Comments on: In other news: Clay Aiken may be gay.

In other news: Clay Aiken may be gay.

miss lynnster — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:58:58 -0800

Creator of the Cosby sweater acknowledges they're possibly the most horrible things you've ever seen.

Please note: if you are a woman who bought a jacket from him a while ago, his cat may have died on the fabric. Just FYI.

By: leotrotsky

leotrotsky — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:09:37 -0800

Is it wrong that I immediately clicked on the Sasha Grey link?

By: tapesonthefloor

tapesonthefloor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:12:02 -0800

I'm Dancing Cosby.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:14:39 -0800

That was great. What a wonderful old-young soul.

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:15:04 -0800

And plus, the women in Holland are cows. I wonder if he looked any different at the point when he formed that opinion.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:18:51 -0800

But the tight ones look so good on Cosbyette.

By: joe vrrr

joe vrrr — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:21:23 -0800

In case you're wondering, the first google link for "Cosby sweaters" is for the Urban Dictionary entry. I'm guessing that's probably NOT what's in these videos ...

By: small_ruminant

small_ruminant — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:27:56 -0800

I hate videos.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:34:39 -0800

In case you're wondering, the first google link for "Cosby sweaters" is for the Urban Dictionary entry. I had a feeling the link was to something sexual, but I was thinking that Coby Sweater might be a euphemism for a badly scarred foreskin. or something.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:40:20 -0800

Amazing how they could be simultaneously iconic and hideous.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:44:50 -0800

I hate videos. You must have a horrible time reading metafilter then, what with its occasional video content.

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:55:42 -0800

No, wait; what's that about Clay Aiken, again?

By: mightshould

mightshould — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:57:09 -0800

But, when you cut them up and make pillows, they can be quite nifty. I'm sure orange swan has a post about how to make pillows out of old sweaters somewhere....

By: subatomiczoo

subatomiczoo — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:04:58 -0800

I watched all three parts. Wonderful stuff. If I can just add, I'm not blind, but I never saw a single episode of the Cosby show. I clicked because of the cat. In part 2 Koos talks about his current designs with ribbon that look like lines of Arabic script. "It looks like, again, those countries where we have trouble...where everything is beautiful really." Fantastic! Thanks miss lynster!

By: kolophon

kolophon — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:05:45 -0800

I hate videos. <><

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:14:47 -0800

There are few things in this world I love as much as a good Cosby impression. Except maybe a bad Cosby impression. Fortunately for me, my 20-month-old son and his 10-word vocabulary spends most of the day going BLIZZUM FLIZZUM FLAZZUM D'AWWW FLIZZUM FLARN FLARN FILTH RUSSELL WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK WITH THE PUDDING. I am only exaggerating somewhat.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:17:23 -0800

What the fuck is this?

By: joseph conrad is fully awesome

joseph conrad is fully awesome — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:21:53 -0800

"I'm gonna tell you something for your own good, pal: that's the worst fucking sweater I've ever seen, it's a COSBY SWEATER!" (Obligatory High Fidelity link)

By: flarbuse

flarbuse — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:29:45 -0800

When Bill Cosby went to NBC in the early 80's with his idea to do an all-black sitcom starring an all-black family, the network was concerned about how the show would be received. Crack had been making the headlines, rap was growing in popularity, and there was a concern that fear of black males might turn away too many white viewers. So NBC and Bill Cosby batted around some ideas to make the black male characters appear less threatening. One idea was to have them speak with British or French accents. Another idea was to have them all be gay. Finally, the "Cosby sweater" was chosen as the item to make black males appear non-threatening because it would have less of an effect on the humor content than things like accents or gender preference.

By: tapesonthefloor

tapesonthefloor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:39:29 -0800

@flarbuse: I'm to gather from this that there is quite possibly an alternate parallel universe that contains an all-French-accent Cosby Show? This is the happiest Friday of my life. Everyone, if you'll humour me for just a moment... put down what you're doing and picture this in your head. Just let a few scenes play out. It's vastly happy-making.

By: dersins

dersins — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:51:19 -0800

One idea was to have them speak with British or French accents. Another idea was to have them all be gay. There's a difference?

By: netbros

netbros — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:12:37 -0800

"I'm looking to gracefully make the transition from the bad boy of cooking to sort of the next Bill Cosby," Anthony Bourdain says, "I've been shopping for those funny sweaters. I just need the sweater, I think that's all that's missing."

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:09:31 -0800

So a true Cosby sweater is basically a jersey shirt with potholders and scraps and shit sewn onto it by a Dutch guy with bad eyesight in a tiny windowless room? Makes sense. I'm glad I finally understand.

By: marsha56

marsha56 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:14:19 -0800

I guess this is just another sign of my supreme uncoolness, but I loved Cosby sweaters then, and love them just as much now.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:54:27 -0800

And plus, the women in Holland are cows. Cows or not, given the sartorial preferences of the Dutch male, it comes as no surprise whatsoever to me that it was a Dutchman who invented the Cosby Sweater. I mean, what other nation besides the Netherlands could possibly sustain a chain of menswear stores calling itself Sissy Boy?

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:19:03 -0800

I mean, what other nation besides the Netherlands could possibly sustain a chain of menswear stores calling itself Sissy Boy? It'd probably fly as a name here in Japan, actually.

By: paisley henosis

paisley henosis — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:34:59 -0800

~ I guess this is just another sign of my supreme uncoolness, but I loved Cosby sweaters then, and love them just as much now. No offense, but if you could just get me cash for Christmas, that would be great...

By: box

box — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:36:44 -0800

I always thought the Cosby sweater was in large part a conspicuous-consumption thing--I mean, a lot of those were Coogi and other couture brands, and so it's hard to ignore the aspirational element--the materialistic equivalent of the college sweatshirts that made up the rest of Dr. Cosby's teevee wardrobe.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:43:58 -0800

Before there was The Cosby Sweater^TM, Cosby was already wearing sweaters that looked, well, goofy. But on the subject of early Cosby, I'm going to reprint portions of some MeMail I got just recently from my buddy lelillo... Hard to remember sometimes that Bill Cosby wasn't always like he is today. (I saw him do a college gig in February 1967, and he really made me laugh.) This clip from 36 years ago, which I just wandered across, also cracked me up: check it out. I thought you might appreciate it too. And indeed I did, even though it was a little hard seeing Cosby dressed in that white pullover. He should've dressed cooler than that.

By: zardoz

zardoz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:08:47 -0800

This guy's work must've been crucial in the episode where Theo wants a Gordon Gartrelle shirt but doesn't have the cash so he hires Denise to make him one on the cheap. God, I watched the hell out of that show.

By: jrochest

jrochest — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:15:51 -0800

This is a joy: not the sweaters, which I never really liked, but the happy futziness of the whole ethos. He's a contended man, puttering about with a bunch of rather frowsy people in a cluttered room, making Cool Stuff. He's also an icon, although he's not as big a name now as he was in the 80's -- but still, Koos was and is one of those labels to reckon with . Behind all the piss-elegant nonsense of fashion branding, that's really what design is. And he's quite an enjoyable fellow to listen to.

By: squasha

squasha — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:26:01 -0800

Koos would probably hate that I find him, and his tattoo, absolutely adorable.

By: fuq

fuq — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:56:41 -0800

Well, my Cosby sweater is the fucking hype junx y'all. (Note: did not buy it, recovered it from an abandoned room. Coogi brand. Unknown value.)

By: 235w103

235w103 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:18:20 -0800

Oh oh oh god you guys. I just came up with the perfect name should I ever have to create a false identity. May I introduce you to...Dr. Cosby Sweaters, M.D.

By: otherwordlyglow

otherwordlyglow — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:32:23 -0800

Wow. I want to be next to Koos at a dinner party. I'm actually a little surprised how much better the real Cosby sweaters are than all the nasty fake Cosby sweaters that were spawned as a result. I mean I still hate the real ones but they're much better than I remember them. But yeah, a foul-mouthed tattooed Dutch teddy bear was not what I was expecting either.

By: Oriole Adams

Oriole Adams — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:34:14 -0800

Dr. Cosby's sweaters always looked to me like this song sounded.

By: metaplectic

metaplectic — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:28:45 -0800

Oh Snap! - Bill Cosby Sweater + (Hostage Remix)

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:10:18 -0800

My dad owned and wore several Cosby sweaters. He probably still has them. I still tease him about it occasionally. The sweaters were nothing, though, compared to another Cosby Show-related event in his life: our neighbors when I was a kid were a black family with four daughters. The oldest was my babysitter when I was in 1st-2nd grade. My dad once accidentally called her mother "Claire" (as in "Claire Huxtable"), as he often did jokingly when not actually speaking to her face-to-face. Luckily for him, she thought it was funny.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:25:55 -0800

The sweaters are pretty excusable compared to Vanessa Huxtable's asymmetrical 'fro. God. That was TV's dumbest haircut ever.