The 1970s are making a comeback.
Levi’s just announced its new its limited edition Pride Collection for 2016, which is being produced in partnership with the Harvey Milk Foundation. The collection includes Harvey Milk t-shirts, tanks and ringer Ts, plus Pride-themed jorts (jean shorts) and trucker jackets. But our favorite part of the collection are the colored paisley print handkerchiefs.
Related: How Well Do You Know The Gay Hanky Code?
Long before Grindr and gay chat rooms, gay men had the hanky code. First adopted in the early ’70s, the hanky code was a way for guys to discreetly signal their preferred sexual fetishes, positions and interests. In 1972, Larry Townsend published The Leatherman’s Handbook which delineated what each color meant. The book was a huge hit and ultimately ended up being rereleased 11 years later as a revised edition.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Check out the new Levi’s hankies and our translations of what each one means…
Yellow hanky 
Translation: “I’m into water sports. And, no, I don’t mean jet skiing.”
Pink hanky
Translation: “I have an impressive collection of large rubber objects back at my apartment. Would you care to see?”
Dark blue hanky
Translation: “I’m very anal… And not in a retentive way.”
Light blue hanky
Translation: “There will be an oral exam at my place at 3 p.m. sharp.”
Red hanky
Translation: “Fist pump!”
Green hanky
Translation: “My undying affection can be yours… for a price.”
Orange hanky
Translation: “All of the above. (Anything goes!)”
Related: From The Depths Of The ’80s Comes “Gay Monopoly,” A Forgotten Board Game Gem
throwslikeagirl
My color’s brown, because I don’t give a s**t.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
When the “Knife play” and “fisting” colours got mixed in the wash >_<
Stache
@throwslikeagirl: So you’re into scat.
[email protected]
Lord, this will have all of today’s prudish sissies in complete turmoil.
billybob2003
Check out Brian.
Transiteer
I was reasonably okay back in the day when it was just blue & red for top & bottom (or the other way around). When the colours started multiplying, and there was light blue, dark blue, light green, dark green, purple, plum, grape, white, yellow, and on and on, I lost track completely. Now, I can’t remember what the original two meant! Bring them back tho! It’ll be a great way to start a conversation . . .
stanhope
sugar plum, I don’t recall a color signifying top or bottom….wearing a kerchief on the left or right did that…left top, right bottom….it was such fun.
Rocinante
This is interesting, I saw a college kid the other day walking around town and noticed a blue hanky in his left pocket and I wondered if maybe this old code talk was coming back. Looked just like these.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Made me confused as fuck about Bruce Springsteen for the longest time (80s reference…ask your mom)
southsam7
There is no apostrophe in Levis
Chris
I thought that the pocket the hanky was in also meant something. But really, that’s from the pre-internet days when we had to use code and stay in hiding. Nowadays, gay folk are much more direct even before meeting someone.
Thad
And I thought some things were best forgotten. (Well, the Levis never go out of style.)
Brian
The hanky code was absolutely ridiculous and just proves how sex-concentrated the gay male community really is. Fetishes abound. It’s a community built on sex and its fetishes.
Men who wear hankies should be ostracized to a desert island populated by hounds and warthogs.
billybob2003
Your mommy and daddy had sex. Not because they wanted a little self-hating queer troll kid, but because they couldn’t control themselves.
You should be sent to a desert island WITH NO INTERNET. You’re already a warthog.
stanhope
I agree with billybob2003
tdx3fan
That green is not lime. So, it’s not hooker/John. It’s more olive which is military. There is also hunter which is Daddy/boy.
tdx3fan
@Rocinante: They never really went away. They have been a revered part of leather culture since the 1970s. The difference is that leather culture is becoming more and more main streamed.
tdx3fan
@Chris: Right is bottom, left is top.
tdx3fan
@Brian: Men who want to assimilate should be sent to a church full of naked women. There is nothing wrong with being gay, being male and/or being sexual (as long as you are protecting and valuing your partners and there is consent). For the record, straight men and even women like sex just as much as gay men.