The Origin Of "The Fifties"

[PeterB]

Once again, the knowledge that one picks up on this forum is simply astounding. TV camera technology, JFK, Golden Era detergents, and all joined seamlessly through the collective stream of consciousness and free association in the minds of the contributors. No doubt in a decade's time, Loungers will still be writing about that rather mythical era, the 50s, and the ways in which it affected all and sundry. Great work, everyone. You are creating a sort of living encyclopedia.

 

[BlueTrain]

I don't know that the current young men's styles of more fitted clothes was inspired by Mad Men or not. Clothes during that period were not cut so tight or low on the hips, although the lapels were narrow and so were the pants legs. But suit jackets were cut full enough so you could actually button it if you wanted. They (suit jackets) also had lots of little detail variations in the collars and lapels over the years. Unless you wear the same suit two or three times a week, however, they generally last a long time, much longer than fads, and usually longer than trends. In my case, being a pants polisher by trade, the pants wear out long before the jacket shows much wear at all, and suits don't come with two pairs of pants anymore, as far as I know.

But as an old song goes, "the coat and pants do all of the work but the vest gets all the gravy."

 

[PeterGunnLives]

Finer specialty haberdasheries will offer a choice to get an extra pair of trousers (for an additional price) along with your suit. But the typical (and more affordable) mall department stores don't, unless you are getting suit separates, as I generally need to to do because the trousers in suit sets are always way too big for me due to the weird standard drop-six sizing.

 

[MisterGrey]

I don't know that the current young men's styles of more fitted clothes was inspired by Mad Men or not. Clothes during that period were not cut so tight or low on the hips, although the lapels were narrow and so were the pants legs. But suit jackets were cut full enough so you could actually button it if you wanted. They (suit jackets) also had lots of little detail variations in the collars and lapels over the years. Unless you wear the same suit two or three times a week, however, they generally last a long time, much longer than fads, and usually longer than trends. In my case, being a pants polisher by trade, the pants wear out long before the jacket shows much wear at all, and suits don't come with two pairs of pants anymore, as far as I know.

But as an old song goes, "the coat and pants do all of the work but the vest gets all the gravy."

I think that the current crop of styles was most certainly inspired by Mad Men, but, therein lies the key word. Modern fashion isn't a reproduction of period fashion, it's a modern person's perceptions of period fashion as filtered through the aesthetics and ideals of today. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall the sack suit coming back hard with the Mad Men phenomenon, even though it's what the men are generally wearing in the first season and what several characters continue to wear in the earlier seasons. Today's ideal male body type is extremely thin and but somewhat toned, with narrow shoulders and limbs that taper in thickness as they reach the hands and feet. It's the tailoring you'll find on clothing offered at most "trendy" retailers now (and the reason why, at the mall, I'm having to try on XLs and XXLS at 5'11 and 185lbs).

Mad Men certainly captured the popular consciousness, and the romantic aesthetics of the era most certainly drove the revival in period-inspired fashion, but, it is just that: inspired.