit far too stretched. Only a fashion idealist and the Cosmopolitan Editor would only think that. But hey this is just how it is nowadays. The clubs are rocking with masses of people every weekend and you'll find some throwing on a halterd-neck top and a pair of this very comfortable, sylish slacks. Hey ask one of the girls who works for Jade or Joji's along the seafront in Suva and they'll tell that they love b-b's because it is comfortable and for-all-occassions outfit.

Thanks to the Just Jeans factory or whatever clothing line came up with the bell-bottoms style, we can now enjoy the 60's and 70's at present. Just hopefully our kids can write about this too andjust might earn a whole lot from it.