News & Vintage Fashion Blog

Now you can take a 3D tour of our building from your computer!

This is the coolest thing. You can now walk through our building, the Shoppes at the Arcade, and visit every store, right on your computer.  This amazing 3D tour program was filmed by our upstairs neighbors at Motion City Media. (Visit their studio at the back of the 2nd floor).

So just visit this link to start your tour. Click and drag to look around the space. Click on the circles to move around. Use your scroll wheel to move in and out.  Use your arrow keys to turn left and right.

You can visit Backward Glances at the front of floor one.  Walk though the store and explore all our nooks and crannies.  There’s a lot to see here!

Then visit all the unique stores in our building. Find out more about who’s in the Shoppes here. I wish you could taste the great sandwiches and pizza at Crust and Crumble, but there are limits to virtual reality!

We’re selling our 50s jukebox!

Have you ever wanted your own vintage 50s jukebox?  Here’s your opportunity to purchase the well known Backward Glances turquoise and pink 1959 AMI.

After 28 years, we’ve decided it’s time to part with our musical friend.  This is a rare AMI Model J from 1959. It comes loaded with 100 oldies records, with songs from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.  It does play, and it sounds great. If you’ve been to Backward Glances on a Saturday, you’ve heard it blasting throughout the building. (We don’t run it during the week as not to disturb the offices on our floor). Here’s a video of the box in action, taken by a fan.

However, it does need some work to get it back in optimal condition. We’ll be happy to give you a list of parts that have been replaced over the years and parts that still need repair. Asking $1995 for it. Wouldn’t it look great in your house? Contact us to get more info.

Have you seen all the excitement happening at the the Shoppes at the Arcade?

That’s the extremely cool building that Backward Glances shares with ten other unique stores and one delicious restaurant.  Originally, the building was Woolworth’s 5 & 10 cent store.  Now it has become a bustling hub of local businesses.

The big news is that the Shoppes at the Arcade now has its own Facebook and Instagram pages! Follow them to keep up with all the businesses here in one place.

Our newest tenants are Rusty Anchor Trading, who hand carves their own tikis and sells all types of wooden signs and kitschy tropical items, and AP Modern Gallery, featuring the modern art of painter Norman Perlmutter.

They join Groovy Graveyard (vinyl records, movies, and collectible toys), Food Lube (fine live oil & vinegar bar), Flux Modern (mid century furniture), Paws Pet Boutique (hand made dog biscuit & pet accessories), Sheby & Sheby (recycled furniture & interior design), Type B Tie Dye (ties dyes,Grateful Dead items, & local art), Kill Screen Games (vintage video games), and Asbury Woodcraft (furniture designed from reclaimed salvage wood). And don’t forget about the yummy pizzas and sandwiches at Crust & Crumble!

When you are visiting, check out our new events board. It’s directly across from the Backward Glances door on the lower level.  Our building always has something happening, from musical performances to pet adoption days.  You’ll find all these plus special sales and giveaways listed on the board.

Hope to see you in our building soon!

Did we have fun at the Asbury Park Mardi Gras events?
You bet we did!

Our 4th Annual Asbury Park Mardi Gras was held on Saturday, February 23rd.  What a blast! We had lots of Mardi Gras events going on around the downtown. Here’s the full report:

MASK MAKING:

Everyone loves our yearly mask making project.  We’ve got no age limit! We give them an undecorated mask, then send them to 14 businesses in downtown Asbury Park to get free items to apply to their masks. Creativity is unleashed! You can vote for your favorite masks on our contest page until March 5th. We got a special treat this year, when Crust and Crumble Pizzeria and Bakery brought over a big pot of gumbo for the mask makers to sample.

MARDI GRAS HAPPY HOUR:

Taka Restaurant came up with another creative menu for our Mardi Gras happy hour: Japanese style jambalaya with crawfish, chicken, edamame and enoki mushrooms; New Orleans style steam buns with andouille sausage; and togarashi shrimp with miso grits.  Plus special cocktails! The bar area was filled with costumed revelers, fueling up before our masquerade ball.

THE MASQUERADE BALL:

This year’s ball was held at Asbury Park’s funkiest club, the Saint. The VooDUDES kept the crowd dancing for hours.  People went all out on their costumes, and the crowd chose our king and queen of the ball.  Our queen was Debbie from Middletown.  Our king, Wolf, came all the way from Harrisburg, VA for the party.

Thanks to the merchants of Asbury Park for the prize packages and mask decorations, and the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce for their help! And a big thanks to everyone who supports and loves this event–see you next year!

Our regular Backward Glances customers know how much I love holiday tunes! We’ve always got an interesting assortment playing in the store in December. So I am very excited that there is so much new Christmas music this year. I think these new collections will appeal to the vintage lovers out there.

I just picked up J.D. McPherson’s new CD, “Socks”. Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a holiday title, but the song is about how kids don’t want socks as gifts.  “Why’d you waste the paper on a lousy pair of socks?” This CD has a great 1950’s throwback sound.  And our local girl Nicole Atkins co-wrote one of the tracks.

I’m always a sucker for a song about ugly Christmas sweaters. JD comes through “Ugly Sweater Blues”.  Here’s the video of that one, complete with cool 50’s looking graphics. There’s a cute video for each song on this album. 

The Old 97’s also put out a holiday album this year, called “Love the Holidays”. They came through Asbury Park last week, and they really did a great job decorating the stage, with inflatable reindeer, trees, and a giant Santa! The show rocked, and the new Christmas songs were a lot of fun. Good old fashioned rock and roll.   Here’s the title track.

If you really want to go retro, William Shatner put out his first Christmas album this year, singing in his own unique style. Check out this video for a wild party with Shat, Billy Gibbons and Rudolph.

So enjoy all this new Christmas music, and happy holidays from all the Backward Glances elves!

Our Summertime music video playlist!

It is now officially summer! Summertime and music go together. There’s nothing like a vintage summer song to bring back memories of youthful days on the beach or summer vacations.  With that in mind, we’ve compiled a playlist of 10 summertime music videos that are hopelessly retro and immensely cool. These videos are time capsules of vintage fashions of the past 60 years. Check out the links to bring back some summer memories!

Summertime Blues Eddie Cochran 1959:  I love Eddie Cochran, a great talent who died in his prime. Fashion watch: the cool 50’s shawl collared tuxedos on the Town hall Party band, and Eddie’s DA hairdo.

Summer’s here and the time is right for Dancing in the Street 1964: Classic 50’s girl group! Martha and the Vandellas, in their sequin dresses and bouffant hairdos. And the pop art flowers behind them are reminiscent of  “Laugh in” or the “Dating Game” which would come along in several years.

No comment on the 80’s pastel fashions worn by David Bowie and Mick Jagger in this version of the song.

Summer in the city The Lovin’ Spoonful 1966 : This video is a mid 60’s fashion show! From John Sebastian’s mod striped jacket and round wire glasses, drummer Joe Butler’s flowered print shirt and suspenders, Steve Boone’s turtleneck, to Zal Yanofsky’s striped t-shirt and leather hat.

Hot Fun in the Summertime Sly & the Family Stone 1969: Well, you know there are going to be some funky fashions here: Sly’s midriff tie satin shirt with puffy sleeves; super collars and big hats on Freddie Stone and Larry Graham;  and the matching space age turban and necklace on keyboardist Rosie Stone.

In the Summertime Mungo Jerry: Huge sideburns! Fishnet mesh shirts with scarves! Mungo, what were you thinking? Lots of facial hair in this clip, but it was 1970 after all.

Summer Nights 1978 : I’ve always faulted the “Grease”movie for giving us their 1970’s version of the 50’s but the fashions in this one are pretty right on. The short jackets and button-up shirts on the nerdier guys. The peter pan collars, scarves, and cinch belts on the girls. Sandy’s hair-do and sweater hung over her shoulders are perfect. And I gotta admit, it’s a lot of fun.

Cruel Summer 1984: Bananarama dancing around in baggy jeans, showing off their tousled spiky hair. How 80’s is this video?

Summertime DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince 1991: 1990’s fashions to the max: neon prints and athletic wear! Can someone turn down the volume on Jeff’s jacket?  Let’s give some props for Will’s Smith’s retro Speed Racer t-shirt.

Forbidden Nights Darlene Love: Filmed on a summer day here in Asbury Park in 2016. Darlene and her back up singers are headed to the beach in a snazzy red convertible, and taking pictures with vintage cameras. Plus guest appearances from Joan Jett, Paul Shaeffer, Elvis Costello, Bill Murray, Little Steven & Bruce Springsteen. How retro is that?

Hope you enjoyed our summertime music flashback. Have a wonderful summer of 2018!

Happy Summertime! Fresh Prince lighter $3

Time for today’s fashion history lesson: bell bottom trousers!

We recently found a great bunch of old Landlubber brand bell bell bottoms, and started wondering about their history. Bell bottom trousers have been around since at least 1813, though most people associate them with the 1960’s. Let’s look a little deeper at the development of this groovy style.

Blue bell bottomed pants were worn by U.S. sailors in the early 1800’s, along with canvas hats and blue jackets. In the mid 1800’s, the British navy began wearing wide legged pants, but they weren’t really bell bottoms. They finally converted to flared trousers in 1977–took them a while to join in! So why does the navy wear bell bottoms? Possibly because they are easy to roll up, so sailors can work in bare feet. No one is really sure.

Coco Chanel put women is wide legged “yachting pants” in the 1920’s, but it was revolutionary for women to even wear pants then, so they did not become mainstream fashion.

We’re not really sure why they became such a big hit in the 1960’s, but suddenly bell bottoms were everywhere. They became a huge part of hippie fashion. Bell bottoms continued their dominance of fashion into the 1970’s.  They were now made of satin and more materials than just denim. And the bell just kept getting bigger. Who could forget “elephant bells”, those extremely wide bell bottoms that became popular in the mid 70’s? They looked perfect with platform shoes.

But in the late 70’s, bell bottoms were no longer popular. The preferred pants of the club scene were tight spandex, and punk rockers wouldn’t be caught dead in them.

But in 1996, bell bottoms were back! Only this time they were called “boot cut”, and had a smaller flare. However, over the next ten years, the bell got bigger and bigger all over again. Then suddenly, they were gone again, replaced by “skinny jeans”.

This shows you how cyclical fashion is! Everything comes around again, just wait a few years. But if you don’t  want to wait for the vagaries of fashion, you can always find cool bell bottoms at Backward Glances.