Sylvester’s Downtown Duluth Store

Sylvester's Bargain Emporium was a clothing store at 305 W. Superior St. It was still operating on the Skywalk level circa 2001, but didn't last much longer than that.

They would have some extremely fashion-forward (for Duluth) clothes at very low prices. I got a pair of Girbaud jeans there which would have been way, way, way beyond my means in about 1986. They are long gone but it turns out they were also just extremely comfortable. Favorite pair of pants ever, I think.

There was a sister store up in the Village mall and I think it was called Cimarron. Sylvester's was like a mash-up between the TJ Maxx and Ragstock. It was probably all returns and maybe some counterfeit or overstock from retailers in other communities. I loved it when things like clothes mattered to me. It makes me kind of nostalgic for 1980s fashion. Anything makes you feel nostalgic for even a month ago as the world is so unusual right now and there is so much fear and anxiety everywhere.

I started rediscovering 80's music a few years ago. Inspired by American Psycho probably. A spoiled psychopath waxing eloquent over Whitney Houston, so fitting for the era. Turns out I was ahead of the Moog curve too. The synth on Midnight Express is pretty tight foreshadowing for instance. After the Snow is a great album. Sisters of Mercy. All lost in time. So many good block-rocking beats.
 
One of the saddest trends now is the return of mommy jeans. I was talking to one of the guys at the Fetus who claimed he thought they were hot. He was either joking, delusional, or needed to be slapped. Mom jeans from the 80's are a plague upon contemporary fashion trends. They are to women's figures what Bluegrass and Old-Timey is to music. The Great Denuder.