The weekend was a rough one for us here in NJ. Thousands of families are still without homes, power, and their belongings. Hurricane Sandy took a huge chunk of NJ into the ocean with her, and we will not be getting that back any time soon. It’s a terrible situation when the elements take from you things that you worked hard to earn. Imagine saving up money for many ears for a new house by the water, just to have the ocean swallow it up without a second thought. This is the grim reality for many New Jersey residents, and will not be easily remedied any time soon.
On Sunday I took the time to clean out my closets, drawers and everything else that held my wardrobe, picking the things that I was going to donate to the Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts. Many people were forcibly evacuated from their homes (for safety reasons) without the time to pack bags for the lengthy amount of time that they would be away. Others had their clothes, and homes taken from them by the hurricane. Either way, there are many American citizens on the east coast in need of warm, dry, clean clothes regardless of the size or type. I ended up filling two trash bags with things that someone out there deserves more than me right now.
On a positive note, I noticed a few things while I was digging through the back of my drawers and closet. I noticed how the surf style travels in a circular pattern, always returning to its roots after an undetermined period of time. One good example of this is the pullover hooded sweatshirt. For the last 4-5 years, zip ups were 90% of my orders for mens and womens apparel orders. But there was a time when pullovers, like this Hurley Icon Pullover. dominated the market. Recently, I’ve seen more companies manufacturing pullovers instead of zip ups, and the style seems to be returning. The pullover keeps you warmer, fits the body a little better than a zip up, and it is also less expensive.
Another trend that seems to be returning full-force is the use of neons in the color pallet. Men’s and women’s wardrobes are now allowed to have some of those day-glo greens and yellows that we can all remember from the late 80’s and early 90’s. It isn’t rare to see surfers and skaters decking themselves out in crazy neon colors, like you can see here in these Volcom womens snowboarding pants.
Even one of the most distinguished surfers on the pro tour right now is rocking neon. Mr. Mick Fanning, the poster child for the Rip Curl E-Bomb Chest Zip Wetsuit, can be seen from space in his neon green wetty.
So the next time you’re cleaning out your closet, take some time to remember what the styles were back in the day, and how we are heading right back in that direction as we speak. Please think about donating anything that you can to the Red Cross, whom have been a HUGE help in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Please feel free to message me if you’d like more info on how you can help those poor NJ souls who are in need of everything from food and water to warm clothes and dry shoes. At the end of the day, we’re all on this planet together, and every little bit helps.