DAVID SOUL

In 1979, I had two unrelenting crushes on grown-ups: Randolph Mantooth from Emergency! and David Soul from Starsky and Hutch. Both played loyal public servants on their respective TV shows, but they didn't look at all alike - Randy had dark hair and olive skin and David had the typical All-American blonde-haired, blue-eyed palette - but for some reason they both spoke to my prepubescent senses. I used my allotted one hour of TV per night to watch my imaginary boyfriends catch the bad guys and save lives, marveling at their perfect balance of manliness and compassion.

The 70s represent my least favorite decade for fashion, despite the fact that I spent the first seven years of my life surrounded by it. When I think of clothing from the 70s, I think of really good Halloween costumes. However, David Soul managed to take all the components I detested most from that decade - namely polyester, big collars and turtlenecks - and assemble a rather handsome look out of them. Maybe it was his baby blues or his pleas to "don't give up on us, baby," but something about David encouraged me to embrace those previously-derided style elements.

And the leather jackets! I see truckloads of these squeaky brown leather numbers with giant lapels at Goodwill and think, "These things have officially entered the ranks of the fashion obsolete." But no! Throw that sucker on over a black turtleneck and some snug broken-in bellbottoms, and - voilà! You, too, can rock The Hutch.

And then there were the turtlenecks. Sometimes he donned them under his trademark letterman's jacket and other times under his aforementioned squeaky outerwear. I've never been a fan of turtlenecks on men, but David's got me rethinking my rash judgement about this marriage of practicality and comfort. Not to mention, a turtleneck looks a lot sexier when there's a gun strapped to it.

I'm also an undying lover of what I like to call "ranch wear": broken-in plaid wool shirts, chore coats, tooled leather belts, soft work denim and beaten-up leather boots. Perhaps this gentleman is part of the reason?

 I failed to mention above that I also had a pretty serious girl crush on Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman around that same time. Then again, who didn't? Who can resist a powerful babe wearing next to nothing and flying an invisible airplane? Imagine my sheer ecstasy when I found this photo of Lynda guest starring on Starky and Hutch. My head nearly exploded. Look at them! Have you ever seen a foxier combo? Why couldn't they have had gorgeous public servant, super-powered children who wore patriotic onesies and leather jackets? I guess the world wasn't quite ready for that.