current dress trends

[V.C. Brunswick]

Not too long ago I was having lunch at my favorite eatery when in walks this dad with his little girl. I had a hard time trying not to laugh because Daddy here had that whole Charlie Brown thing going on with the asymmetrical shorts (thanks Lizzie lol), T-shirt and ballcap worn backwards. Even though he was six feet tall with goatee and tats they looked more like brother and sister than father and daughter.

 

[rocketeer]

My boss does not believe in dress down days for senior managers and I agree with him. If you represent your company and are dealing in large financial contracts do you try to impress these investors, show you are serious, or take it as a Sunday afternoon golf game?
Then they do say many deals are struck on a golf course but is the play 100%? Do you thrash the guy with the £10,000,000 contract because you are a semi pro or let him win?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

:arated:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?63257-The-Yoga-Pants-trend

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?63304-The-lost-art-of-dressing-for-the-occasion

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?61833-Pajamas-in-public...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?61196-The-casualization-of-the-world

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?59631-The-devolution-of-our-society-through-fashion-in-just-two-pictures.

This theme probably comes up once every other week. You might find the above links of interest. :ranger:

And always the same people patting on each others shoulders :juggle:

 

[AntonAAK]

it's mathematically mandatory that half a population have less self esteem than average,

fftopic:

Sorry to get on my statistical high-horse but this is just not true.

Consider feet. The huge majority of us have more than the average number of feet. Most of us have two feet. Some people however have just one and others none so the average number of feet per person might be something like 1.98. Most of us have more than that.

Likewise if we give a mark out of 10 for self esteem and have a population of 10 people. If nine of them have very high self esteem (9/10) and one of them very low (1/10) we have a population with an average self esteem rating of 8.2 but only one member is lower than that. Not half.

Sorry. Back on topic. Modern life is rubbish etc...

 

[LizzieMaine]

As Miss Neecerie used to wisely point out: We are not mainstream. We wear clothes from dead stranger's attics, dumpsters, rummage sales, rotting trunks and roach motels. People in glass houses....

Well, if the alternative is looking like Charlie Brown, small wonder we're not mainstream.

I still haven't gotten a reasonable answer to the question I posed, and I'd really like to hear one from somebody -- it's all well and good for people to roll their eyes and say "ohhh not again, live and let live, don't be so mean," or make a sarcastic response -- but one of the things we do here is analyze style, analyze what makes something look good and what makes something look -- not good.

So -- all I'm particularly interested in is finding out what is it about that specific look that modern people think *looks good?* Nobody deliberately goes out dressed in a way that they themselves think makes them look ridiculous, so what's the aesthetic explanation for an exaggerated long torso, such as you get with a long, untucked shirt, and short stubby legs such as you get from low-riding pants? It's been suggested that this is a look that "chicks dig," well, ok gals -- what do you see there? Exactly what is it about a long-torsoed/stumpy legged man that you find appealing? It certainly doesn't make the wearer look fit or athletic, it doesn't make the wearer look in any way virile, and the only anatomical feature it tends to accentuate is the paunch. So -- why is this look popular? Analyze, please.

 

[rene_writer]

There pretty much is not an outfit, piercing, or tattoo that bothers me. People can do what they want. I do have a really weird pet peeve, though. With the "side-swept bangs" trend women adjust their hair every two seconds and I really want to walk around handing out alligator clips. I know it's strange and none of my buisness. It probably has something to do with the fact that I can't stand for my own hair to touch my face or ears.

Am I the only one?

 

[rene_writer]

"So -- why is this look popular?"

Because rappers and other famous people started it as a rebellion to mainstream fashion. It became the mark of the "cool, law-unabiding" man. I really don't think it has anything to do with aesthetics. It is more of a statement.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

They have lost the eye for good proportions. (But not verybody likes wide legged 30s ptrousers too...or so I was told) I don't even think they bother it looks really good. The just reproduce what they see on others.

It is more like "symbolism" ...the style of the "rebels". Maybe the oppressed african americans vs the greedy white bankers in suits. I was told the baggy pants that are showing the underwear go back to prison wear that developed into street wear.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's exactly what I think -- people have lost the eye for proportion. Most anyone over 20 thought oxford bags looked ridiculous, and the trend didn't last -- you certainly didn't see middle-aged men shuffling around the streets dressed like Harold Teen. And a big part of the reason was it was *ugly.* The proportions were all wrong and the look was highly unflattering.

The statement thing makes sense for kids -- who always rebel against The Man by dressing exactly like every other kid who's rebelling against The Man -- but how many middle-aged, overweight suburban white guys are really Down With The Struggle? It's hard to take someone seriously as a dangerous, cool outlaw when he's pushing a stroller down the street and eating an ice cream cone.

 

[rocketeer]

The low slung trouser look. Just my observations mind.
Correct me if I am wrong of course but I believe this goes to the prison look. Not allowed belts so the trousers hang a bit low. Like a lot of fashions for youngsters they like to take it to the extreme and get the trousers(pants) as low as possible. With the prison thing in mind it comes across as 'Don't mess with me I'm an ex con' type thing. And hey! No smiling either, it's all part of the tough image that women go for.
I once asked on a music forum why the rap singer 50 Cent didnt smile or use his real name, I put across that Curtis jackson was a real cool name and he was a good looking guy so why did he stare at the camera for his promo pic. Well it turns out it is not cool and looks dark and dangerous. Add that to the above.
Same with girls? Ever shorter skirts and revealing tops, the sort that a few years ago would have classed them as a lower class prostitute. A woman can wear a short skirt and look great, but take it to high and the look just looks cheap.
No, I dont suppose I have answered your question either
Johnny T

 

[Angus Forbes]

These guys have not grown up -- hardly anybody wants to be an adult now, or to look like one. I remember an exchange from The Wire, wherein total-slob detective McNulty says something like "what do you call a man who is concerned with the appearance of his clothes?", to which appropriately dressed detective Bunk answers "an adult."

 

[AntonAAK]

Nobody deliberately goes out dressed in a way that they themselves think makes them look ridiculous,

But to many (most?) people, to look different is to look ridiculous. They certainly think we look ridiculous because we don't wear 'normal' clothes.

so why is this look popular? Analyze, please.

It is popular because it is popular. To deviate from the norm makes you stand out. That makes you a target. Most people don't want that now and probably never did. Aesthetics don't come into it for most people.

 

[LizzieMaine]

So basically the streets are full of dangerous, rebellious, free-thinking, live-by-their-own-rules outlaws against the Man who are scared to death to stand out. The mind doesn't just boggle, it rolls over on its back and has a spasm.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The cult of the individual in the 21st Century: Asserting the "right" to self-expression by looking exactly like everyone else. :doh:

 

[AntonAAK]

I don't go with the rebellion theory. Most people want to wear what everyone else is wearing. Every so often a few people (usually a tiny minority) may rebel and fashions can change very quickly as they are taken up by people out to make a buck by selling you a new wardrobe. Once the proportion of 'rebellious' clothes in the population hits a certain critical mass it becomes the norm and then it flips. It now stands out not to wear it.

I'm not saying I like it - because I actually do care about aesthetics, as most people here do. But I think I have more respect for the few who genuinely rebel than the sheep who follow when it becomes socially acceptable.

 

[Peregrine]

"So -- why is this look popular?"

Because rappers and other famous people started it as a rebellion to mainstream fashion. It became the mark of the "cool, law-unabiding" man. I really don't think it has anything to do with aesthetics. It is more of a statement.

I blame Dick van Dyke...

http://morningpassages.com/wp-conte...ce-photo_6089b30660c8e2c30474e47f012da1c8.jpg

 

[Chaps]

These guys have not grown up -- hardly anybody wants to be an adult now, or to look like one. I remember an exchange from The Wire, wherein total-slob detective McNulty says something like "what do you call a man who is concerned with the appearance of his clothes?", to which appropriately dressed detective Bunk answers "an adult."

I agree. There are some men who simply do not want to dress like an adult. I have seen the same thing others here have seen. A father and his teen-age son dressed almost exactly alike. The father dressed like his teen-age son, that is. Rebellion may have started it at first, but then rebellion becomes the norm. Their desire to be different has backfired. These people have to choose...either decide to look like an adult and accept the fact that a 50 year old man in baggy jeans, ball cap turned backward with large shirt untucked looks ridiculous or keep re-inventing themselves every time pop culture deems it necessary.

 

[rocketeer]

Youngsters have always wanted to dress different from their parents but in the UK most boys dressed like their fathers till the Teddy Boys came along, then that evolved into Rockers and Ton Up boys, Mods, Skinheads, Hippies, Glam rockers, Punks, re-hashed Teddy Boys, throw in the Rockerbillies as well, New Romantics, Goths etc. All these were primarily youth cults. Occasionally you get a few older people trying to re-live their lost youth but not that many, you honestly don't get that many 55 year old punks but you do get 55 year old Teds.
I always wonder what these kids will think of their dress when they are older. Probably laugh at themselves when it has all died down. I was a 1970s Teddy Boy in a pale blue jacket with pink sock till I saw my reflection in a shop window. Well I got rid of the socks anyway:eusa_clap .

 

[RodeoRose]

[video=youtube_share;Xevjs_dtkk8]http://youtu.be/Xevjs_dtkk8[/video]

 

[rue]

[video=youtube_share;Xevjs_dtkk8]http://youtu.be/Xevjs_dtkk8[/video]

Damn! You beat me to it!! lol