The devolution of our society through fashion in just two pictures.

[PoohBang]

I wish I would have placed money on you making an opposing comment PB lol



Sexually suggestive?? My how things have changed....

I'm not opposing, just saying where's his butt? I never liked the look of low waisted pants, either like he's wearing or the standard "today's" style. I'm not a fan of skinny jeans either.

but looking at the photos in question, it looks as though both men are trying to wear what's "fashionable" for their time. If low riding jeans were the rage in 1940 then that guy on the car would be wearing them also. The same guy in the 70's would be wearing bell bottoms and a tight poly shirt.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm not opposing, just saying where's his butt?

People 'see' what they love to hate to see.

The same guy in the 70's would be wearing bell bottoms and a tight poly shirt.

I remember a very regrettable early '70s fashion for young women: they'd wear their hip hugger pants very low in the front ... with no underwear on. It created a "greyhound skirt" effect, but from the top down. (No Brazilian waxing in those days.)

 

[Feraud]

What bothers me most about the waistband at the knees look is what it is emulating.

When people go to prison, certain things are taken from them that could be used as weapons - belts, shoelaces, etc. The low hanging pants are an emulation of prisoners who have nothing to keep their pants up, never mind that prisoners often wear jumpsuits. That was the reason for the laceless sneakers that originated about the same time. How many boppers today think that reason they are wearing laceless sneakers is so that they would be less able to garrot someone?

I see what you mean but will suggest people sporting this look don't know or care about the supposed origins of the trend.
This simply demonstrates another look that has "gone mainstream".

When I was a kid our parents bought us brand new, dark blue, stiff jeans. We wore them and broke them in. Today everyone buys jeans that look like they've had 'em for years.
Other examples are cowboy hats, black leather jackets, tattoos, mean wearing earrings, etc.
It's tricky trying to determine what someone is implying by what they wear.

I'd like to hope it was a stereotype about hip hop, rather than the other obvious option which is reminiscent of the distasteful "immigration status" comments made in another thread.

The former is a stretch and the latter pretty awful. Stereotypes about hip-hop are weak when we consider how mainstream the hip-hop genre has become and consider the major consumers of the music. Do we need further proof than we've got Snoop Dogg going on the Ellen show and mom and dads in suburbia listening to "gangsta rap" in pimped out rides while driving the kids to extracurricular activities.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Hey, what can I say? I was in High School!

:eeek:[huh]

 

[sheeplady]

I see what you mean but will suggest people sporting this look don't know or care about the supposed origins of the trend.
This simply demonstrates another look that has "gone mainstream".

When I was a kid our parents bought us brand new, dark blue, stiff jeans. We wore them and broke them in. Today everyone buys jeans that look like they've had 'em for years.
Other examples are cowboy hats, black leather jackets, tattoos, mean wearing earrings, etc.
It's tricky trying to determine what someone is implying by what they wear.

The former is a stretch and the latter pretty awful. Stereotypes about hip-hop are weak when we consider how mainstream the hip-hop genre has become and consider the major consumers of the music. Do we need further proof than we've got Snoop Dogg going on the Ellen show and mom and dads in suburbia listening to "gangsta rap" in pimped out rides while driving the kids to extracurricular activities.

Exactly. The trend may have originally come from glorifying this or glorifying that. (Don't male prisoners in the US wear jump suits in prison anyway and not pants and a shirt?) The low pants look has been around at least 15 or 20 years now in the relative mainstream. You've got kids wearing the pants who have always seen men wearing those pants.

I have a hard time imaging that anybody (yet alone a significant portion of law-abiding society that happens to wear these pants) wants to emulate people who are locked up. Even criminals don't want to be locked up. So I really don't think people are wearing those pants because they want to look like prisoners. They are a fashion.

 

[HeyMoe]

I remember a very regrettable early '70s fashion for young women: they'd wear their hip hugger pants very low in the front ... with no underwear on. It created a "greyhound skirt" effect, but from the top down. (No Brazilian waxing in those days.)

:eeek::eeek::eeek: *yucky* *yucky* *yucky* *yucky*

 

[HeyMoe]

(Don't male prisoners in the US wear jump suits in prison anyway and not pants and a shirt?)
.

Not always, depends on where they are both geographically and in the legal system. In Vermont's jails inmates wear street clothes.

 

[Feraud]

Exactly. The trend may have originally come from glorifying this or glorifying that. (Don't male prisoners in the US wear jump suits in prison anyway and not pants and a shirt?) The low pants look has been around at least 15 or 20 years now in the relative mainstream. You've got kids wearing the pants who have always seen men wearing those pants.

I have a hard time imaging that anybody (yet alone a significant portion of law-abiding society that happens to wear these pants) wants to emulate people who are locked up. Even criminals don't want to be locked up. So I really don't think people are wearing those pants because they want to look like prisoners. They are a fashion.

Agreed. The prison explanation gets a lot of press but I am sure if someone dug around enough they'd find the origins are likely closer to the short-lived 80s due Kriss Kross.
Not only did they droop their pants but wore 'em backwards too.

 

[rue]

And yet they were still able to jump... jump around

 

[Icthruu74]

I'd just like to say thank you Mr. Chevalier for the history lesson (and piquing my curiosity). Until now I had only know Zoot Suit Riot as the name of a song. I have so much to learn.

 

[Tomasso]

The 40's guy is on Park Avenue.

 

[Feraud]

And yet they were still able to jump... jump around

Keeping those jeans perched just right must take some skill..

 

[scottyrocks]

Why aren't prisoners issued pants with elastic waistbands?

Yes, or jumpsuits, as I had stated previously, but a fresh 'inductee,' still in street clothes, would have his belt taken away. That moment is the snapshot for the 'fashion.'

 

[scottyrocks]

Oh. OhhhhI'm in two minds about this. I do think it's a bit in poor taste to celebrate criminality via the medium of one's clothing, but then I don't think we can make the assumption that these kids are doing that. At some point, whatever the origin of that way of wearing trousers and all subjective opinions aside, it becomes simply a way to wear them for many, naught more than a fashion statement. An equivalent, if you like, of the undone bottom button on a waistcoat.

I've had kids tell me exactly the reason for these fashion pieces.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'd just like to say thank you Mr. Chevalier for the history lesson (and piquing my curiosity). Until now I had only know Zoot Suit Riot as the name of a song. I have so much to learn.

IMO, the best scholarly book on the subject is also the most recent: Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style, by Kathy Peiss. Dr. Peiss took a balanced approach in her analysis ... and she did a heck of a job in researching the roots of zoot, even (correctly) citing the early 1900s 'Broadway' suit as a stylistic influence.


Well worth a read: http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14876.html

 

[Gingerella72]

Has any of these doofus's who wear their pants like that ever offered any explanation as to why that look is a fad? I mean granted, that photo is a bit extreme, but the guys whose pant waist is halfway down their bum and the crotch is hanging between their knees.....why? Seriously, what was the point of that trend? Usually there is some kind of vague reasoning behind why certain looks become trendy, but I've never heard anything for this one, not even a stupid reason.

And the guys with the overlong shorts that come down past their knees who wear the overlong t-shirts....my husband calls them toddlers. Because they are dressed as toddlers. Do a side by side comparison of a male toddler and a 20-something male dressed in the same outfit. He says it's because boys these days never grow up, they're stuck in a perpetual state of toddler-hood mentally, so why wouldn't their clothing reflect it? :lol:

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

And the guys with the overlong shorts that come down past their knees who wear the overlong t-shirts....my husband calls them toddlers. Because they are dressed as toddlers. Do a side by side comparison of a male toddler and a 20-something male dressed in the same outfit. He says it's because boys these days never grow up, they're stuck in a perpetual state of toddler-hood mentally, so why wouldn't their clothing reflect it? :lol:

If that mentality had been around back during the Golden Era they would have been wearing Lord Fauntleroy (aka Buster Brown) suits. A frightening thought. lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

If that mentality had been around back during the Golden Era they would have been wearing Lord Fauntleroy (aka Buster Brown) suits. A frightening thought. lol

 

[PoohBang]

I think the guys in the shorts and tees plus the flat brim ball caps are more of a west coast thing, and younger guys watch tv and emulate that look....

Just like younger guys watched films in the 40's and emulated that look. And how many "surfers" were there in the 60's in Iowa... about as many in southern calif....

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Joe Besser as Stinky! He was also one of the Three Stooges. He replaced Shemp when the latter died in 1955.