Woodsman
Loc: North of Peterborough Ontario
From old deteriorating slides. Something to do as I go stir crazy in the house these days.
Oh the size of those pant leg flairs and the styles we wore.
Yonge Street Toronto 1976
Soul Dr.
Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley
Just like in the song, Sultans Of Swing, I had the bellbottom pants and platform soles.
The 70s were the best years of my life!
will
JR45
Loc: Montgomery County, TX
I was wearing bell bottoms before they were in style, issued by
Uncle Sam.
At least their britches aren’t in danger of falling down.
Woodsman wrote:
From old deteriorating slides. Something to do as I go stir crazy in the house these days.
Oh the size of those pant leg flairs and the styles we wore.
Yonge Street Toronto 1976
Oh yes I remember it well
A great time for me, best years of my life!
I enjoyed those years. Hung up my bell bottoms when I got my honorable discharge in 1971. They are hanging in the attic and with a little dieting I think I could ease (or squeeze) back into them.
Funny styles we had back then. But then style is funny. Thanks for the memories.
Thinking back on the reason the Navy uniform had bell bottom trousers, I remember having to jump into water wearing them and then being able to pull them off easily. We then tied knots at the open end and threw them over our heads to capture air. They would act like water wings to assist in keeping us afloat. We were told to keep the material weave tight by splashing water on it to hold air. We could place our mouth on them and blow air through the woven material into the leg cavity. That was the only time we jumped into the pool with an article of clothing covering our butts.
tomad
Loc: North Carolina
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end...
tommy2 wrote:
Thinking back on the reason the Navy uniform had bell bottom trousers, I remember having to jump into water wearing them and then being able to pull them off easily. We then tied knots at the open end and threw them over our heads to capture air. They would act like water wings to assist in keeping us afloat. We were told to keep the material weave tight by splashing water on it to hold air. We could place our mouth on them and blow air through the woven material into the leg cavity. That was the only time we jumped into the pool with an article of clothing covering our butts.
Thinking back on the reason the Navy uniform had b... (
show quote)
I learned another reason the bell bottoms were issued to us in the Navy. If we ever were overboard we could reach down, grab the cuff of eact pant leg and invert it upwards over our thigh to facilitate kicking while swiming. I also recall using the air filled wet "dixie cup" as a kick board type object and inflating our chambray shirts while wearing them to act as a flotation device. The Navy work uniform for enlisted men was actually a live preserver/flotation device for us.
When I was in, they issued swimming trunks which we wore during the water survival training in a pool. NQS (non-qualified swimmer) meant a significant extra duty time in the pool to learn how to swim.
PhotogHobbyist wrote:
...NQS (non-qualified swimmer) meant a significant extra duty time in the pool to learn how to swim.
Yep, every company had one or two. We had one that just could not jump off the diving board. Never saw what “extra training” he participated in to be able to pass.
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