Dusty

My husband and I have a term that encompasses all things earthy, western, brown, and 70’s – “dusty”.  The term “dusty” covers quite a bit and can be applied as a descriptor for people, styles, and elements of pop culture from the 70’s, as well as, the rebirth of the western-DIY-wilderness-pioneer -chic  which has surfaced in places like Portland, Seattle, and New York in recent years.


Dusty in the 70’s

There was a weird obsession with “country” in the 70’s.  The sphere of country was vast in that it included all things western, southern, pioneer, and the back-to-the-land.  In addition, pop culture at the time did not seem to make distinctions between the different factions of country as seen in TV shows like the Duke’s of Hazzard  or movies like Smokey and the Bandit– you have Southern friend hicks styled as western cowboys. 

This certainly qualifies as "dusty”.  

Dukes of Hazzard



Smokey and the Bandit



Allman Brothers



John Denver

In addition, you had the Earth Shoe-wearing, sprout eating, pure country types like John Denver which was almost a hippie-western crossover.  Throw in the popularity of spaghetti westerns (which border on psychedelic), shows like Little House on the Prairie, and the rise of Southern Rock via Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, and we are literally covered in dust.


Dusty in the 10's
Over the last few years, in urban communities like Brooklyn, Portland, and Seattle, interest in all things made by or with your hands has dominated the style scene.  This sensibility has lead to a hearkening for a simpler time, a more analog time, a time when craftsmanship was valued above mass production.  We see this reflected in places like artisan food movements, boutique brewing and distilling operations, the DIY and vintage fashion movement, gardening and food-raising, the new wave of folk rock bands, etc.  Low and behold, we have a new era of ”dusty” . 

Bands like Spindrift, Fleetfoxes, and the Moondoggies pull from the 70’s folk and southern rock sensibility. 


Moondoggies



Spindrift



Fleet Foxes






Beardos are everywhere and the men’s fashion in particular has a beatnik-meets hippie- meets southern rocker mix.  People are driving 70’s “super-vans”, if not their bikes.  Almost everyone I know is raising their own chickens and trying to move off of the energy grid.  No, the dust has not settled, but instead, it has reformed itself in a new era.





Super Van



Dusty Hipsters