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top volume when you enter the store
complete with Martha Quinns and
Cyndi Laupers ready to assist you with
your shopping. This place makes Mid-
dle Earth look like Van Boven's. Laced
with flourescence, neon, and acid-
washed denim, the store can turn any
college Republican into a viable
bourgeois punk in a matter of minutes.
Complete with fake JAPPY jean
jackets of all varieties and Eddie Van
Halen striped cotton pants, this store is
guaranteed to at least entertain you
even if it doesn't appeal to you. The
Merry-Go-Round will transform you in-
to a viable trendmonger this summer,
but buyer beware: You'll be looking for
clothes again real shortly. This stuff
will be out of fashion and ripped at the
seams about three weeks after you buy
it.
American Eagle Outfitters-A gold
mine in disguise. Here's a store that
can appeal to everybody. It happens to
be the only one that treads water in the
"middle-ground" of fashion. Not too
outrageous and certainly not too con-
servative. In fact, a sharp eye can
detect some "sleepers" guaranteed to
shape you into a sharp-dressed man.
Rugby shirts with interesting designs
and an impressive array of sweaters
line the warehouse-like shelves in this
country & western-style arcade. Ad-
mittedly, there's a lot of dogfood, but
seek and ye shall find. Nice employees,
too.
Jacobson's-Great news for students
that either don't have cars or are too
lazy to hop on the bus to Briarwood:
Jacobson's packs everything you can
really use from the mall into a small
street-level lobby which can be very
conveniently entered from either
Maynard or E. Liberty.
Separated into departments and sub-
departments, the store first offers a
selection of a specific form of clothing
and then allows you to choose from
displays that represent each of the
designers whose summer fashions are
present on the display racks.
In the shoe "corner", the shelves are
stuffed full with every different form of
topsider or penny loafer conceivable.
And, for those looking to be a bit less
conservative, there also happens to be
an interesting section of shoes
manufactured by Generra which serve
to supplement their clothing line. An
unusual brand of shoes, these Generra.
They combine hi-tops, with gray canvas
and an occassional spice of Vel-cro. The
one pair of shoes by this brand that
really looked sharp was a set of loafers
made with a number of dark blue and
greyish canvas fabrics that really
clicked into an adorable, not-too-
trendy shoe.
Wi r'respect to summer garb, the
themes are again the same: Clothing is
made to fit loosely with much bolder
prints. Shirt collars are not as high and
khaki pants are updated via multiple
pleating by the waist.
There is an inexhaustive supply of
short-sleeve knits, including a really
nice display of "works" from Alexan-
der Julian. These are shirts with an odd
assortment of colored designs which
make you stare at them for a minute or
two in an attempt to figure out whether
they really match or not. They are not
expensive and, yet, are high quality
wear.
In a back room entitled 'Mr. J's',
there sits a very admirable selection of

Fashion
too
fascist
By Jackie Young
TWENTY years ago, a student wearing
a faded pair of jeans with more holes in
them than a piece of swiss cheese
wouldn't have raised any eyebrows. But
in the 1980s, as activist Abbie Hoffman
told a crowd of University students
recently: "We live in the era of designer
jeans." And today, the unfashionable
student-the one who can't tell the dif-
ference between a pair of K-Mart Blue
Light denims and a pair of Gloria Van-
derbuilt's jeans-must face a usually
hostile and unforgiving campus com-
munity..
It's possible that many students still
wake up with greasy hair, bloodshot
eyes, and pale, un made up faces. Yet
by the time most of them appear in that
9 O'clock class, they have managed to
transform themselves into carefully
groomed students who often outdress
their professors. There are, however, a
few deviant individuals left in the city.
And it is to these individuals-who hap-
pen to notice like Hoffman that the
word fashion is next to fascist in the dic-
tionary-that this column is really
dedicated.
Anti-fashion students, like anti-
fascists, can be easily distinguished
from the conservative, trendy, and
fashion-conscious student population.
The fashion unconscious rise out of bed
in the morning aware only of the need
for material to cover their body, so they
will not be arrested for indecent ex-
posure. When it comes to choosing an
outfit for the day, it is not a matter of
"What should I wear today out of all my
fabulous Vogue fashions." Instead, it is
"How can I dress to be comfortable."
The anti-fashion deviant not only
prizes comfort, but time is often the
only factor involved in the selection of a
wardrobe. If the laundry machine is
being used by the 101 other occupants in
the apartment, then time dictates that


Radical: Thomas Stafford
the pair of jeans worn for the past week
be rescued from the decaying clothes
heap and reincarnated for another life,
which could be one day or another
week.
For fashion haters, Izod, Polo, and
Ralph Lauren are names of oppressive
people who seek to impose their own
physiques and weird nlames on others.
They put as much distance as they can
from Calvin Klein jeans. If they are
lucky, they have a brother or sister who
will hand over an old pair of jeans to
them. This brings bliss, since they save
time shopping and won't have to face
the well-dressed salespeople whio look
at them in disgust.
This brings up the problem that the
unfashionable must deal with because
they are a minority: Discrimination.
Walk into Hudson's sporting a tie-dye t-
shirt and worn-out jeans with the hem
rolled up, and the salesperson is likely
to ask if you are looking for the drug
store around the corner.
Usually, though, it is in the best in-
terests of the unfashionable to avoid
walking into expensive stores such as
Renaissance on Maynard St. Those an-
ti-fashion types who walk in sporting a
flannel shirt, Levi jeans, and a grungy
sweatshirt are likely to pass out when
they see a pricetag anyway. Then
everyone in the store will know for cer-
tain that they are indeed unconscious of
fashion.
Wide-eyed stares and lips turned un-
der in an obvious look of scorn are
exactly the effect that the trend-hater
often hopes to create. The person may
also wish to make a sincere social
statement that follows something like
this: I spend my money on worthwhile
things such as donations to the starving
in Ethiopia instead of on business suits.
I spend my time reading newspapers
and good novels instead of spending
hours in a shopping mall.
Clothing does not a student activist
make. Someone who dresses like an
Abbie Hoffman and is a member of the
Michigan Economic Society is not
fooling anyone. No matter what the
dress for success people say, there is no
proven method of measuring a person's
competence for a job based on whether
or not they wear a fine pin stripe suit in
the "right" color or a slightly ugly one
in the "wrong" color.
So as local merchants begin their
drive to clothe even the most gauche
this Spring season, remember that anti-
fashion is an alternative. For some
students it is a way of life, a social
credo, a method of rebelling against the
status quo.

First Optometry has just
the price on Bausch &
soft contact lenses
nice round numbe
Right now at First Optometry you can
Lomb single vision soft contact lenses al
with your contact lens examine
Just call the First Optometry office near
determine your precise fit and prescripti
cases you'll have your lenses the very sai
pay is the normal fee for your examinat
Your soft contact lenses are absolut
No catches, no gimmicks and no hid
In fact, about the only thing that's not
about this offer is how long it will la
we go back to our regular pri

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OPTOMETRY
:;;:>{} eye care centers

A Jacobson's model poses in Maine Bay traditionals. The suit jacket is pure silk and the pants are polyester wool blend.

clothing for the more mod (but not-too-
liberal) student who prefers the loose-
fitting fatigue-style jackets to the Bur-
berry trenchcoat. There is also a large
selection of the aforementioned
Generra and some canvas "sweatpan-
ts" that are both affordable, comfor-
table, and fashionable.
Those looking for expensive designer
clothes will also find what they are
looking for in the men's department.

Very classy Christian Dior and Yves St.
Lauren long-sleeve traditionals and
handsome Alexander Julian ties add to
a massive and more-than-adequate
roomful supply of suits, ready to be
tailored to fit your frame.
Jacobson's lacks only the distressed
denim and the excreble neon that
Briarwood has, but that's -hardly a
criticism. In fact, it's much more a
compliment.

Get going on your Spring shopping.
People judge you by your clothing, it's
sad, but it's true, and you can't afford to
wait until all the goodies are gone.
There are a few things out there that
will really impress and the race is on. to
find them. Remember, we're not out
east, and the truly "hip" stuff is scarce.
It could be worse, though, we could be
in Utah.

t

Michigan's Largest Group of Independent
Arborland
973..7O3
3659 Washtenaw in Ann .
Each office I n(ependentlv (wned, therefore fees mav varv. Offer goo
ony and on initial pair only. Prior orders and other discount progran
limited time offer and mav end without notice

Alternative: Brett Rickman

12 Weekend/Friday, April 5, 1985

We'eken/Friday,