Now if only Hypercolour shirts could make a comeback…
Have to add Vuarnet t-shirts to this list. OP apparel is definitely an elementary school memory. My freshman year in High School began in late 1987, and my High School was all about Vuarnet, Quicksilver, PCH, and Spuds McKenzy t-shirts in the warm months, and Columbia convertable shell jackets in the cold months.
I had a hypercolor t-shirt years ago…even with proper care, the magical whatchamacallit dye washed out within a month. I remember being thoroughly disappointed.
Oh yeah!
When I first got together with my now ex-wife in 1989, she gave me no end of crap because I still had a light blue pair of OP corduroy shorts in the back of a drawer. I hadn’t worn them in years. I swear! Didn’t they have buttons made of wood or something?
They were huge when I was in Jr. High and High School in West L.A. in the late 70’s/early 80’s. One of my classmates was names Orlando Perrera (or something like that). He would jokingly claim that he only wore monogrammed shirts.
I grew up in southern California in the 70s and early 80s, and Op was one of the hot brands in my junior high and high school. I had a pair of light tan corduroy cargo pants that I loved, and lots of the boys wore the shorts (I wanted to, but I hated shorts and wouldn’t be seen in them).
Loved the pants, though. Very comfortable, with nice big roomy front pockets and the ubiquitous “Op” logo on the bottom of the left one.
I also had a whole passel of “Hang Ten” T-shirts in grade school–I loved the little stitched feet logo.
While we’re on the subject, does anyone remember “Dittos” pants?
Yeah, I had t-shirts, shorts, and a couple hooded long-sleeve shirts. I might still have an OP t-shirt or two in my closet.
I still consider Jimmy Z shorts to be the pinnacle of weekend wear - loose board shorts where the waist size is based on the velcro belt unit stuff. I wore mine out (truly - the seat finally rubbed through).
They could be a bit off-putting when, in the heat of the moment, my girlfriend would help me undress to the loud **RIP ** sound of velcro however.
Huh, all this reminiscing got my to wondering, and, sure enough, you can still get a pair of tiddies . Who’d a thunk it?
Yep, had me some OP shirts and shorts(and Vuarnet shirts). I was the coolest thing evah.
Now, if only JAMS make a comeback, it’ll be high school all over.
I did a modeling thing for the Amurol Gum Company back when I was 9 or 10 and they were introducing JAMS gum. I got a shitload of free JAMS stuff and a free trip to the zoo out of it. I’m not that cute, my mom worked there. 
For the next six months I walked around looking like a colorblind Florida retiree, but damned if I wasn’t hip.
I bought a pair of OP flip flops at Kohl’s last year. They’re very light and have held up well.
How about Primo t-shirts? In my high school circle, they were the cool shirts to have.
OP has still been around (at least in SoCal), just not as high profile.
My little brother had the coolest JimmyZ Malibu Dukes longboard t-shirt… 
Ah, that brings back memories of elementary school. I had a teacher who liked to joke about the OP phenomenon. Whenever one of the kids (boys mostly) would wear an OP article, he would spend the day calling them stuff like, “Ok, you there with the Old People’s clothes on, come up here.” Or, “Other People’s”, or just really being silly thinking up things for the monogram.
Mr. Kuhn. I wonder if he’s still around? One of his big things was a story about this reaaaaaallly long name he supposedly had, and we’d get special considerations if we could get the name memorized. Some kids couldn’t even get it by the end of the school year. I only remember part of it…
Mr. Kuhn Bergstein…something something something Heimer Schlitz und Schnitz.
He was a great teacher, and I remember him very fondly 25 years later.
But I digress.
Anybody remember the Dove clothing label? Those nylon short shorts in all different colors. Man, those and a pair of red Dittos. I was teh schnitz.
My favorite T-shirt was an OP emblazened with the Rising Sun. Wore it to Disneyworld in 1985.
As a Yank living in the UK in the 1980s - OP was required wear to retain your American-ness. If you were spotted in a St. Michael’s cardigan or a C&A outfit you were… one of them!
I can assure you every American kid living in England in the 1980s had an assortment of OP shirts and Vans. The poorer among us had a few Hobie shirts mixed in as well.
Moving to America in 1986, I found that nobody in Texas had even heard of OP stuff. Time to switch to Nike t-shirts!
Maybe not in the Austin school district, but in the posh RRISD . . . see my post above.
Wrong-O. OP was all the rage in the DFW area in '86.
Maybe my memory is failing me in advanced age.
I’m pretty sure that OP wasn’t all that popular in South and East Austin. And a brand like Hobie, which was ridiculed at my old school in the UK, was much more popular. I don’t think the urban, Latino/African-American set really had much use for surfer wear. Though Vans were popular at my school.
The Nike shirts were really popular, as were the takeoffs: “U B Where U B - I B at Johnston High,” as well as the enduring “[insert mascot here] Republic” shirt that was inspired by a Banana Republic slogan.
I’m wearing mine right now, as I always do puttering around at home. Got 'em at Big 5 last fall. Plan to get another pair or two for outdoors when the come back in stock.