Fashion shift...

[Alan Eardley]

An exact example of what I had in mind.

I feel the same about Von Dutch merchandise - talk about losing the plot to make money!

Alan

Oh yeah. Waaay back a long time ago in 1970 after I got outta the service I wore my fatigues and camos as working clothes- like in a warehouse.

Little by little after seeing no one else wear them for a while, all sorts of punks began wearing camos. Girls began wearing them. Then commercial companies began using camo material to make everything from tube tops to panties!

Now with pink and lavender camo prints it's some sorta fashion statement or something.

 

[Alan Eardley]

'Girlie Boots' - right!

Alan

Well, what are people going to think? You can find knee boots in just about every retail women's shoe line, and none of the men's lines. Yes, they're functional. But their function is limited - they're no good for snow or hiking. And on men these days they have a fetish or subculture connotation. You might be able to overcome the connotations with a sure sense of style, however.

 

[Feraud]

I feel the same about Von Dutch merchandise - talk about losing the plot to make money!

Alan

This is my sentiment when I see people walking around with CBGB's t-shirts..

 

[Miss Brill]

One of the things I like most about my own style of dress is that I'm completely insulated from any need to follow fashion -- trends can come and go all they want, people can spend vast amounts of money on disposable clothes, and I can just stand off to the side and shake my head.

ITA. I have no idea what is "in style" for spring & summer, it doesn't matter anyway, because I'm going to wear what I want, as long as it isn't some blatent trend. If I find something & it becomes a trend and everyone wears it, I put it aside until everyone else stops wearing it--I give it a few years to go away. Like with surfers & ugg boots, the boots became a Payless item & everyone had them, and the ones who wore them first no longer looked unique in them because there were so many lemmings who had them. In vintage the lemming is a Dita wanna be.

 

[Diamondback]

Isn't there a vomiting emoticon? I'd like to use one here. MK, can we have one please?

Like this?

Try http colon //www dot pushupstairs dot com/images/emoticon/extra2/puke dot gif, sir.

BTW, ITA on "fashion camo"--anyone who wears that is defeating camo's purpose by not hiding anything, well except maybe whatever meager intelligence or style-sense they might have once had...lol

 

[Miss Brill]

BTW, ITA on "fashion camo"--anyone who wears that is defeating camo's purpose by not hiding anything, well except maybe whatever meager intelligence or style-sense they might have once had...lol

I love my camo bag. [huh] It is no worse than reenacting.


ETA: I think military reenacting is disrespectful. People should not wear military uniforms if they aren't in, or haven't been in, the service. It is hoping for reflected glory, IMO.

 

[Diamondback]

I love my camo bag. [huh] It is no worse than reenacting.


ETA: I think military reenacting is disrespectful. People should not wear military uniforms if they aren't in, or haven't been in, the service. It is hoping for reflected glory, IMO.

Big difference between "wearing" and "carrying", though, Miss B.

Oh well, I struck a nerve of yours, so you returned fire, tit for tat--what say we call a cease-fire on that front?

 

[Miss Brill]

Oh well, I struck a nerve of yours, so you returned fire, tit for tat--what say we call a cease-fire on that front?

lol I think it probably irks anyone who knows someone in the service (past or present).

 

[Diamondback]

Actually, I know quite a few former-servicemembers*, including one retired colonel turned college professor, who believed that, as long as it's done properly and accurately, reenacting's a great educational tool--for both the reenactors and the observers.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Army guys

My dad, veteran, and my hubby, active, said it's an homage.
There was a thread shut down that argued all schools of thought, though. I can't remember it or I'd show a link to it.
Hubby doesn't like to see slackers in camouflage, however.

 

[Miss Brill]

I don't see anything wrong with Civil War reenacting, but no one is going to think someone in Gray or Blue is a real soldier.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I was in high school in the '70s, there was a fad for wearing discarded Army jackets, complete with insignia, and it wasn't unusual to see teenage boys gangling around town wearing master-sergeant stripes, combat infantryman badges, paratrooper badges, and all sorts of other accoutrements. There was a crusty WW2 veteran who ran one of the grocery stores in town, and he made a point of jumping all over any kid he spotted so attired -- "HEY KID -- DID YOU *EARN* THEM STRIPES? NO? THEN WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE WEARIN' EM?"

So yes, it's all in the context. Reenacting -- respectful. Loafing in front of the drugstore mooching cigarettes -- not respectful.

 

[Dr Doran]

A couple of years ago in Poland I ran into a Roman festival. People walking around in centurion armor and such. Craftsmen from Ukraine selling imitation Roman lamps. I liked it. But I have never been a centurion; perhaps if I had been, I'd have pulled a Lucius Vorenus on them ...

 

[Mid-fogey]

You know...

...I hate the Roman reenactors. As if they were in the Punic wars. Strutting around in phalera they didn't earn. Shameful.

Back on topic, it's hard to see one of your unique favorites come surging into popularity. You go from being unique, to one of the thundering heard. After the trend dies out, you have to go through a period of looking like you don't know an item is "out."

:rage:

 

[Bruce Wayne]

i am going to wear what i want. if it is "in" of "hip", fine. but if someone wants to make a smart comment, i am going to have a smart retort...

 

[Nashoba]

lol I think it probably irks anyone who knows someone in the service (past or present).

My dad, veteran, and my hubby, active, said it's an homage.

fftopic: With all due respect, I personally have to agree with Ashley on this one ma'am. I know quite a few servicemembers themselves who are re-enactors. I know we have several servicemembers here on this board who are also reenactors. I gave my husband a WWII Army uniform for Christmas gifted to me by a lounger here so I think Lizzie is right it's all about context.

What irks those in the service (especially my husband) are not necessarily the reenactors but the posers. Those who pretend that they have been there and lay claim to things they never accomplished. In my mind there is a difference between reenacting for education, or to pay homage and blatent impersonation for personal glory. I think most reenactors also see the difference....

And my husband is of the same school of thought as your Ashley with the cammies look. He doesn't get it, and it annoys the heck out of him. In some instances the context permits it, but yeah, the slackers really tick him off.

Back on topic though, my dad tells me I dress like a 90 year old woman. I ignore him. Especially when I go out with him and I get complete strangers and even his friends complimenting me...that's right about the time I like to make him eat his words.
But fashion runs in cycles. I wish the classier stuff would come back more often. Like others have said, makes it easier to shop mainstream....

 

[Miss 1929]

Over and over and over

Fashion is cyclical, and the cycles are getting closer together!

I am old enough to remember the first blush of vintage trends in the 70s (remember "nostalgia"?), and it's been back more than a few times in the fashion mags since then.

Unfortunately, they never seem to embrace the entire look, just a piece here and there, so you get strange combinations of proportion and color that I find extremely irritating - nothing worse than seeing someone wearing an item you would kill for, with all the wrong accessories! :rage:

But, it's a free country. And yes, I appreciate the fact that it encourages designers to put out repro items that we can use. Especially the hard to find, easy to wear out stuff like shoes, stockings, underthings...

Living in the Bay Area in California as I do, it has been centuries since anyone gave me a hard time about what I was wearing (except, very rarely, when some vegan idiot with no manners gets on me about my furs), so I have not had to deal with intolerant remarks (anything goes out here). But if they did remark unfavorably to me, I would probably dissect their outfit and tell them the vintage provenance of each "new style" item they are wearing!

Sometimes you have to develop a thicker skin to be an individual.

 

[Dr Doran]

(except, very rarely, when some vegan idiot with no manners gets on me about my furs)

"DON'T YOU KNOW THAT ANIMAL WAS ONCE ALIVE?"

"Yes -- in about 1935. And now it lives on in honor. On my back."

:What irks those in the service (especially my husband) are not necessarily the reenactors but the posers. Those who pretend that they have been there and lay claim to things they never accomplished. In my mind there is a difference between reenacting for education, or to pay homage and blatent impersonation for personal glory. I think most reenactors also see the difference.....

Are you telling me there are actually people who claim to have been in Vietnam or some other front and were not? That's absolutely terrible.

 

[Diamondback]

fftopic:

Are you telling me there are actually people who claim to have been in Vietnam or some other front and were not? That's absolutely terrible.

Yes, Timothy, there are "phony soldiers"--up 'til the current war and Jesse al-Z. aka "Jesse Macbeth", the pattern was for them to claim the hot jobs like SEALs, snipers, Green Berets, et cetera. It's not just Rush blowing smoke...

Wanna know how to tell a fake SEAL from the Real Deal? Ask him for his class number--those are public record, and surviving BUD/S is a source of great pride. If someone tells you he can't remember or it's classified, get a bag in front of his mouth and open a fertilizer factory...

 

[Nashoba]

Are you telling me there are actually people who claim to have been in Vietnam or some other front and were not? That's absolutely terrible.

Yeah, actually it's becomming a bigger and bigger problem. Funny thing is most of them are claiming to be Marines. Sadly there are even those falsely claiming Iraqi Freedom service, and military honors. We get the Marine Corps Times and I swear it seems like every other issue (the times is bi-weekly) has an article about someone or another who has been uncovered as a poser. It's highly aggrivating to the actual veterans.