Woodstock and Hippies hit Madison Ave

I read the following today and found it amusing and also very sad.
I went to Woodstock 69 and never would have thought that years later it would be a market for a line of clothes and accessories for other generations.
I think it is refreshing though that younger generations of Hippies are out doing the Hippy thing and also adding their own flavor to it too.
I live and work in Woodstock NY and every tourist season people come from all over the world to see The Hippies and are very disappointed at what they find or don't find here in Woodstock.
I have my picture snapped most days and it is annoying and rude to be seen as some animal in a Zoo or Theme park.
After reading this I can see kids going out and buying an entire line of clothes to be in Hippy Style this year as The Rich reel in the cash making money on something that big Business hated when it was in full bloom years ago.
Back then we did not wear T shirts or anything that promoted big Business.
Nor did many of us drink Booze to help fill the pockets of Big Business and The Feds.
So here's the future-what do you think?
The Wiz
Woodstock NY

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/magazine/columns/article_display.jsp?vnu_content
_id=1002651471

The Biz: Woodstock Licensors: We Are Stardust, We Are Clothing
June 12, 2006

BACK to the garden, indeed. Music licensing agency Signatures Network has
secured exclusive licensing and branding rights to Woodstock, the 1969
peace, music and love festival.

Signatures secured the rights from the promoters of the fest, Michael Lang
and Joel Rosenman.

"I've been looking for a long time to find a positive theme that represents
the spirit of the '60s, and its been staring me in the face the whole time,"
said Dell Furano, CEO at Signatures Network. "Woodstock's recognition factor
is enormous worldwide."

Of course, it started with rock 'n' roll, "but the generation broadened
[Woodstock's] significance as a whole way of meaning and being," said
Rosenman, who mentioned individualism, intense creativity, respect for one's
neighbor and stewardship of the environment as the brand's defining traits.
"There was an intangible feeling that every person could make a difference,
and all of us together could."

Signatures will develop Woodstock as a lifestyle brand that extends to
apparel, accessories, home decor and other categories. While the original
concert was a cultural milestone for baby boomers, Woodstock's licensed
brand will be geared to all generations, particularly young people who've
embraced recent retro '60s fashion trends, such as mod and peasant/boho
looks.

Product will launch in fall 2007 at the earliest, with men's and women's
knit tops and denim. Next, women's sportswear (peasant tops, classic long
flowing skirts ) will be introduced. The deal does not extend to Woodstock
artists, but Furano is in talks with The Who and the estates of Jimi Hendrix
and Janis Joplin about cobranded apparel.

 

And where would these enclaves be?

 

Yes, well in this materialistic culture, such "recent retro 60s fashion trends" will be dead and buried by 2007. By that time the sheeple will have moved on to the next thing (and the thing after that). I hope so anyway.

 

I live near Woodstock and went up there last week(?)
I was gonna go again today, but that's not the point of my post.
One thing that disappoints me about the area is how EXPENSIVE it is (Sorry, just a little rant there...). My area is surprising stark for head shops and places to buy my style of clothing (I am by no means rich, and it's no way a fashion trend for me). I go to Woodstock looking for like minded people, and I find them. I don't turn them into objects in a zoo, I view them as kindred spirits who have similar life philosophies as myself. I hope to enrich my views with conversations, no matter how short they might be. I honestly feel more at home in Woodstock than anywhere else (even Boston! I didn't think that would happen). If it sounds corny or sappy, I don't care. I love Woodstock, but I would never buy into a clothing line that commercialized it. *shrugs* It devalues it for me.
Anyhoo. If that made any sense, great. If not, I'm sorry. Perhaps I'll see you around Woodstock at some point Wiz.
Peace.

 

LOL I love it-what a great idea.
I like to freak them out and take their pic back at them.

 

Oh I agree-My rent here is the same as it was on Long Island. If you notice also in Woodstock there are many empty stores here.
It's because the land and building owners got greedy in the high rents and now no one will rent anything. The remaining store owners are stuck and have to raise their prices to stay in business.
After 9/11 all the movie stars and rich from NYC bought land up here and that raised all of the real estate rates etc.
So the locals had to move outside of town to be able to rent something they can now afford. Very few live IN town...I lucked out in that I have a couple of things to make a living but still most of my money goes to paying my rent.
Hell yeah-I am right across from town hall. Stop by and hang out!

 

Yeah so true!

 

it's not the sheeple who control their focus. it's these guys. i wish they could get belief/action systems of their own ( and accompanying taste in clothing?) so they can stop exploiting this one. shit gets tiresome

* the wild hippie is an elusive creature and must be photographed quietly so as not to irritate it. frequently seen with actual dreadlocks, and genuinely handmade clothing, many imitate it's naturally beautiful plumage, but such imitators lack mojo, making them easy to spot. hippies emit a genuine human-scent and peals of laughter and delightful music often accompany their arrival in an area. they are highly migratory, so if you see an opportunity to take up with one, hasten to do so. you will never forget it.*

 

That's so sad about people moving in. They are doing the same in our area too. Up in the northwest corner, we are right on the edge of the Berkshires. It's a little cheaper for them to live here, so they are only a stone throw's away from Tanglewood. I used to work in a small NYC style market, and summer was my least favorite season. Invasion of the New Yorkers. >_< Worse than the body snatchers.

They were going to put upscale housing tract in my town, but that fell through? I don't know if it's stalled or dead. But more and more I am hoping it doesn't happen. It changes the whole tenor of the town. I don't doubt that all the small businesses I have gone to all my life will disappear like they did in Woodstock. Our town was the cheapest in the region, basically where all your factory workers and farmers live. There's a huge grocery complex opening tomorrow. Do we need it in out town? No. Are things going to change? Hells yeah.

I should be happy for change, but when it's your little area that you grew up in - it makes me sad. To hear that that happened to Woodstock saddens me. I suppose that's partially due to what you were talking about in your original posting. These rich people destroy something and make it into a spectacle. They are going to get bored, and move on to what they want. Like a Saks Fifth Ave. or Ralph Lauren. I hate to say it, but in the next few years, you are probably going to see those kinds of stores going in, and Woodstock will never be the "hippie" place it was ever again.

Wow. I am depressed now. I need to get to work.

BTW: Are you across the street from town hall? Or right next to it. I went this cool shop next to it. There were a couple across the street I wanted to check out too, but we didn't have enough time.

 

YellowSprings, Ohio, supposedly the "liberal/ hippie capitol of America," is so expensive too... quite ironic, eh?


I wouldn't be too certain about this hippie fad passing away by next year... look at punk rock/skater crap (though its (d)evolved into emo), its been here since when, 2001?


And I'm wearing a Who shirt right now, haha....