Category:
Fashion

The Outre Costumes of Louise Glaum

The silent-screen star Louise Glaum had a reputation for eccentric fashions onscreen and off, as well as for odd pets.











Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 05, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Fashion, Movies, Pets, 1910s

The Acoustics of Miniskirts

October 1969: UCLA Professor Vern O. Knudsen assembled ten young women wearing miniskirts in a reverberation chamber and fired a blank cartridge from a pistol. He did this to prove his hypothesis that bare legs revealed by a miniskirt will reflect more sound than legs covered by a long skirt.

His hypothesis confirmed, he warned that miniskirt wearers might disturb the carefully engineered balance of sound in concert halls by reflecting more sound. He noted: "We must be acoustically thankful that they don't wear bikinis."

Rock Island Argus - Oct 29, 1969



Orangeburg Times and Democrat - Oct 29, 1969



Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time a scientist had warned of the acoustic danger of short skirts. Back in 1929, Colgate University Professor Donald A. Laird had issued a very similar warning: "He quoted scientific reports to prove that shortening of women's skirts has added to noise by removing some sound deadening surface."

San Bernardino County Sun - July 4, 1929



Related posts: Miniskirts for road safety, Nun in a miniskirt

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 03, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Science, Experiments, 1960s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

The right to wear a bikini while mowing the lawn

May 1966: The charges of indecent exposure, brought against 21-year-old Mary Lou Hood for mowing her lawn while wearing a bikini, were all dropped. The judge determined there was insufficient evidence of lewdness or indecent exposure to support the charges.

The case was said to be the hottest issue in the college town of Edmond, Ohlahoma "since canned beer." The judge delivered his decision to a standing-room-only crowd. The case also received widespread national media coverage even though, as Hood's lawyer noted, the case didn't actually establish a legal precedent for a right to wear a bikini while mowing the lawn.

Muncie Evening Press - May 20, 1966



Spokesman Review - May 20, 1966



Ogden Standard Examiner - May 20, 1966



Mary Lou Hood, with her husband, at the courthouse
May 20, 1966. Source.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 01, 2022 - Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, Law, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #545

Sleepwear for hungry insomniacs.

Several others in this series here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 28, 2022 - Comments (6)
Category: Fashion, Food, Sleep and Dreams, Advertising, Twentieth Century

The New Eyelashes

Modern Mechanics - July 1932

Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 21, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Fashion, 1930s, Eyes and Vision

Armored Shorts

According to info on quora.com, there's been a long, ongoing effort to develop armored shorts. However, soldiers inevitably find them uncomfortable, even though they appreciate the effort to protect their private parts.

Such shorts are sometimes referred to as 'tactical diapers' or 'battle nappies'.

I like the detail that the armored shorts (below) developed during the Korean War were "capable of deflecting about 65 per cent of all missiles."



Louisville Courier-Journal - Dec 11, 1952

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 20, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Military, 1950s

Inflatable Woman’s Bathing Suit Top

We've all seen those famous vintage ads that show inflatable bras.



But I had not realized that the gimmick had been applied also to bikinis. I cannot find any such currently for sale, however, which seems to show the idea was...a bust!

Source of article: The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) 30 Jul 1992, Thu Page 11



Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 20, 2022 - Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1990s

The Royal Teens, “Short Shorts”

What were those lyrics again?

Their Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 17, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Music, Public Indecency, Teenagers, 1950s

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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

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Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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