Looking to rev up your summer wardrobe? Get a “kustom” look with a chrome auto emblem or an upholstery purse that commemorates the classic car scene from the 1950s.
Yesterday’s hot rods are the inspiration for the vintage-tinged style known as “kustom kulture,” a colorful collision of polka dot dresses, pedal pushers, saddle shoes and tattoos.
It’s easy to join in the fun. Browse neighborhood thrift stores, specialty shops or even your grandma’s closet to find playful and funky kustom kulture pieces.
The women who embrace kustom kulture love its retro and edgy look, which they don when attending roadster shows or rockabilly clubs. Pinup girl bangs, pencil or flared skirts, cherry-replica earrings, two-toned high heels and bright red lipstick help them achieve kustom allure. But don’t call them hood ornaments. These women know their Chevys from their Mercs, their radiators from their carburetors.
Patricia Kush, 27, is the proud owner of a ’51 Buick Special that she bought last summer in Iowa. When she’s not working on her car, she’s strolling the aisles at vintage car shows. Typically she’s dressed in rolled jeans, a white T-shirt and saddle shoes. But her favorite fashion accessory is her 1954 Chevy chest tattoo.
The only rules about kustom kulture fashion, Kush says, are that there aren’t any.
“You don’t have to go back in time completely,” the St. Charles resident says. “Combine other styles and make it your own.”
The creative spelling of “kustom kulture” can be traced to George Barris, a Chicago-born custom car designer who rose to prominence in Southern California in the 1940s and ’50s for the body work he made his own. Barris’ company is well known for customizing cars for movies and television, including the original Batmobile from “Batman” and the “koach” from “The Munsters.”
The first wave of kustom kulture occurred with the advent of the hot rod in the 1950s, says John DeWitt, author of “Cool Cars, High Art: The Rise of Kustom Kulture” (University Press of Mississippi, 2002). The second wave surfaced about 10 years ago as car enthusiasts rebelled against the use of costly, non-original materials in classic-car renovations and the practice of putting cars on display instead of driving them, DeWitt says. Today its followers celebrate the original era by attending national events dedicated to the pre-1965 cars and partaking of the era’s clothes, accessories, music and low-brow art.
“Kustom kulture is a return to the ’50s and a rejection of what’s going on now,” says DeWitt, who notes that the women on the scene today “embrace a time of strong sexual differences but … they are completely aware of what the differences mean and they are tuned in to what they are saying.”
Kustom kulture follower Caryn Anderson, 27, acknowledges that she likes “feeling girly” and has a closet filled with brightly colored, patterned vintage dresses to prove it.
She and other fans add to their collections by frequenting thrift stores, boutiques and retro shops. Popular retail Web sites include pinupgirlclothing.com, daddyos.com, trophyqueen.com and ms-metal.net.
Anderson says she appreciates the “classic beauty and art form” of vintage fashions and older cars, happily immersing herself in both. Two years ago, the Mt. Prospect resident bought a non-running 1951 Dodge Meadowbrook, which she works on with her dad on the weekends.
“I enjoy doing the work myself and getting my hands dirty,” she says. “I joke that the nail polish is just to cover up the grease.”
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Hit the road
To mingle with the kustom kulture crowd, check out one of these events:
– The Road Rocket Rumble, June 23, Indianapolis, www.indyroadrockets.com.
-The Hunnert Car Pile-up, Oct. 13, Grundy County Speedway & Fairgrounds, Morris, Ill. www.hunnertcarpileup.com.
