[CaptainTrips]

I never understood the "dont give a f%^& wardrobe". The hippies of the old days did not give a hoot becasue they actually did not have a shower or were actually traveling from place to place and were set on living off the land or just too involved with drugs that appearence and showering dont matter. But i never understood trying hard at emulating garcias clothes or not showering. I always said to myself if your trying to dress like someone or dress in certain way "the dont give a F^&* appearence" then you care, in fact you care a lot about it. What i am saying is you actually care about your appearence, just like a movie star or a rockstar cares about his appearence.

I dont think garcia cared as was said earlier because he had a very bad drug problem and when your taking alot of drugs and depressed as garcia was you dont care about yourself, how you effect other people, and your appearence.

I guess i am just saying we should not call it the "I dont Give a F$%^ appearence becasuse in reality you care a lot.

ah, the mighty paradox. but all in all its not hard not give a f@ck about what you look like cause you dont think about it. just simply put on whatever is there.
Im not chasing the "garcia" look . . . . but I like the philosophy. I mean when you get down to it if you really didnt give a f#ck you would just walk around naked. so clearly there is some care to be had. but any emulation of garcia is just an attitude thing. and i dont care why he did it, i like it.

[devil]

I never understood the "dont give a f%^& wardrobe". The hippies of the old days did not give a hoot becasue they actually did not have a shower or were actually traveling from place to place and were set on living off the land or just too involved with drugs that appearence and showering dont matter. But i never understood trying hard at emulating garcias clothes or not showering. I always said to myself if your trying to dress like someone or dress in certain way "the dont give a F^&* appearence" then you care, in fact you care a lot about it. What i am saying is you actually care about your appearence, just like a movie star or a rockstar cares about his appearence.

I dont think garcia cared as was said earlier because he had a very bad drug problem and when your taking alot of drugs and depressed as garcia was you dont care about yourself, how you effect other people, and your appearence.

I guess i am just saying we should not call it the "I dont Give a F$%^ appearence becasuse in reality you care a lot.

ah, the mighty paradox. but all in all its not hard not give a f@ck about what you look like cause you dont think about it. just simply put on whatever is there.
Im not chasing the "garcia" look . . . . but I like the philosophy. I mean when you get down to it if you really didnt give a f#ck you would just walk around naked. so clearly there is some care to be had. but any emulation of garcia is just an attitude thing. and i dont care why he did it, i like it.

Society forces all of us into a compromise though things have become much more tolerant. The important point for me is people should be able to wear whatever they want and look how they want as long as they are not a health risk.
The Jerry look is effortless and hardly invented by Garcia.

[caspersvapors]

Haha --

On a total side note, I had this buddy in college, who was a pretty big hippe (we all were, but he was the lay arround in the same clothes type). One day we were all hanging out and he really smelt rank, and we called him out on it (it was really hard to stand). So he went to take a shower, and honest to god this guy gets up, goes to the shower (no towel or soap, anything), comes back like, no more than five minutes later, soaking wet, and in the same clothes he went in with.

Same kid used to sit in the front row so he could strech is legs out when he slept.

Was his name Spicoli?



The impression I get from Jerry is that he just didn't really get the fashion thing. I gravitated to the solid color T and loose jeans or kacky before I even knew who Jerry was or tried a drug. But drugs do cause this it seems and Jerry's fashion and appearance seem to decline once he starts heroin in 77, 4-5 years later he has aged 10-15 years, put on weight, teeth started to rot... Don't do heroin!

If you look at him in the 60s and early 70s hed wear all kinds of cool shit. panchos, cowboy boots, leather jackets. the dead jacket he wore at the 1972 NYE show is soooo Jimmy Page, and its pretty sweet.

i really think it was the smack

[paulee]

I am not an expert on fashion, nor am I an expert on heroin....but I think that Jerry didn't give 2 shits about whether or not he was "dressed to impress"....furthurmore it matters not what he wore in the end, but the music and art he created.

Thanks Jerry.

[razmablues]

1974 jerry looked great. still in pretty good shape, just plain T and kinda tight jeans, and kickass cowboy boots.

he seemed to stop caring once heroin started. caring about what you were has such a negative superficial connotation to people nowadays. i care about what i wear, but not for others. i like to be in clothes i want to be in for my own sake.

anyway, gotta agree the dead jacket looked awesome on jerry

[Pigpen]

Jer with a fancy jacket but skulls and roses on its my favorite. Me and Capervapors might be talkin about the same thing. Im also a fan of his Egypt wear.

[CountryMile Cadillac]

If any of the boys truly did not give a shit about what they wore, I'd have to say Weir took that hands down

[CaptainTrips]

If any of the boys truly did not give a shit about what they wore, I'd have to say Weir took that hands down

Yeah you might have a point there . . .

[tigerstrat]

The entire band was outfitted with the Nudie cowboy suits, worn only a couple times 12/31/72 as cv mentioned and at least once on February 1973 East Coast tour. Phil's and Bob's suits are really neat too.

[tigerstrat]

If any of the boys truly did not give a shit about what they wore, I'd have to say Weir took that hands down

Yeah you might have a point there . . .

I don't know. Phil is a very strong contender for the prize.

[caspersvapors]

Jer with a fancy jacket but skulls and roses on its my favorite. Me and Capervapors might be talkin about the same thing. Im also a fan of his Egypt wear.

this is the one, im pretty sure youre thinking of the same thing



which reminds me of this

[shakedown_04092]

I remember for the Crusader Rabbit show (Derek Trucks Band, Ratdog, & Phil & Friends also played) a few years back in Oakland for New Years ('02 maybe?) the remaining boys came out on a stage, sorta like a ring for boxing, in magician costumes as it floated around teh audience and towards the stage, where they all got off and took off their merlin caps and wigs to reveal themselves and busted into Sugar Mags. What a great memory!

[frankielee]

I was at those Stanley Theatre shows and Jerry never looked or SOUNDED better...Personally I didn't care what he wore so long he had his axe strappred on! Thanks for the great photo...way

[jahozer]

Id be willing to bet that Jerry's well documented lack of hygiene and obvious lack of fashion sense were a function of ill health and drug addiction, and not some grand philosophy of "not caring on purpose".
Its kinda hard to remember to brush your teeth and change you clothes when your brain is constantly nagging you to give it more dope.

I actually met one of Jerry's maids, while he would stay in Ventnor NJ (ventnor is where the ticket office mother and doughter lived-cant remember their names).

She said that all his sheets and shirts had cigarette holes in them from him nodding out. So they wouldnt wash them. They would just throw them out and by more FOTL pocket tees!

[cunamara]

The Dead were sort of fastidiously anti-showbiz and the dress code was a part of that. So was usually having no introduction, just ambling out and tuning up, standing around until somebody called a tune. Into the 80s, for a while it looked like Jerry, Bob and Phil hit the stage wearing what they had on when they rolled out of bed. The contrast between their personal appearance and the high-zoot instruments they all had was kind of stark IMHO.

I also think that Jerry's wardrobe choice- probably the rest of the band, too- was born of being on tour 1/3 of any given year for a couple of decades. There was probably an emphasis on minimal hassle, easy to pack, easy to wash at the laundromat, easy to replace, keep on truckin' clothing. Black Ts, black chinos or jeans, doesn't get much easier to care for.