As advertised: “At the turn of the century, British artisans-the empire’s potters, silversmiths, cabinetmakers-wore shirts made of the thickest, plushest traditionally stripped cotton flannel, woven 29 inches wide; the fabric was doubled and the shirt sized by cutting a hole for the neck. The resulting garment was more like a cozy place to live than […]
Introduced in the Fall 1985 “Notes from the Outback” catalog, the Bushman’s Raincoat is one of the more distinctive items BR produced. It’s about as dramatic and interesting as a raincoat gets and will make you look like you stepped right out of the 1982 Aussie film “Man From Snowy River”. It was offered in […]
The Hooded Bush Vest was a real workhorse for Banana Republic. The design was first introduced in 1982, pre-Gap purchase and ran until 1988 and then beyond into the post-Safari era. Today they are ubiquitous and plentiful as they were big sellers for men and women at $39. Image from the Holiday 1982 catalogue. There […]
Possibly the most famous and recognizable items from the Banana Republic Travel & Safari company, the Old English Wildlife Engraving shirts looked great and were a popular inexpensive item to grab if you wanted to capture the BR magic without breaking your wallet. Due to their ubiquity, they show up on the current eBay market […]
I love the Yukon shirt. Ubiquitous in the catalogs, lined up in a wonderful array of colors like candies in a bowl. It came in a short-sleeved version, but to me the proper Yukon shirt is the long sleeve variety that will keep you cozy on a crisp fall day. It was introduced in summer […]
The set of Elephant Bandanas were sold in the summer of 1985 and are very fun to collect. BR did a number of bandanas and scarves, but these have the best pattern and use of the logo in my opinion. They came in two color sets–“African” (khaki brown, red earth, tan, and blue) and “Indian_ […]
The Photojournalist Vest was staple of Banana Republic until well-past the catalog era. What’s most surprising to me is that there were catalogs when it WASN’T included. (Spring-Fall 1986) It is ubiquitous on eBay to this day, as many were sold and they never wore out. Version One Version One of the vest debuted in […]
Always one of the most affordable and popular items in the catalog, it was easy to throw one in with any order. The style (as evidenced by eBay listings) is classic “Henley” but they called it “The Banana Republic shirt” at the time. It was simply their Yukon Shirt in off-white with a logo on […]
Newly Updated! 1985-1988 Available.
