What Happened to Contempo Casuals?

Source: Pinterest

The revival of retina-burning neon hues, padded shoulders and palazzo pants have ignited nostalgia for all those halcyon days of their big-haired’80s. But as much fun as leg warmers are…we will not ever like a full revival of’80s style. I say so because one of the era’s biggest icons has gone the way of New Wave and huaraches (remember those?) .

A Shop for the’80s

Those of us in our 40s remember Contempo Casuals as the go-to shop for all your jelly shoe and patterned jam trousers needs, provided fashionistas across the country with looks that ranged from edgy to motivated, culled from icons of the afternoon like Madonna, Whitney and yes, even Jesse Spano.

Contempo Casuals was a mid-priced shop that sported the latest fashions that graced the pages of Sassy (the magazine which would have been a site now ) and became the godmother of stores like Urban Outfitters and American Apparel.

Additionally, the shop had shopping bags with Andy Warhol-esque pictures and inline drawings.

A Brief History of Contempo Casuals

The Friedman era

Husband-and-wife group Dottie and Wil Friedman launched in the’60s contempo Casuals. This bunch spun a variety store that was liquidated to some women’s clothing store that specialized in hip styles. They had been passionate about providing a retail experience that is various — although dottie and Wil were not fashion specialists.

The Friedmans grew the brand from 1 store in Granada Hills, Calif. with pink walls and red carpet to a booming chain. In the mid-60s to the late-70s, women of all ages showed up at Contempo Casuals.

Visit ContempoCasuals.org for quite a detailed account of this chain’s early years.

Neiman Marcus measures in

The newest grew so fast that it caught the interest of national chains, and also the Friedmans marketed Contempo Casuals in 1978. Neiman Marcus Group owned it for a time, but the 239 stores of the chain were sold after bouts of sales to Wet Seal.

Contempo operated under its first name before 2001, when its remaining stores were converted to Wet Seals and Arden B. The two Wet Seal and Arden B. stores have been shuttered. It might have been the Contempo Casuals name’s conclusion, but the memories live on — to get numerous generations.

Celebrating Contempo Casuals now

If you are still thinking about the loss of the shop that gave you the appearances that made you think,”Not even Kim Cattrall’s mannequin could pull this off so well,” don’t worry, just flip to Facebook. Contempo lovers can reminisce about and grin for the previous days and needless to say, compare notes on just how many buttons you could fit on a jean jacket.

Tell us about your favourite Contempo or Contempo-inspired appearance! (Bonus points for images!)

Note: Budget Fashionista originally published this article about Contempo Casuals at 2012. However an email from THE Mr. Wil Friedman motivated me to unveil it. I assured him I would find the facts straight, and here we are. Within our post, we said Contempo Casuals was a product of Neiman Marcus in the’80s. After Mr. Friedman set me directly, I updated this post to incorporate the series’s history between 1960 and 1978.