The Cosby Effect

Initially, the Coatses failed to catch the wink-wink motivation for their son's peculiar desire. Having since been clued in, however, Peter nonetheless seems unruffled by his son's desire to publicly send up what his father considers to be a perfectly normal, functional garment.

"I don't think it bothers him," says Andrew of his dad. "At some point in his life, that was legitimately the coolest thing for him to wear. So he just kept running with it."

(From left) Seattle Sounder Kevin Sakuda, Roger Levesque, Andrew Coates, and Autumn Mittlestaedt take a break from leading a dance circle at Belltowns Del Rey.

Related Content

• Scratch Deli Debuts in Wallingford, Italian Cafe Restaurant to Open in Belltown
  April 13, 2012
• Belltown List of 'Frequent Fliers' Has Troubled SPD Embracing a Soft Touch
  March 29, 2012
• Like Looking for Hay in a Haystack, Seattle Police Seek St. Patrick's Day Stabber: Female, Wearing Green
  March 19, 2012
• SPD's Softer Side
  March 28, 2012
• Where Ya At, Matt? to Become Permanent Restaurant in Fremont, Thai Curry Simple Opens in SLU, & More
  March 8, 2012

More About

• Peter Coates
• Sarah Lemire
• Andrew Coates
• Tops
• Fashion and Style

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Indeed, if there is a portion of the population that is more or less tone deaf to the whims of fashion, it's white male baby boomers with adult children. Peter Coates is a card-carrying member of this group, as is fellow Coogi enthusiast John Arthur Wilson. Now a public affairs consultant, Wilson (who was a staff writer at Seattle Weekly in the early '90s) purchased his first Cosby sweater back when he was working as a correspondent for KING 5, the local NBC affiliate which aired The Cosby Show.

"Because I didn't need to wear a suit every day, I'd wear the Coogi," says Wilson, a husky man, over a bowl of miso soup at the Noodle Ranch. "They're perhaps not the ideal sweater for a guy my size, but they demonstrate that I'm large and in charge."

Over the years, Wilson would travel as far as the Saks outlet store in Auburn to seek out the hard-to-find Coogis. Then, seven or eight years ago, he made what he calls "the ultimate pilgrimage" to the Coogi flagship store in downtown Sydney, Australia.

"It's a very brightly lit store with all these sweaters in it," Wilson reports.

Wilson sees the Cosby sweater as "kind of funny, sort of retro—like a VW Beetle or Mini Cooper. We've gone through enough drabness in the last six years that maybe it's time for some color again."

Or, says Seattle Central Community College apparel design instructor Hisako Nakaya, maybe it's just a telltale sign that the days of a top-down, monolithic fashion industry determining what's in or out are over.

"You can't really dictate what people wear anymore, especially with the recycling of clothes," says Nakaya. "[My students] are exposed to a lot more than they used to be. People just wear what they want now. I don't think you can really tell them what's in fashion."

mseely@seattleweekly.com