For a kid growing up in New Jersey, the Ocean Pacific brand represented a connection to the beach culture of Southern California that I could get at the mall.
I had a few Op pieces of clothing, but my favorite was a white short-sleeved Tshirt that had a brightly colored swirly geometric pattern on the front and a cutout circle on the back. My back skin had never seen the light of day until that Op shirt with the cutout. I thought I was pretty dang cool...until going out in the shirt on a bright, sunny day without sunscreen. The perfectly round circle of sunburn that resulted further emblazoned the memory of this shirt in my mind. An emblazoned memory from an emblazoned back.
I dug OP but my favorite was T&C Surf Design. I loved all of the characters (Thrilla Gorilla, Wave Warrior, etc) and the antics depicted. The shirts were a bit pricey so I only ever had 2 but I wore them until they didn't fit anymore.
My favorite OP shirt (I believe purchased at JC Penny's) was a black short sleeve that you rolled the bottom on the sleeve up and it was neon pink inside. It had a thin squiggly line across the chest in all neon colors that ended at the OP logo. Loved that shirt
My Mom loved JC Penny's, I wonder if that is where my shirt came from. It was the little details like the pop of neon pink that really made them stand out.
Ha! For many years, those were the only brand of jeans I bought. I think I still might have some gift card around from a Christmas gift my sister got me, so I could buy some jeans.
I had two OP shirts but the one I remember best was a long sleeve red shirt with a small logo on the left breast, and pin strips across the chest. I wore the heck out of that shirt, until I grew out of it. I'd still wear that west coast / surfer look in the early nineties when I was getting shirts from PAC-SUN at the mall. None of that really measured up that the original OP shirt though.
I had enough Op apparel that I could've worn nothing else between laundry days. And I too was nowhere near any body of water containing much salt. The boldness of the designs and colors embodied an era and lifestyle. The ocean is a state of mind.
Growing up in coastal Carolina, I started surfing in '72 when the only brands sold in surf shops were Hang Ten, Jensen, Birdwell, and if you had a few extra bucks, O'Neill. Started wearing Sundek trunks as they were cheaper than Birdwell even if they didn't last as long. And a GF gave me a pair of OP corduroy walk shorts for my birthday one summer and I really liked their fit and comfort. Pretty soon OP stuff was the majority of my "wardrobe" with additional items native to the Outer Banks like Wave Riding Vehicles and Surfing's New Image. If you were lucky enough to make a surfari to Cali, you came home with shirts from Takayama, Wayne Lynch, Sunset, and Santa Cruz. They were distinctive on campus in Chapel Hill or Greenville, the only two UNC schools with surfing communities (UNCW being but a dream in those days).
I still have a few of these T-shirts tucked away in a drawer. They remind me of a day when the only place you could get them was in a surf shop - a real surf shop that mostly sold boards, racks, and wax. Most surf shops today are fashion boutiques with a few boards as decoration. And it's always disappointing to walk through Costco and see O'Neill shirts.
Thanks for the reminder of OP. They really did make great stuff.
I remember having two OP t-shirts, one off-white and the other a brilliant blue, both with their trademark graphics. Loved them both, but the blue was my favorite. I didn’t necessarily identify the shirts with beach culture, but they were incredibly stylish and there were enough designs that there was little risk of ever running into someone wearing your same shirt. Like others, I wore them for years, into marriage and in time they were so worn I had to let my wife toss them out. Thanks for the memory!
I was a kid on the other side of all of this. We always looked at Op as a poser brand (even though we were all posers here in Pennsylvania!) Reason being is that American Eagle (which began in my hometown of Pittsburgh) carried Quicksilver, Rusty, etc. back then. My buddies worked there and got a discount. So we were able to wear those more-boutique brands while Op was able to be picked up anywhere. Again, not dissing it now by any stretch just thinking of those times fondly when we thought we were cool. LOL
I had a few Op pieces of clothing, but my favorite was a white short-sleeved Tshirt that had a brightly colored swirly geometric pattern on the front and a cutout circle on the back. My back skin had never seen the light of day until that Op shirt with the cutout. I thought I was pretty dang cool...until going out in the shirt on a bright, sunny day without sunscreen. The perfectly round circle of sunburn that resulted further emblazoned the memory of this shirt in my mind. An emblazoned memory from an emblazoned back.
I dug OP but my favorite was T&C Surf Design. I loved all of the characters (Thrilla Gorilla, Wave Warrior, etc) and the antics depicted. The shirts were a bit pricey so I only ever had 2 but I wore them until they didn't fit anymore.
Corduroy shorts?? Yes son...you just had to be there...
My favorite OP shirt (I believe purchased at JC Penny's) was a black short sleeve that you rolled the bottom on the sleeve up and it was neon pink inside. It had a thin squiggly line across the chest in all neon colors that ended at the OP logo. Loved that shirt
My Mom loved JC Penny's, I wonder if that is where my shirt came from. It was the little details like the pop of neon pink that really made them stand out.
Arizona Jean Company was another brand I bought a lot from Penny's
Ha! For many years, those were the only brand of jeans I bought. I think I still might have some gift card around from a Christmas gift my sister got me, so I could buy some jeans.
I know I have pics of me with Arizona shirts during my "I think bolo ties are cool" phase because they had buttons at the ends of the collar.
I had two OP shirts but the one I remember best was a long sleeve red shirt with a small logo on the left breast, and pin strips across the chest. I wore the heck out of that shirt, until I grew out of it. I'd still wear that west coast / surfer look in the early nineties when I was getting shirts from PAC-SUN at the mall. None of that really measured up that the original OP shirt though.
I had enough Op apparel that I could've worn nothing else between laundry days. And I too was nowhere near any body of water containing much salt. The boldness of the designs and colors embodied an era and lifestyle. The ocean is a state of mind.
I still have the corduroy shorts, purchased decades ago at either Heritage or Surfers Supplies in OCNJ.
In 93' I bought an OP polyester pile sweater at a thrift store. It lived through many wilderness adventures. I still have it.
In 2003 I got another OP sweater, wool hoody, still have it. I wore it hard while farming for many years.
op. hobie. sun britches. tiddies. ah, summers in the 80s.
Funny, I was looking their site recently and they only had T-shirts and hoodies. No shorts, more specifically, no corduroy shorts.
I loved Op! For me it was the bathing suits and the surf shorts!
Growing up in coastal Carolina, I started surfing in '72 when the only brands sold in surf shops were Hang Ten, Jensen, Birdwell, and if you had a few extra bucks, O'Neill. Started wearing Sundek trunks as they were cheaper than Birdwell even if they didn't last as long. And a GF gave me a pair of OP corduroy walk shorts for my birthday one summer and I really liked their fit and comfort. Pretty soon OP stuff was the majority of my "wardrobe" with additional items native to the Outer Banks like Wave Riding Vehicles and Surfing's New Image. If you were lucky enough to make a surfari to Cali, you came home with shirts from Takayama, Wayne Lynch, Sunset, and Santa Cruz. They were distinctive on campus in Chapel Hill or Greenville, the only two UNC schools with surfing communities (UNCW being but a dream in those days).
I still have a few of these T-shirts tucked away in a drawer. They remind me of a day when the only place you could get them was in a surf shop - a real surf shop that mostly sold boards, racks, and wax. Most surf shops today are fashion boutiques with a few boards as decoration. And it's always disappointing to walk through Costco and see O'Neill shirts.
Thanks for the reminder of OP. They really did make great stuff.
I remember having two OP t-shirts, one off-white and the other a brilliant blue, both with their trademark graphics. Loved them both, but the blue was my favorite. I didn’t necessarily identify the shirts with beach culture, but they were incredibly stylish and there were enough designs that there was little risk of ever running into someone wearing your same shirt. Like others, I wore them for years, into marriage and in time they were so worn I had to let my wife toss them out. Thanks for the memory!
I was a kid on the other side of all of this. We always looked at Op as a poser brand (even though we were all posers here in Pennsylvania!) Reason being is that American Eagle (which began in my hometown of Pittsburgh) carried Quicksilver, Rusty, etc. back then. My buddies worked there and got a discount. So we were able to wear those more-boutique brands while Op was able to be picked up anywhere. Again, not dissing it now by any stretch just thinking of those times fondly when we thought we were cool. LOL
No offense taken. Its amazing how clothing and trends could be so regional and based on what was available to you.
i did grow up in So Cal - San Clemente to be exact - and had Beach Activities as my 9th grade PE class - this was 79 and OP was de rigueur
five-finger discount seemed to e a popular method of acquiring the good things back then
You down with OP?
Yeah! You know me