current dress trends

[Pompidou]

In regards to pants, I've never worn a pair cinched around the waist. I always thought they were supposed to cinch around the hips. It just looks right to me. In my case, I'm underweight, so no overhanging belly here. If I ever wore high rising pants designed to reach my belly button, I'd never tuck a shirt in. I'd feel like I was all pants and no torso.

 

[herringbonekid]

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.

agreed.

It is more like "symbolism" ...the style of the "rebels".

agreed.

street style starts out in hip niches, get's picked up on by fashion designers, then becomes mainstream; available to all at Top Man and Gap. many street styles are not concerned with aesthetics in the classical sense (i.e. 'does this flatter my figure ?') but are deliberately created to look different and unconventional. the irony is that what began as a select marker of 'coolness' becomes available to the masses via the incredible speed which today's underground goes overground. most modern men shop at Top Man and Gap, therefore most modern men are buying a mass-marketed version of what was once a street style worn only by 'hipsters'. never underestimate the laziness of the average male when it comes to buying clothes. aesthetics is the least of his concerns. he simply wants to buy something that will make him look youthful and on-trend (horrible phrase). if his torso looks longer than his legs, what does he care ?

 

[LizzieMaine]

So chalk up another one, then, for the Boys From Marketing. When you can buy "coolness" at the mall, how "cool" can it really be? Proof again that the whole Cult of Cool is the emptiest possible fraud.

Of course, you could also look at it another way -- it's the ultimate, subtlest revenge of those hipsters. Why bother to fight the system directly? If they can force The Man, thru a combination of laziness, envy, and sublimated class guilt, to walk the streets dressed like a circus clown, why, there's nothing they can't accomplish.

 

[Feraud]

The majority of people don't think about what they wear. People walk into stores and buy clothing off the rack. There is little thought behind the image.
People today are unlucky to live in an era when OTR clothing is cheap and gaudy.. subjectively speaking of course.

Of all trends I still shake my head when I see "low rise" advertised on trousers. It doesn't take much to realize there is no utilitarian or aesthetic benefit to this detail.

 

[herringbonekid]

i must say though, i think, i hope that men in their 30s and 40s dressing like teenagers has had its peak. with fashion blogs, show's like Mad Men and the interest of men's magazines in tailoring, the message at the moment seems to be that it's 'cool' to look a bit more dapper and put together. that will filter down eventually in some form or another.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The majority of people don't think about what they wear. People walk into stores and buy clothing off the rack. There is little thought behind the image.
People today are unlucky to live in an era when OTR clothing is cheap and gaudy.. subjectively speaking of course.

Of all trends I still shake my head when I see "low rise" advertised on trousers. It doesn't take much to realize there is no utilitarian or aesthetic benefit to this detail.

That's why I've always thought buying new clothes was such a rip off because you're paying more than you'd like mainly for the look. And it's generally a look that you don't really like but have no choice because that's all there is.

 

[Chaps]

I have begun to notice younger men trying to dress better where I live here in Memphis. Some are still not quite sure how to bring the ensemble together, but it is encouraging to see the effort. One good thing I have begun to notice is the gradual fading away of the square toe shoe that young men (and some older ones) have worn for the past few years. I just believe a lot of men don't know how to dress. This used to be accomplished by the father teaching the son, but that obviously isn't the case now. Like has already been stated, some men just see what the masses are wearing and they simply follow blindly.

 

[LizzieMaine]

To say nothing of the fact that increasingly there isn't a father around to teach the son in the first place.

 

[Undertow]

In regards to pants, I've never worn a pair cinched around the waist. I always thought they were supposed to cinch around the hips. It just looks right to me. In my case, I'm underweight, so no overhanging belly here. If I ever wore high rising pants designed to reach my belly button, I'd never tuck a shirt in. I'd feel like I was all pants and no torso.

You will definitely feel that way with modern cut clothes - even men's modern suiting. I know I felt that way when I was hiking up modern cut suits and telling the tailor to lower the cuffs. In fact, I was pretty bummed out that I couldn't see myself wearing anything at my waist because it just looked terrible.

But when you slide into a pair of trousers that have the proper rise and fit around your waist, hips and legs, I think you would be surprised how awfully comfortable they are, and how well they look.

I found a wool flannel suit at Goodwill that fit well enough and that I could get around my waist without too much hassle. Yet, I looked fat when it was pulled up to my waist, my legs looked massive and it seemed I was walking around with my pants up to my sternum. I explained this to my tailor who brought the cuffs down and took the seat in, that was it. Now I look like a million bucks when I wear that suit, and they feel comfortable.

You just can't get that kind of fit in modern clothes because of poor materials, poor drape, low rise, etc.

 

[Chaps]

To say nothing of the fact that increasingly there isn't a father around to teach the son in the first place.

Agreed.

 

[Chasseur]

That's why I've always thought buying new clothes was such a rip off because you're paying more than you'd like mainly for the look. And it's generally a look that you don't really like but have no choice because that's all there is.

This is quite true. Some years ago I was looking through old familly photos and I saw my dad in some pretty loud '70s clothes: flared pants, bright gaudy shirts (like "Two wild and crazy guys"), etc. I found this odd because my dad is the ultimate "I don't give a damn about fashion, I'm going down to Kmart and buy 8 copies of the same pair of shorts or khakis when they have it on sale and I'm good for the year." So I asked my dad if in his younger days he was a bit of a '70s fashion hound. My said, "No I hated that stuff, but its all the inexpensive stories where selling so you had to buy it. Everyone dressed like that."

 

[Edward]

Availability is the issue. I hear that a lot from my modern-dressing female friends who find they can go for years without being able to affordable find clothes on the highstreet that are what they actually would rather wear. Funny to think that changes in fashion began as a way of convincing folks to buy more / new.... and now they dictate what you can buy at all. I saw this a lot even before I went vintage. Was a time when I desperately wanted drainpipe jeans, but could I find them anywhere? All you could buy anywhere were low-waisted, baggy things. Nowadays I only buy high street once in a blue moon. I'm not by any means opposed to buying thins there, but I have managed to find out alternatives where I can more often buy what I actually want....

 

[LizzieMaine]

All the more reason why learning to sew is the single best investment you can make.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

All the more reason why learning to sew is the single best investment you can make.

This I agree with. I am in the school of "I don't care what others wear", but for myself I just do not like most "mall" clothes. They are ugly, cheap, not my style, and when I try them on I always look dumpy. When I make my own clothing they are my "style", fit perfectly, and I made them so I know all the seams are sewed up all the way

 

[Edward]

All the more reason why learning to sew is the single best investment you can make.

Another reason I'm tempted to just hang it all and cross-dress daily. A dress is much easier to sew up than a suit.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Yet another thing that's been turned on its head. How sad is it that back in the day if you wanted to be outrageous and dress in a flamboyant, over-the-top manner you had pay extra for the privilege but today wanting to look like a decent human being has now become the privilege?

 

[Drappa]

It is certainly not only men who try to dress exactly like their kids around here in three quarter length shorts, trainers and silly slogan t-shirts. Not a day goes by where I don't see women between 30 and 60 in leggings and Ugg boots or high heeled ankle boots, walking alongside their daughters or granddaughters in a very similar outfit. For some reason this is much more common in the UK than in Germany or the rest of continental Europe, and I think it has to do with the popularity of the "Highstreet" in the UK and the big chains geared at teenagers, but frequented by adults.

I have to disagree though that low slung jeans are universally unattractive. When they first appeared they were certainly sexy on very slender people, but only in combination with a toned body. The problem is that most people who wear them don't have the body to go with it, and since there is no room for shapewear or illusion, the look becomes unattractive with fat hanging over the sides. That would be like most fashions though - I personally don't find the obese guys above attractive just because they wear higher cut trousers or suits.

 

[rocketeer]

Saw this a couple of nights ago. Britain's Got Talent
Stick with the You Tube ad and first 25 seconds PLEASE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpJGzIljjN0

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have to disagree though that low slung jeans are universally unattractive. When they first appeared they were certainly sexy on very slender people, but only in combination with a toned body. The problem is that most people who wear them don't have the body to go with it, and since there is no room for shapewear or illusion, the look becomes unattractive with fat hanging over the sides.

And the further problem is the assumption that all people are supposed to be very slender and well built, and if they aren't there's something intrinsically wrong with them. Thus, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and all other such things which were, if not unheard of, then much, much rarer in the not-so-distant past. People certainly dieted, wore girdles, etc., but there wasn't the sneering fitter-than-thou pressure you get from some types of people today ("You're just lazy, you could be thin if you *wanted* to be") if you have any kind of a visible pudge.

One of the things you'll notice window-shopping your way thru catalogs from the Era is that different types of clothing were easily available for different body types. You didn't have to be a nineteen-year-old sylph with no hips and no breasts, or a teen-age-boy transvestite, to find something that made you look good, and looked good on you.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Saw this a couple of nights ago. Britain's Got Talent
Stick with the You Tube ad and first 25 seconds PLEASE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpJGzIljjN0

Now I've seen it all. Hip Hop Friday at the Senior Centre. :doh: