Is it just me? It seems like the best stripes from the 1970s and 1980s are making the world more lovely here in the 2020s. Today in the blog, I am showcasing four companies that make irresistible stuff with vintage, on-brand stripes. You probably weren’t planning on spending 5 minutes reading about stripes, but you’ll be glad that you did!
Pendleton Blankets
Let’s start with Pendleton, a wool blanket company that could be credited with bringing vintage stripes back into fashion. Google just told me that they’ve been making blankets for 150 years, and I am guessing they began these striped blankets in the 1970s, and then everyone forgot about them for 50 years. Now in the 2020’s, it’s the ultimate domestic flex: “Oh that’s just our stack of blankets.” Translated: “We paid $1000 for those three blankets.”
If you’ve never seen a Pendleton blanket, spend about 15 minutes looking at places to go glamping on Airbnb. No yurt is complete without a striped blanket!
Toyota Racing, Toyota Motorsports
When I was a little kid, the 1980s Toyota pickups had exciting stripes along the side–usually in gold, orange, and dusty red. (Or was that a brown?) Whatever they were, those stripes made me dizzy with excitement.
Those stripes are back, and I’ve learned that it’s a hat-tip to Toyota’s racing heritage. Today, enthusiasts are adding stripes to old white Landcruisers, 4Runners, and Tacoma pickups–mostly offroad vehicles.
Now new Toyotas have the vintage treatment too. Last year (2021), a creative company gave the vintage look to modern Toyota trucks/campers and made waves within the aftermarket auto industry. Next year (2023) we’ll see a 40th Anniversary Edition of the 4Runner straight from the factory. ?
Polaroid
There’s just something magical about Polaroid’s brand of the rainbow. In place of red, it’s pink. No indigo or violet (which is really the same color, right?). Give anyone a vintage striped Polaroid hoodie or T-shirt for Christmas, and they’ll love you forever.
Etsy and eBay are loaded with vintage Polaroid cameras for the purists. Or for practical people, Polaroid makes new, niche cameras for hipsters and nostalgic fellas like myself. Me? I prefer the craftsman details of the leather and chrome Polaroid SX-70.
BMW M Series
I know very little of the M-series BMWs because they seem to be the most expensive and least reliable cars made by BMW, a company known for consistently making expensive, unreliable cars.
Having said that–I think that the M-series cars always look good. The M3 looked great in the 1980s, the 1990s, and even into 2010s. Collectors go crazy for all of ’em, and gladly throw money at auctions for their favorite M3. Those three stripes come at a price!
BMW has put together a pretty sweet little webpage explaining the M logo and colors, and apparently, they’ve done away with the violet and replaced it with a dark blue. ? Again–I’m not a BMW aficionado. But if that was my goal, I would begin by exploring 50 years of M.
Last thought here–of all our vintage stripes in this blog post, BMW’s M uses a trick with color. Overlay blue with red and you get violet. Fun, right? ?
We Can’t All Be So Lucky
In putting together this blog, I began wondering how other companies within these industries feel about their competitor with perfect stripes. Let’s consider the competitors to Toyota’s SUVs. Are they jealous? I am sure that Ford Motor Company wishes they had vintage stripes to go with their new Bronco. Or maybe the Bronco is perfect just like it is–so new yet so vintage.
So what we’re really talking about here is heritage. We are drawn to products with a rich history, a good story. If your company is young, know that your history begins with every day. Make a great product, and offer an excellent service. This is how you build a legacy. And it helps if you have stripes. ◼️
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