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What Happened to Clothes?
In the prophetic movie Idiocracy (watch the key part here! – NSFW), all the idiots in the future wear Crocs. The writer said, “I thought the worst thing that would come true was everyone wearing Crocs.” Life imitates humor.
From bottom to top: once upon a time, not so very long ago, people wore hats. All people — from dock workers to railway-layers — wore hats. It was a part of being fully dressed. Indeed, it was a reflection on the person in every respect: class, job, status, etc.
That was a long time ago, of course. Daily wear of hats was abandoned by most people during my lifetime.
Today I noticed that even in my straight-laced orthodox Jewish community where people wear suit jackets (and usually hats) all the time, classy footwear has been totally abandoned. Gone are most formal shoes. Black sneakers are common. And so are – gasp – Crocs. For formal Sabbath wear.
The top went first. The bottoms are gone. And all the middle is on its way out. People wear pajamas in public.
Clothes still have meaning, they reflect on the wearer. But what people choose to wear today does not say anything good about the wearers. The emperor has clothes, but they make him look like he belongs in a movie that takes place in 2505.
Published in General
I was planning on getting a tee shirt with “Let’s go, Brandon!” on the front to wear on Thanksgiving. Would that be dressy enough?
Legal immigrants then, . . . now.
Another good reason to move to Texas. (The list gets longer and longer.)
Not to mention waists. Gentlemen, squeezing yourself into the same waistband you had twenty pounds ago makes you look fatter than wearing the correct size.
Properly fitting business clothes are comfortable for all day wear. When they’re also made of the right materials (no synthetic fabrics; high quality cotton, linen, silk, or wool) they are also thermally comfortable. Chef has gone to wearing wool or linen undershirts as his base layer when in the restaurant kitchen because they do such an excellent job of wicking the sweat off his skin, keeping him cooler and dryer.
You don’t even have to go back as far as 1948. I remember catching an episode of Dallas on TV Land a few years ago: I found it remarkable that everyone in the office was wearing a suit (or a long skirt and blouse for the women) and nobody had a computer on their desk (but that’s another story).
It does.
I find when I put on a hat I get nothing but kudos. the fact others dress poor makes me stand out.
I’ll say this though. No matter how relaxed I am, even on a cruise, I’d never wear a muscle shirt in public.
In other news I would be down for bringing back the fedora, but unfortunately the look has been polluted in recent days by Internet atheists and Max Boot.
Ah yes, the good ‘ol perennial “why don’t men dress like they used to” post. Comes up every few months, and provides me with the opportunity to post images of how men used to dress fifty years ago.
And then there’s the way men dressed prior to the 20th century. It’s funny how the “good ol’ days” of men’s fashion always seems to be the short period from the 1920s to the 1940s when this topic comes up.
I would like to take this opportunity to note just as how “made in Bangladesh” et al shoes make people think all grown up shoes are terrible and uncomfortable, these kind of “suits” make people think any suit is also uncomfortable.
Eh, I would say that men’s fashion was fine from 1820 or so until 1960ish. Sure, there were changes, but they were variations on themes, and all of them managed to combine taste, comfort, and adulthood.
Several years ago, we were discussing “The Natural.” I pointed out that the men in the stands were wearing sport coats and ties. My interlocutor insisted that that was a movie, and an unreliable source. Here’s a picture of the stands at Ebbett’s field at a ball game in 1920.
Look, I was there for the 70s. Nobody actually dressed like that anymore than they dress like THIS today:
I was around 50 years ago, and I dressed nothing like that.
Jeans and T-shirts. The same as it’s been for the last 50 years.
Agreed, but short-shorts, halter tops, and flip-flops?
The guy at top-right with the flowery print shirt and blue pastel pants? Add a wide white leather belt and he would have looked like a member of my jazz band back in high school. He’d probably get hazed about not buttoning his shirt up higher, though.
They’re entertaining the male passengers.
Some of those are the male passengers! Okay, maybe not halter tops, but close.
A muscle shirt requires, as a minimum, muscles.
Now THIS couple knows how to fly. No pajamas on airplanes for them!
Heh. That’s not comfortable, either.
Bryan, Only you could pull off the tophat.
I went full regency. Vest and that is a coat with tails
He’s still there, hanging on. Online orders helps, and some people are now bringing in tennis shoes. I’m bringing old ravaged Converse pairs just to throw him some work.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, snark. ;)
How does he fix those? I’ve had shoes resoled, but I’m not sure how cobblers fix chucks.
I’ll have to be satisfied with snarking.
But those disco-pimpish clothes were outliers. Granted, it infected men’s casual wear, but the Sears and Penneys catalogs were much, much more conservative. The suit may have gone polyester, the tie wide as an ironing board with a knot big enough to seat four, but it was still a suit.