With a birthday of December 20, 1969, I managed to catch the tail end of the sixties by eleven days. This means that even though I am only 38 years old, I have lived during five different decades. It also means that I was a little girl of the 70’s. I loved it too! I got to enjoy the fashion, the cool cars, and funky T.V. shows, while still being innocent to the affairs of the world.
My aunts and uncles were fairly young when I was born, so I remember quite a bit about their teen years. I remember listening to Bobby Sherman on singles my Aunt Nona got from her deejay friend. I remember watching my Uncle Dennis put on his platform boots before going to the disco with his girlfriend. And I remember riding in my Aunt Nina’s (yes, Nona and Nina are twins) blue 1973 Plymouth ‘Cuda that had white racing stripes across the top. It was great!
We were zooming down the road, on our way back from picking out lamps to go with my grandmother’s new orange, avocado and gold floral living room chairs (that somehow coordinated perfectly with the rust colored tweed couch), my long blonde hair (a la Marcia Brady) was whipping in the wind, Three Dog Night was blaring on the radio and best of all…..I was wearin’ my Garanimals!
How lucky was I to be a little kid when Garanimals hit the scene? For those of you who have not purchased children’s garments in the last 30 years, this line of clothing was borne in 1972 out of the idea that there is a positive connection between how children dress and how they feel about themselves.
The clothes are mix and match separates that have animal shaped hang-tags to help kids coordinate their outfits. For example, if you have a shirt with a chimpanzee tag, any of the pants with a chimpanzee tag will match. It’s a no brainer! You cannot match a giraffe to a panda bear. It doesn’t work in nature and it doesn’t work with Garanimals. For the child who can’t match colors, or happens to be color blind, this is the perfect set up.
Garanimals have great clothes for every season. During the summer I was the most color coordinated girl on the block. I never had to wonder if my tank top matched my shorts because rhinoceros to rhinoceros was a sure thing.
In the first grade, I had a Garanimals outfit for every day of the week. Five turtlenecks in red, blue, yellow, green and white and five pairs of plaid bell bottoms in an array of colors. Life was good!
But then something happened. I remember standing in the store, begging my mom for an orange striped shirt with a turtle tag. But alas! I had grown over the summer and Garanimals were not available in my size. I was devastated! My little sister got all the cool coordinates, and I had to shop for regular clothes.
Sometimes it stinks being the oldest and growing out of the cute things your younger siblings get to wear. Do you remember Underoos? They were underwear and undershirt sets that looked like Superhero costumes. My sister got to be Wonder Woman and I got plain white underwear. She would flit around the house singing, “Wonder Woman! All the world is waiting for you! And the power you possess!”
How could I pretend to be a superhero without the proper undergarments? My husband got in on the Underoos craze by just a few months. He is slightly younger than I am and he has fond recollections of his Batman undies.
Today, if you saw him in his underwear, “superhero” would not be the first phrase that popped into your mind. Of course, I’m no Wonder Woman either, but at least he got to have his day of glory.
Instead of being bitter about the Underoos, I savor the memory of my Garanimals. I am sure they had a very strong influence on my current ability to coordinate clothing. For example, I can’t wear black with brown or navy blue. While this doesn’t seem to be an issue for some people, to me it is the equivalent of pairing an alligator with a kangaroo.
Red and purple have never been an acceptable Garanimals’ coordinate and it doesn’t fly with me either. If I wear a shirt with a design in the fabric, you can bet that my pants will be a solid coordinating color. I cannot pair a tan and pink floral top with blue jeans. Tan in my top means khaki pants. Black and white shirt equals solid black or white pants. Preferably black because white makes my butt look big. Actually, it makes everybody’s butt look big, so you might want to keep that in mind the next time you shop.
I wish they made Garanimals for grown ups. I saw a lady at Wal-mart who could really use coded hang tags in her wardrobe. She had on shiny, black capris with little jewels dangling from the hems. These were paired with a yellow t-shirt over which she wore a turquoise blouse. And something possessed her to wear bright red high heels. She was two or three years older than me, so I assume that as a child, she was too old for Garanimals. It’s sad, really. If she’d had that opportunity, she would know that red, turquoise and yellow just don’t match.
And think of what grown up Garanimals could do for our elderly population! They already have the plaid pants thing going on. Why not little tags to help them choose a solid colored shirt? They could have specialty tags just for that age group. Pink flamingos, shitzhus..…you get the idea.
And our teenagers could certainly use some help in the fashion department. Maybe Garanimals could help them coordinate clothes that not only match, but actually fit! Pants that sit on the waistline instead of the hips, and shirts that are long enough to be tucked in. What a novel idea! Perhaps their tags could be shaped like animals on the verge of extinction.
Psychologist, Dr. Joyce Brothers, who was a consultant to the Garanimals company, made the following statement: “One of the clear findings of (my) research is that throughout a child’s growing years, clothing can play a key role in shaping and guiding the child’s feelings and perceptions of him/herself.”
This explains a lot. When I look in the mirror I feel depressed and frumpy because I realize that if my body had tags, my baboon would not coordinate with my chihuahua. If only Garanimals could make body parts. Then I could trade in my elephant thighs for something that compliments my ostrich neck.
Dr. Brothers was right. Garanimals played a key role in shaping my perception of myself. It’s too bad they can’t take it back!
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