The Young Fogey Phenomenon

[Edward]

Aren't they called 'hipsters' nowadays?

No, two very different beasts.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Some of the posts above have alluded to a nasty form of reactionary politics connected to Young Fogeydom, but I recall nothing of that among my friends or their associates. I suspect that might have come later in the 1980s. True, we were an all-male group, but the college back then was predominantly male. But some members of our group of friends were gay, others straight and this was accepted in a matter-of-fact way which could be said to have been ahead of the curve in social and political terms. We weren't really into suit-wearing: it was more country clothing: wool sweaters, tweed jackets with patches, brogues, tweed caps, etc. There was a strong element of anti-materialism about it - clothing that was made to last.

 

[Benproof]

I don't know much...it all predated me so I've had to do my reading on what a young fogey; hipster; normcore, dandy, anarchodandy and dapper slappers are.

I was surprised to read the Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited became the cult classic (especially since the 1981 tv series) for the young fogey movement in the Oxbridge Universities. The fact that no one gets run over on their bicycle on Brideshead Revisited made me admire cycling in anything other than crash pants and helmet

The politics connected to young fogeydom is alluded in the original novel and t.v. series: the rich and wealthy (but screwed up) family of liberal leaning alcoholics whom the protagonist comes into contact with, go through a transmutation of social structure. Oxford & Cambridge have always been associated with a certain kind of politics, however not with the earnestness or morality, like the Sorbonne in Paris which functions within a secular state with the philosopher as the guardian of moral norms. In Brideshead Revisited, the religious overtones of authority and structure pervade the novel; the breakdown of this structure to the fundamental human condition, was an attempt by Waugh to bring his own religious themes into the novel. In that respect, he was less concerned about the clothing, which seems to have been stylised in the t.v. series, and the televised apeing appealed to the young student masses in those specific local universities.

On the other hand, we don't see the t.v. series of Henry VIII suddenly spawning a dress code for divorcee women suddenly being re-enacted with men in tights and women in tall neck collars



PS - Clothing that is made to last, costs more money than disposable seasonal clothing!

 

[GHT]

I like eccentric fogeys:

 

[Edward]

Some of the posts above have alluded to a nasty form of reactionary politics connected to Young Fogeydom, but I recall nothing of that among my friends or their associates. I suspect that might have come later in the 1980s. True, we were an all-male group, but the college back then was predominantly male. But some members of our group of friends were gay, others straight and this was accepted in a matter-of-fact way which could be said to have been ahead of the curve in social and political terms. We weren't really into suit-wearing: it was more country clothing: wool sweaters, tweed jackets with patches, brogues, tweed caps, etc. There was a strong element of anti-materialism about it - clothing that was made to last.

I believe that is correct; the unpleasant side of things crept in later on, predominantly, I suppose, with folks who didn'tg really 'get' the original intent. Isn't it always the way?