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Double knit leisure suits! Van-Atkins Searcy AR, Vintage Curlee brand.

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Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

Curlee double knit vintage suit Van-Atkins Searcy

A rack full of double knit leisure suits from the disco age!

I think the double knit stage in the 70's was so much fun and the estate sale coming up has several suits.  The Van-Atkins owner apparently had lots of them from his store, was a snappy dresser, and had a wife who saved things.  So out from some closet comes a box full of wonderful leisure suits.  Go on-line and check out the disco dancers wearing these suits while performing spectacular moves.  

The first one above seemed more casual. (I know it needs a little ironing.  But hold it!  The wonderful thing about double-knit was no ironing, no wrinkles, no binding, just comfort!  So these just need to hang up for a while.  Living in a box for perhaps 50 years is even hard on the perfect fabric.)  The one below is probably for dress-up.  And check out the label on the jacket.  Curlee Van-Atkins Searcy ARK.  That ARK instead of AR also indicates age. 

 

Double knit vintage suit Curlee brand

 

Curlee double knit suit 70's Searcy AR Van-Atkins

These things bring back great memories.  Plan to attend!

Comments (10)
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Los Angeles Pasadena 818.516.4393

Hello Barbara - A true blast from the past!  I never had a leisure suit - I probably wasn't "cool enough" to own one.  Maybe there will be a keen eye watching your post about the upcoming Van-Atkins Estate sale in Searcy Arkansas who is seeing these fine examples of kitsch in such great condition.  

Jun 09, 2020 10:54 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Michael, I can tell you are to young to have lived through disco and leisure suits!  You missed a lot of fun!

 

Jun 09, 2020 11:10 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

The material was Rayon which received the rap it didn't breathe like cotton.

The no iron feature was too good to be true. It was a synthetic fabric that probably became too expensive to produce.

My theory is it was stopped because it simply didn't wear out and always looked nice. 

The other fabric was Qiana (kee-ah-nah)  a silky nylon fiber developed in 1962 at the DuPont Experimental Station by Stanley Brooke Speck. The fiber was named Qiana when introduced by DuPont in 1968. Initially intended for high-end fashions, it became a popular material in the 1970s for faux-silk men's shirts, displaying bold patterns.

I had many of those shirts and loved them.

Jun 09, 2020 12:08 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, I'll bet you are right.  They never wore out.  I haven't heard of Qiana but perhaps that was what was worn as colorful shirts with the leisure suits.  We expect to see your picture in one of these outfits from back in the 70's.  

Jun 09, 2020 01:46 PM
Barbara S. Duncan

 


 


I never had a leisure suit or went to a disco.


I do have a pic of me in a Quiana shirt at work. This would have been 1982. Note the personal computer of those times. This was the portable called Osborne. There was a wear point on those shirts. The collars had stays to make them lie flat. The collar point would wear from the stay putting pressure on it and the stay would protude through. Also I had one with a wild pattern.


Jun 10, 2020 10:11 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
GreatWest Realty - Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Real Estate Agent

Ah, the 1970s with polyester and leisure suits.  I remember them well!  They didn't wrinkle, but they didn't breathe either!

Jun 09, 2020 02:52 PM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR
Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results

Morning Barbara.

Why yes, yes I remember those.  I had two of them, the only one I remember was a green one.  I believe the other was blue, but I won't bet on it

Jun 10, 2020 12:49 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Myrl, I loved the fabric.  Back then I did a lot of sewing and it was so easy to work with.

Jun 10, 2020 05:16 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

James, my favorite memory of this age  was of a friend who had a leisure suit and his wife worked hard and did needlepoint or something with threads and made disigns several places on the suit!  I wish I had a picture of it.

Jun 10, 2020 05:18 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

The leisure suit trousers were bell bottom and had wide belt loops to accomodate 2" wide belts with big buckles.

I have a few of those still hanging around.

The silver swordfish with turquoise inlay is my favorite.

 

Jun 12, 2020 09:18 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, I think that would be my favorite too.  

Jun 12, 2020 12:05 PM
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