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Author
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Topic: Flight director vests in the early 80s
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Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-18-2006 05:41 AM
   
I've been looking through pictures taken in the MOCR during the first Shuttle flights, and I've noticed that a lot of the flight directors seem to be wearing vests. I don't think of the early 80s as being a period where vests were particularly in style (although I could be wrong), so I'm wondering whether this is a trend that Gene Kranz started. He would have been a big influence on men like Jay Greene and Gary Coen, who started in the MOCR during the Apollo program.It's hard to tell from black and white photos whether these vests were in team colors, or not...  Harold Draughon and Gary Coen in vests (Gene Kranz in the background)  |
spacesouppatches
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posted 04-18-2006 08:10 AM
You were indeed correct in the thought that the early through mid 80's vests were a fashion trend. Vests were worn by professionals, business men, and executives and if you look at old rock and roll photos you will see a lot of vests thrown over t-shirts. Pocket watches were sneaking back into favor at the time, smokers were still abundant and the little vest pockets made perfect places to store lighters, cigar cutters, and your pocket watch.The vest seemed to leave the business fasion seen in the 90's as the trend toward casual dress work attire hit the mainstream. |
Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-18-2006 08:52 AM
Maybe I'm giving the influence of Gene Kranz too much credit, then. But I still do think there may be something in it... |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-18-2006 12:45 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Naraht:
I've been looking through pictures taken in the MOCR during the first Shuttle flights, and I've noticed that a lot of the flight directors seem to be wearing vests. I don't think of the early 80s as being a period where vests were particularly in style (although I could be wrong)
I've never thought of any flight directors clothing as being a good indicator of the fashionable "style" of the day.  But we wouldn't have them any other way! |
thump
Member Posts: 575
From: washington dc usa
Registered: May 2004
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posted 04-18-2006 01:36 PM
Might be the vest were worn as taking the place of wearing a suit jacket, which can be uncomfortable while sitting, so if you wore a 3 piece suit, it was "proof" that they were still dressed in suits, especially with TV coverage. |
Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-18-2006 02:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
But we wouldn't have them any other way!
Indeed we wouldn't.  quote:
Originally posted by thump:
Might be the vest were worn as taking the place of wearing a suit jacket, which can be uncomfortable while sitting, so if you wore a 3 piece suit, it was "proof" that they were still dressed in suits, especially with TV coverage.
I don't think so, somehow. Suits were never really worn at JSC--I just read an interview with Clayton Hicks, who was an Apollo era engineer, saying that he never even owned a suit until he retired. They wore sport coats, but mostly those came off the second controllers got into the MOCR. I can't see things suddenly getting more formal in the 80s... |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 04-18-2006 08:28 PM
Three piece suits were definitely in vogue in the '80's. If you look at the photo of Coen and Draughon, you will see that the vests matched the pants, indicating three-piece suits. When Kranz did his vests, the vests were the color of his team, and the pants didn't necessarily match. |
FutureAstronaut
Member Posts: 372
From:
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-18-2006 08:40 PM
Those vests might not be in fashion at all anymore, even for NASA. If and when I ever work in mission control, heck, I'm going to be wearing one of those vests. |
Naraht
Member Posts: 232
From: Oxford, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-19-2006 01:54 AM
Ah well, who'd have thought I'd discover a fashion trend in the MOCR... Thanks for the help, everyone. |
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