The casualization of the world

[Undertow]

I have a feeling in a few years we will look back on these as the good old days, when people wore shoes every day not just on special occasions.

On the bright side, the scruffier everyone else gets the easier it is to be well dressed.

lol True on both points!

Personally, the most surprising aspect of the recent Air Jordan launch is the continued popularity of the Jordan brand, nearly a decade after his retirement. I guess people still want to Be Like Mike.....
...

I think this is the most interesting part to me, too. It's funny to consider that an 18yr old kid would have been quite young to even remember Jordan, let alone have any clue Jordan had a line of shoes.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I can remember back in the 60s and 70s, and probably the 50s, there would be some, usually Rock & Roll musician, who would show up in a tuxedo and Converse High Tops, always guaranteed to make the papers! Now it is just quant, with nary a eyebrow raised!

The first person I know of to hit the papers this way was Howard Hughes. He wore a tux and canvas deck shoes to a formal dinner. This caused a world wide sensation that didn't die down for years.

Hughes had a perfectly sensible explanation. He had traveled from his home in California to New York on business. One of the things on his schedule was a formal dinner. While getting out his evening clothes he noticed he forgot his shoes, all he had was a pair of brown shoes for day wear.

So he went to the nearest shoe store. But this was during the war and the clerk refused to sell him any shoes without his ration card, which was in California. The only thing he could sell him was canvas deck shoes as they did not contain leather. So Hughes bought the deck shoes and had them dyed black.

It is interesting that in 1944 or 45 this was big news, today he would be considered overdressed lol.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... he would be considered overdressed lol.

He was overdressed for the shoes and underdressed for the tuxedo.

 

[Gene]

The first person I know of to hit the papers this way was Howard Hughes. He wore a tux and canvas deck shoes to a formal dinner. This caused a world wide sensation that didn't die down for years.

Reminds me of The Onion article from the "1930's," "Man Ventures Outside Hatless!"

 

[swinggal]

Funny thing is that if you talk to people from the time when formality in the way we dressed was more prevavlent, many will tell you that they love some of the casualness of today. Both sets of my granparents told me that although they despised the fact that young people dressed too casually MOST of the time after the 1960s, they did embrace the notion of no-longer being forced by the rules of society to wear a suit and tie everyday or a hat, gloves and stockings. Even so...they were always immaculate, even in old age. They liked that they could 'choose' to dress the way they wanted.

My Nana was 96 when she died (2007) and we talked about things like this a lot. She was born in 1911 and was in her early 20s in 1930 and saw so much change up until the day she died. She hated wearing gloves, hats, girdles and stockings every day when she was younger and was relieved when the times changed, but still advocated always dressing neatly, being classy in everything you did, having respect for oneself and keeping things formal for special occasions. I have always tried to do the same.

I understand when sneakers became anything more than casual. It's perplexing. The only time I ever saw either of my grandfathers wearing sneakers was in old photos from the 1950s and 60s when they out were fishing and wearing ked-like lace up canvas sandshoes. I find it very sad that we seem to be losing the ability to be both relaxed and more formal in how we dress, where there is balance of both. Casual does not have to mean sloppy...I mean juts look at 1930s resort-wear!! Gorgeous!!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Funny thing is that if you talk to people from the time when formality in the way we dressed was more prevavlent, many will tell you that they love some of the casualness of today. Both sets of my granparents told me that although they despised the fact that young people dressed too casually MOST of the time after the 1960s, they did embrace the notion of no-longer being forced by the rules of society to wear a suit and tie everyday or a hat, gloves and stockings. Even so...they were always immaculate, even in old age. They liked that they could 'choose' to dress the way they wanted.

I wonder if that's the reason why older people, particularly women, appeared to have embraced the velour tracksuit with a vengeance?

 

[swinggal]

Haha...yuck. Not my Grandparents, that's for sure

 

[Woodfluter]

Funny thing is that if you talk to people from the time when formality in the way we dressed was more prevavlent, many will tell you that they love some of the casualness of today. Both sets of my granparents told me that although they despised the fact that young people dressed too casually MOST of the time after the 1960s, they did embrace the notion of no-longer being forced by the rules of society to wear a suit and tie everyday or a hat, gloves and stockings. Even so...they were always immaculate, even in old age. They liked that they could 'choose' to dress the way they wanted.

Swinggal, you were lucky to have your Nana to connect you with those times. My dad was born in 1911 also.

Having done a bit of casual research into the history of clothing, I've come up with my usual crackpot theory about things. I have a cyclical view of customs, rather than a linear one. We can all laugh about the formal occasions for wearing Air Jordans, but perhaps some day they'll be seen as delightfully quaint, like Oxford Bags or zoot suits.

I think that we (sogennant western culture) go through phases of rigidity and permissiveness. As an example, portraits of gentlemen of the Elizabethan era show hairstyles from shoulder length to butch cuts and everything in between. Likewise for garb. But by the 18th century, acceptable hair and clothing was rather narrowly defined in polite society. And then things loosened up in the early 19th century, for men but more so for women; following which came the Victorian reaction.

Some of us gents, who find ourselves the only tie-wearers in some settings, may discover that we were a vanguard rather than retrograde. But I believe the wheel will turn regardless.

Personally, I like the freedom to choose and am happy to live in an era where that's not so unusual. I went to a prep school and hated wearing a tie or sports coat for years afterward. Had to wear same at work for years. Then came a sudden change: management decided that such clothing distinctions placed a barrier between plant workers and the technical/management tier, so such garb was no longer encouraged. And guess what...I then wanted to dress better.

If you want change, just encourage the sneaker wearing crowd! Trust me, it'll work.

- Bill

 

[Stanley Doble]

I guess dressing down has a long history. Some time ago I saw a comment by an old man who was revisiting Oxford some 40 years after he graduated. He looked at the students dressed in their plain black suits and remarked " In my day we wouldn't be seen in public unless we were wearing a hundred pounds on our backs".

This was in the 1860s and he was referring to money not weight. Under the Prince Regent fancy clothes and jewelery were de rigeur, not so Victoria's time.

 

[AntonAAK]

I guess dressing down has a long history. Some time ago I saw a comment by an old man who was revisiting Oxford some 40 years after he graduated. He looked at the students dressed in their plain black suits and remarked " In my day we wouldn't be seen in public unless we were wearing a hundred pounds on our backs".

This was in the 1860s and he was referring to money not weight. Under the Prince Regent fancy clothes and jewelery were de rigeur, not so Victoria's time.

That reminds me of a quote from Charlie Chaplin's autobiography which I just had to go hunting for. He is describing a rare visit back to his native London in, I believe, the late fifties.

"As Oona and I wandered through Leicester Square and Piccadilly, now adultered by American gimcracks, lunch counters, hot-dog stands and milk bars, we saw hatless youths and blue-jeaned girls ambling about. I remember when one dressed the part for the West End, and strolled with yellow gloves and a walking stick."

 

[herringbonekid]

dressing down has a long history going back to the rebellious youth of late Victorian street gangs who flouted respectable convention and adopted their own idiosyncratic dress codes.

it wasn't until 'rebellious' youthful attire became something for adults to emulate (mainly after the birth of rock and roll) that the situation turned into what we have today.

i recommend Jon Savages' thoroughly researched book "TEENAGE, The Creation of Youth 1875-1945" for anyone who wants to read more about the origins of youth cults and their dress codes.

 

[Tomasso]

it wasn't until 'rebellious' youthful attire became something for adults to emulate (mainly after the birth of rock and roll) that the situation turned into what we have today.

It was the Dot.com craze that had the most significant impact. That was the sea change.

 

[Edward]

lol True on both points!



I think this is the most interesting part to me, too. It's funny to consider that an 18yr old kid would have been quite young to even remember Jordan, let alone have any clue Jordan had a line of shoes.

I think by this point it has become a brand in itself, its origin being wholly irrelevant and most likely unknown to much of the market... c/f Chuck Taylor, Fred Perry or Les Paul.

That reminds me of a quote from Charlie Chaplin's autobiography which I just had to go hunting for. He is describing a rare visit back to his native London in, I believe, the late fifties.

"As Oona and I wandered through Leicester Square and Piccadilly, now adultered by American gimcracks, lunch counters, hot-dog stands and milk bars, we saw hatless youths and blue-jeaned girls ambling about. I remember when one dressed the part for the West End, and strolled with yellow gloves and a walking stick."

Plus ca change, plus la meme chose!

dressing down has a long history going back to the rebellious youth of late Victorian street gangs who flouted respectable convention and adopted their own idiosyncratic dress codes.

it wasn't until 'rebellious' youthful attire became something for adults to emulate (mainly after the birth of rock and roll) that the situation turned into what we have today.

i recommend Jon Savages' thoroughly researched book "TEENAGE, The Creation of Youth 1875-1945" for anyone who wants to read more about the origins of youth cults and their dress codes.

Same Jon Savage as the classic England's Dreaming?

It was the Dot.com craze that had the most significant impact. That was the sea change.

Seems rather late to me, though certainly it did celebrate what even then seemed tediously dated notions of dress down "cool".

 

[Two Types]

Same Jon Savage as the classic England's Dreaming?

Yes. It is incredibly informative and presents an argument that I have long agreed with i.e. that teenagers were a distinct social group prior to the 1950s (when most histories claim the notion of teenage first appeared). However, 'Teenage' does not have the power of 'England's Dreaming' which is a fantastic social history of 1970s England. In 'Teenage' he makes the mistake of concentrating on archives rather than interviewing people. When he was writing the book he could have interviewed plenty of people who could remember being teenagers in the mid-20th century and found out more about teenage fashions of the period. I was disappointed that he missed out on a chance to record those details.

In fact, the subject of teenage fashion during WW2 is something that I have covered in my forthcoming book 'Blitz Kids' - including stories of how teenage merchant seamen (often 15 or 16 years old) brought home the latest fashions from the USA. One told me how he travelled home with a package containing a blue and white striped beach suit (bought in Puerto Rico), spectator brogues and a panama hat. He intended to wear it in his home village - a mining village in Kent. However, his ship was sunk on the way home and he lost all his new clothes.

 

[AntonAAK]

In a similar vein The Way We Wore by Robert Elms is an interesting account of youth cults and fashions in Britain from the 1950s onwards.

 

[Tomasso]

I think by this point it has become a brand in itself, its origin being wholly irrelevant and most likely unknown to much of the market... c/f Chuck Taylor, Fred Perry or Les Paul.

It's a brand to be sure but it's his brand and he appears in commercials and print ads for it on a regular basis; as he does for Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck, etc...and he is most recently the cover boy for the biggest selling basketball video game. I think kids are well aware of him. Check out this Forbes article.

 

[herringbonekid]

It was the Dot.com craze that had the most significant impact. That was the sea change.

please elaborate.

I think kids are well aware of him.

Converse are also massively popular with the hip young things but most of them couldn't care who Chuck Taylor is.

 

[scottyrocks]

please elaborate.



Converse are also massively popular with the hip young things but most of them couldn't care who Chuck Taylor is.

The dot.coms allowed people to work at home or in way less formal settings than previously when they worked in large(r) company offices. This enabled casualization to occur. If you are your own boss working in an environment where virtually no one sees you, you tend to dress down a bit. Then factor in the 'snowball rolling down a hill' effect, and it becomes the new norm.

 

[JimWagner]

While the dot com boom and technology was certainly a factor there were other factors at work as well. As one example, in the 70's during the Jimmy Carter years we had the first big energy crisis since WWII. That's the first time we had the government and mostly the media pushing turning up the air conditioning thermostats to warmer and warmer settings under the blanket of saving energy. By that time most of the newer buildings had no windows that could be opened and no natural ventilation. Office temperatures in excess of 80 degrees F. were fairly common.

That pushed companies into relaxing dress codes as a matter of necessity. Once that happened and the business world didn't collapse due to the lack of suits and ties there wasn't any going back.

 

[Edward]

It's a brand to be sure but it's his brand and he appears in commercials and print ads for it on a regular basis; as he does for Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck, etc...and he is most recently the cover boy for the biggest selling basketball video game. I think kids are well aware of him. Check out this Forbes article.

Ah, ok.... different over there. I don't think we get any of those ads here.