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Everything Is Changing So Fast. Well, Not Quite Everything…
In the mid-1960s, fashions were fairly straightforward:
By the mid-1970s, things had changed a bit:
And after that, by the mid-1980s, things had changed again:
1965 to 1985 is a period of 20 years. And the people in those pictures look like they’re from different planets. It’s just amazing how fast fashion changed over only 20 years.
Of course, those 20 years were a time of great social upheaval, so such changes are not all that surprising.
Check out this picture from a TV show in 2003:
And then check out the fashions in this TV show today, 20 years later:
Oops — I got them reversed.
But it doesn’t really matter. Fashions would seem to have changed very little in the past 20 years. Certainly nothing like the changes I showed above, from 1965 to 1985.
There have been some fashion changes recently, of course. Lots more beards and tattoos. And there have been changes in men’s fashion as well.
But again, compared to the changes from 1965 to 1985, it would seem that the changes in fashion are much, much more subtle. I wonder why that is?
I’ve seen discussions on this topic around the web over the past few months. Lots of theories. None of them make much sense to me. Who knows, I suppose. Maybe it’s meaningless — maybe it just doesn’t matter.
But one reason I find this so odd is that over the past 20 years, we’ve seen absolutely enormous changes in our culture, our politics, our technologies, our social cohesion (or now, our lack thereof), and so on and so forth. But to look at our fashions, you’d never know that anything happened at all — everything looks the same.
Our music hasn’t changed much, either. I looked up what the number one song was exactly 20 years ago, and found that it was a collaborative effort from three artists seeking a greater understanding of the profound philosophical challenges that face each succeeding generation. The three artists were P. Diddy, Nelly, and Murphy Lee, and they produced the timeless classic, “Shake Ya Tailfeather.”
I listened to it, and to my untrained ear, it could be released today — I’m around a lot of current music because of my kids, and this sounds like (and I mean exactly like) what they listen to.
Imagine the top songs from 1965, like “Help” from The Beatles, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” from The Righteous Brothers, and “My Girl” from the Temptations. Compare them to top songs from 1985, like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham, “Shout” by Tears for Fears, and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds.
There are a lot of similarities between the music of the ’60s and the music of the ’80s — but a very different sound.
The rendition of “Shake Ya Tailfeather” by Mr. Diddy, et al., sounds very, very similar to stuff on the radio now, 20 years later.
So, our culture, politics, and society have changed profoundly over the past 20 years. I mean, check out The Babylon Bee headline in the picture. Can you imagine either of those events happening in 2003?
Many of us live much of our lives in virtual worlds like Instagram and Facebook that didn’t exist 20 years ago — that’s an incredible social change. Our society is falling apart at the seams — half the citizens of America think that our most recent President should die in prison, mostly because they don’t like him. Our political discourse appears to be controlled by the interests of transsexuals, who few people had heard of in 2003. Supporters of the Democratic Party burned cities across the country for months during our last election.
The unthinkable has become commonplace, in one social arena after another. Things are changing so fast. It’s bonkers now. Everything is so, so different.
But our fashion and music are really no different at all. You’d never know anything had changed.
I wonder why that is?
Published in General
These prom pics are fun. We should have a dedicated thread for them. Maybe “80’s High School Pics.”
No. But you conveniently skipped the late 60s – early 70s.
Keep in mind that everyday people didn’t dress like that. The Brady Bunch was not a hip show watched by hip people. And if you go through most of the episodes, even they weren’t typically that flagrant. This looks to be near the end of their run, and they were probably getting desperate.
Well, as I posted above, there was the late 60s, to the mid-seventies.
I remember how Lyndon Johnson was seen, as well as Richard Nixon. Both were chased out of office, one through the election process, the other through the threat of impeachment. There were riots, the Vietnam War, and the ongoing threat of the Soviet Union.
And those events were about when those psychedelic fashions occurred. It’s also the time when the moon landings were occurring.
Today, the rich dress the same way the middle class does. And CEO’s of big and small companies are called by their first name, an informality that is deceptive.
And while there is talk of resurrecting the space program, it hasn’t happened yet, or if it has, it is not noticed by the general culture.
Anyway, I don’t know if western culture is finally ending or whether we’ll have another revival like we did in the 1980s, and like the previous revival just after WWII in the mid-1940s, coming out of the Great Depression.
But there have been other bad times, and other revivals.
No, I didn’t:
I just posted that because it was a funny picture. I didn’t know it was The Brady Bunch. (I didn’t grow up with TV and I don’t know much about it)
That’s why I posted more typical examples for each decade when trying to make my case. I tried to choose examples of clothes that real people might actually wear.
While looking for pictures, the 70’s had some of the most outrageous photos. I’m not sure why. I was a kid in the 70’s – I just remember the bell bottoms, the earth tones, and all the men had big floppy mustaches.
It’s hard to imagine the cast of a current TV show – say, Breaking Bad, or Modern Family, or whatever – appearing on TV dressed like the Brady Bunch cast above. Even if they were near the end of their run.
Not sure why.
That’s an interesting point. Perhaps social upheaval leads to outrageous fashions.
But then why is it not happening now?
I don’t understand – the turmoil today seems similar to the late 60’s – but the fashions are so much more boring.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!
That pic would be from when the cast of the Brady Bunch had a variety show, a couple years after the sitcom ended.
Speaking of clothes worn for TV that nobody would ever wear anywhere else, the guy who played Greg Brady is going to be on Dancing With The Stars starting next week.
Chuck Schumer just announced they will no longer be enforcing the dress code in the United States Senate. We can expect Senator Fetterman to show up on the Senate floor dressed like he’s on his way to play an outdoor basketball game. I won’t be surprised if a few Republicans appear on the floor wearing MAGA caps.
Case in point.
What you really meant to say . . .
What’s peculiar about Fetterman’s costumes is that he is a United States Senator. And, not, say a not-very-ambitious fourteen year old boy.
Even if, arguably, Dylan Mulvaney’s outfits would be a bit over-the-top even if he was, in fact, a “girl,” the attention-grabbing factor is that he’s not.
So: It’s about who is wearing what, not what they’re wearing.
And there’s this.
Fetterman’s issue appears to be that he can’t dress himself after his stroke, and staff doesn’t want to be bothered putting him in a suit and tie. Shorts and a hoody are easy.
We could always pull out that dancing clip…
He’s always dressed like that – sort of his signature look.
Maybe fashion changes catch on and reflect radical changes in how men and women view sexuality and their own and the other sex’s gender behavior. Maybe the fashions change more quickly when a seemingly new outlook on sexuality, sex and gender has prevailed because a large enough number of people have genuinely embraced it.
In a way similar to the way body language often contradicts what a person is professing to believe, think or feel, this slow-down in fashion change maybe reflects that people haven’t really accepted about sex and gender all this stuff that’s been so aggressively promoted (imposed on them) this stuff people profess to accept and support in order to avoid conflict, disapproval and marginalization.
I wondered about that – whether some of the rapid fashion changes were due to the appearance of the birth control pill in the 60’s. Seems a stretch, to me. But maybe.
Saw a video where Fetterman understood the questions being asked and was more-or-less lucid in his responses. Also, it appeared that the lump was gone or much smaller, so the questions in the comment section were variations on “Who is this guy and what have you done with the real Fetterman?”
With the end of enforcement of the Senate dress code, I wonder how many senators will dress up for Halloween? I think Charles Schumer would be a natural for a Dracula costume. If the likely presidential nominees got into the act, I suggest Grandpa Simpson for Joe Biden and Donald Trump should definitely be Zap Brannigan.
Maybe the GOP should all dress like Fetterman for a day –or as Uncle Fester which would be close.
I guess the reason I think so is that you also saw a radical change in women’s dress from, say, 1912 to 1922, and that change seemed to both reflect and prompt a different view of sexuality and the norms related to the sexes and courting. I’m guessing a larger number of the young were more genuinely embracing of (or more genuinely seduced by) the new “progressive” outlook on gender and sexuality that they encountered between 1912 and 1922 than young people were, between 2013 and 2023, about same sex marriage, the hate on for “cisgender” men and transgenderism.
Well, it may not explain the WHOLE thing but a lot of people are “dressing up” with tats and piercings and stuff, as much as or more than with clothes.
And I think we all know who’s going as a ninja turtle.
Good point. Statements you can put on and take off aren’t nearly as powerful.
There’s not much to dress up for.
The office, the church, the nightclub are all much more casual than they used to be. Dressing for app-dates (I am assuming here) probably skews ‘normal’ to avoid looking psycho.
Fashion and makeup (not to mention dancing) are competitions you watch on Netflix.
Me?
The GOP should appear clothed in either MAGA gear or FJB-wear . . .
I can’t wait to see what Elizabeth Warren will wear.