The fur caveman vest of the late 1960s fascinates me because it became the mainstream media's go-to symbol of hippiedom -- right down to Sonny Bono sporting one to fake countercultural cred -- and yet it was nowhere to be seen on actual hippies.
It also cracks me up because the "I Asked Mom to Give Me a Byrds Hairdo" and the vest look later popped up on Marvel's Bronze Age take on Frankenstein.
Huh! I wonder what Media Patient Zero for this style was, and how it first happened; like which production decided to cut the sleeves off an old fur coat and call it a day?
The only person I can remember seeing this on who wasn't a hippie or monster (maybe a few random characters on Star Trek TOS, as well) is Steve Ditko's original design for Squirrel Girl.
The best part is the older generations still hadn't managed to grasp the whole beatnik thing, so they simply folded it into their idea of what hippies were.
We gotta ask Roy Thomas if he knows the artist who started this, because it's also all over Conan comics (Marvel's Bêlit wears one like Superman wears an S) and the comics they inspired (like the French viking comic Thorgal)
