There is nothing quite like the 1970s "lifestyle" aesthetic, where the height of sophistication was apparently eating an entire ocean's worth of shellfish directly off a salty, splinter-ridden dock. Our friend in the yellow raincoat is doing the heavy lifting, hauling traps and smelling like brine, while we’re expected to believe that a bottle of 86-proof bourbon is the natural chaser for a pot of steaming mussels.
Note the composition: we have the "Earth Tones of Destiny" palette in full swing. Everything is beige, brown, or "dilapidated pier grey." It’s the ultimate "Old Man and the Sea" cosplay, but with more liver damage and fewer metaphors about marlins. Honestly, the most impressive part of this photo isn't the "genius" of the bourbon; it’s the fact that they managed to set up a five-star seafood buffet on a pier without a single seagull swooping in to commit a felony. That’s the real miracle.
Sourced from the March 1973 issue of Esquire.
