Many fashion trends come back into style years, if not decades, after they first debuted, but something tells me these handmade funkedelic hippie outfits from the 60s and 70s won't be making a comeback any time soon.
But that doesn't make them any less amazing to look at in photos, and it takes a little while to see and truly appreciate all the hard work that went into making some of the tackiest outfits ever knit.
Fashion designer Michael Cepress has spent decades collecting these handmade hippie masterpieces, like the legendary "doily suit" which was once worn by Richard "Scrumbly" Koldewyn:
Richard "Scrumbly" Koldewyn was a founding member of the radical San Francisco drag theater troupe The Cockettes — a group of pioneering hippie artists who experimented freely with LSD and wore brilliantly florid handmade outfits. Cepress made a coffee date with Scrumbly in San Francisco several years ago, and asked if he'd kept any clothing from his psychedelic heyday. Scrumbly probed the depths of his closet and, to everyone's surprise, found his iconic "doily suit," a trio of pastel crocheted garments (flared pants, jacket, vest) made with couture-like skill and creative vision.
Michael is now sharing his collection at the exhibition "Counter-Couture: Handmade Fashion in an American Counterculture", showing at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York through August 20th.
-Via i-D