Monday, November 23, 2009

Long Puffy Sleeves

Years ago I heard that Billy Bob Thornton had a phobia of antique furniture. I can just imagine him walking through the woods alone at night freaking out as he is imagining a 17th century chest of drawers following him. Although I wouldn't call mine a phobia, I have to admit I am not a fan of big long puffy sleeves on shirts. When I think about puffy sleeves, several occupations come to mind. Here are the major culprits:

Pirates-Jerry Seinfeld addressed this occupation with his pirate shirt episode. I'd also like to thank the recent Somalian pirates for breaking this trend. They may be idiots, but I like to look on the bright side of their contributions. Pirates may be the most popular, but there are other places where they pop up. At least that is what I thought, but I haven't been able find any good examples or pictures online for the other categories below.
Card dealers-Some times the dealers at poker tables in casinos start to stray towards this look.
Bartenders-Maybe not the hip bartenders of today, but sometimes you'd see them in the old westerns with bands around the sleeves.
Barbershop quartets-Their traditional outfits also remind me of this.
Circus Entertainers- Guys named Mishka who throw knives. I suppose it adds to the mysterious aura of a circus performer.
Cuban Dancers- Although I couldn't find any pictures online, I can still see in my mind a happy guy dancing around shaking maracas with his big colorful poofed up sleeves.

After careful examination, it appears that it's probably just my imagination or bias. Seeing puffy sleeves is not so bad after all. Especially after coming across this picture of Larry the Cable Guy.

4 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I loved the Seinfeld episode. So classic.

My husband loves Larry. It makes me sad.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Your mind meanders through some strange channels. I really enjoyed this post. It was a great way to start the day.

Eric said...

I wonder if they've ever made a 'short sleeve' puffy shirt?

Tom said...

I saw several while looking for pics for this post. Most were women's 80's clothes. The poof look was huge then.