Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Eldridge Cleaver, fashion visionary

Back in March, when I posted part of my 1982 interview with former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, my friend Susie commented that she was dying to see the pants Cleaver had designed. You know... the pants with the external penis pouch.

I had never laid eyes on them myself. Until today.

I tip my hat to nom de grr, who presented this vintage magazine page (click it for a larger view):

at

22 comments:

  1. bklyn6September 26, 2007 at 4:21 PM

    Wow. I vaguely remember that Cleaver had a unique sense of fashion design.

    Hypothetical. Would a man receive a summons for indecent exposure--even though he's not fully exposed--for wearing these? (Lexington Steele would be arrested!)

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  2. quirkychickSeptember 26, 2007 at 6:08 PM

    OH.
    MY.
    GAWD!

    ThankyouThankyouThankyou.

    When he mentioned that there was a "third leg" in his design this was not what I envisioned.

    Now I'm wondering if they came with optional inseam measurements for that third leg? Or was it one size fits all?

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2007 at 7:08 PM

    ISTR that this photo was from National Lampoon. It was satire. I'm not sure if the pants were ever real.

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  4. Undercover Black ManSeptember 26, 2007 at 7:23 PM

    Thanks, anon. Where this magazine page came from, I do not know. Could very well be a joke (judging by the text). But the pants themselves were NOT a joke... I asked Cleaver about them in my 1982 interview with him, which I published on this blog.

    I also remember Jet magazine writing about the pants in the late '70s.

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  5. DeAngelo StarnesSeptember 26, 2007 at 9:55 PM

    I remember the Jet photos, too.

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  6. DeAngelo StarnesSeptember 26, 2007 at 9:58 PM

    Not a bad interview, but Eldridge was never the intellectual he posed himself to be. His contradictory stances over the years bore this out. His famous book Soul On Ice was celebrated but should have been panned.

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  7. Undercover Black ManSeptember 26, 2007 at 9:59 PM

    ^ Glad you said that, DeAnge. As I remember it, the Jet photo showed more of a pouch-like thing... not a "sleeve" like this.

    How do you remember it? Maybe this page I posted isn't the real pants.

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2007 at 10:31 PM

    deangelo sterns-

    Interesting take. I always think of Eldridge Cleaver as this sort of epic tragic figure. Soul on Ice is so well written, and the couple clips I've seen him in person, he just seemed so sharp to me. But what happened to him? He was clearly a violent, out-of-control guy for his entire adult life, and his ideas were non-traditional - sometimes in the visionary sense, and sometimes in the just crazy sense, but at some point he seemed to really go off the deep end.

    There's a funny/sad clip of him in the documentary about Dr. Bronner's soap, seemingly making perfect sense and then suddenly talking about cosmic rays or something along those lines.

    I've often wondered about how his kids have fared. I know his daughter is married to Geronimo Pratt and his son wrote a book that I've never checked out.

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  9. Bay RadicalSeptember 26, 2007 at 10:31 PM

    Oops, I was logged out there, that was my comment on Cleaver.

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  10. ItAintEazySeptember 27, 2007 at 1:20 AM

    Sorry, I don't think a book that talks approvingly about raping woman deserves praise. That is all

    And, ho-lee cow, he was serious, wasn't he?

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  11. justjudithSeptember 27, 2007 at 6:24 AM

    wow. i am really glad those didn't take off. wow...

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  12. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2007 at 10:02 AM

    One question...how the hell do you pee?

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  13. Invisible WomanSeptember 28, 2007 at 1:22 AM

    I knew he was crazy, but damn!

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  14. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2007 at 5:53 PM

    I think this is the goofy version, I remember a somewhat more pouch like photo appearing in some mags. But as UBM says, Eldridge really did have a codpiece design that I believe he sold quite a few of, but in what country, I'm not sure. Papua-New Guinea night clubs would be the obvious market.

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  15. DeAngelo StarnesSeptember 28, 2007 at 8:07 PM

    Dave, you're right about the Jet photos. The crotch featured a pocket for your di-- er uh, member. I don't remember this more (porno)graphic version.

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  16. AnonymousOctober 2, 2007 at 1:46 AM

    I remember that exact page. It wasn't an actual ad, but a blurb/short article about the pants. I'm pretty sure it was in Rolling Stone sometime in the mid 70's...'75, maybe?

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  17. DarylNovember 30, 2007 at 7:08 PM

    I also remember those pants from an Esquire article sometime in the late Seventies. It was definitely a tube, not a pouch in the picture I saw. I doubt that "Jet" would print a picture of the tube.

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  18. Young BistroMarch 11, 2008 at 1:23 AM

    haha. cleaver is a fool. didn't know so many people knew about the 'cleavers'. i did a write up about him on mu blog. your site is consistently entertaining.

    peace,
    chad b.

    blackbacchus.com

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  19. UnknownMay 12, 2008 at 10:37 AM

    a little further digging on the wonderful internets brings this gem (http://whitehotmagazine.com/whitehot_articles.cfm?id=1198).

    From the site:
    "A work McCarthy comically "got wrong" was Eldridge Cleaver's penis pouch pants that were featured in an early 1970's ad in Rolling Stone Magazine."

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  20. AnonymousJuly 11, 2008 at 6:42 PM

    WOW I wonder if anyone bought them. LOL I guess you cant be a little man to wear those pants.. Its like indescent exposure. I heard about this on Bob and Tom show but I didnt believe it. I do now.. WOW ha ha

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  21. whateveryouwantittosayOctober 9, 2008 at 9:30 PM

    FYI: I did a report on Elderidge Cleaver a few years ago, and included this in my report. He was totally serious (wtf, right?!) and this is from an October issue of Rolling Stones magazine, I think 1976 or so.

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  22. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2010 at 10:39 AM

    For the record, "Soul on Ice" does not talk "approvingly" about raping women - though this is usually the first comment to come from people who are familiar with the book second-hand.

    As the infamous Soviet phrase goes, "I have not read, but I will say..."

    Gets you into trouble sometimes.

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